Brothers Of Night
by toothlessgolfer
Summary: Hiccup and Toothless are reborn together after giving their lives on Dragon Island. They will learn, laugh, lose, find, grieve, and love throughout the adventure of their new lives; all culminating in why "There were dragons when I was a boy..." Dragon Hiccup, OCs, Astrid, Valka, Stoick. T-rating. Three volumes. There is a sequel story.
1. I - Sacrifice Of Angels

_**Author's Note And General Story Information: There are three volumes in this saga, all of which are posted to the same story. Excluding opening/closing notes and quotes, volume I is approximately 250,000 words, volume II is approximately 167,000 words, and volume III is approximately 237,000 words. I posted all of volume I at the same time which means that there are very few reviews of those first 25 chapters. I am familiar with and included some aspects of the earlier animated series material but did not rely heavily on later seasons such as RTTE since I never watched those later seasons. However, I will not rule out including some RTTE content.**_

 _ **Rating: T with some chapters of violence, tragedy, and mild romance. There will not be any M romance. Hiccup and Toothless are brothers as should be clear from the title.**_

 _ **Miscellaneous: If there are any elements in this series which bear resemblance to other existing stories, I assure you that it is either the sincerest form of flattery on my part or mere coincidence. Where I know that I drew inspiration from elsewhere I will give according credit. This is a purely artistic endeavor for which I will have no pecuniary gain. I wish to thank my dear little sister for providing narrative feedback on the first volume. Every chapter will begin with a quote of particular relevance to the content of that chapter. I have made a reasonable effort to ensure that the quote is correct, but I cannot guarantee verbatim accuracy mostly because translations may differ.**_

 _ **I would welcome any reviews, comments, thoughts, or even messages about plot holes or problems that you find. I make an effort to reply to every signed in review or PM within 24 hours.**_

 _ **This story received its 100,000th view on 2/27/2019.**_

* * *

" _Whoever saves one life saves the world entire." – Schindler's List_

* * *

Sacrifice Of Angels

* * *

"Stay with me bud. Almost there!" Hiccup shouted.

The Monster was frighteningly close behind them, its growling somehow carrying over the whistling wind. They both knew that there was no chance for it to survive its dive. Blinded by its hunger and rage, it had not yet realized the extent of the damage it had received. Its wings, shot with many holes, would certainly shred when it tried to stop its dive.

Toothless growled his understanding, knowing well the weakness to strike at. While mostly fireproof on the outside, kin are still vulnerable on the inside. An unintended flaming of a kin's fire-air could be deadly or at least would greatly foul a kin's flight.

"Hold Toothless..."

All six eyes narrowed on them as the Monster began gathering the gas in the back of its throat. It gave another menacing growl, and they both heard a soft hiss begin to build behind them.

"Now!"

Toothless flipped so that his back was facing the ground, and he spread his wings to give himself stability. His blast of glowing fire flew precisely into the Monster's open maw. The resulting explosion left flames trickling from the Monster's mouth just as the Monster broke through the last cloud and saw how near it was to the ground. It flared its wings and roared in both pain and fear as its wings tore under the strain.

Toothless righted himself with a thrust of his wings and angled himself up and over the Monster's head.

The Monster heavily impacted the ground. As its body shattered under the impact, all of its flammable gas became exposed to the air and open flames. There was a flash of light, and a solid wall of fire erupted outward in every direction.

If Toothless had not lost one of his tailfins, he would have been more maneuverable. If Hiccup had thought to somehow fireproof the artificial fin, it would not have been burnt off during the battle. If the explosion and shockwave did not momentarily blind and disorient both of them, they would have seen it coming.

The Monster's spiked tail swung directly into their path. Toothless tried to roll to the side to dodge it; however, he didn't have enough time to get completely out of the way. Several of the tail's spines sliced through his wing. He howled in agony as he was flipped head over tail.

"No... No..."

Hiccup's yell abruptly cut off at the same moment as his slight weight vanished. Toothless twisted around despite his pain and looked back. Hiccup had been knocked clean off his back from the impact and was falling toward the inferno. His dear two-leg's right arm was clutched to his chest. One of the same sharp spines that had shredded his own wing had cut a deep gash from Hiccup's belly up through his shoulder. Hiccup's left arm floated uselessly at his side, and his entire front sparkled a vivid red as his life-water spilled into the sky.

Toothless tucked his wings as best as he could and dove towards the swelling fire. He had a missing tailfin, a broken wing, no reliable way to stop his dive, and Hiccup was clearly falling to his death. There was almost no hope for Hiccup; two-leg bodies were too frail and that cut was too deep. As for himself, he was not even sure that he could safely land in the sea.

It drifted into his thoughts in that instant, something his own sire and dam had once whispered to him. Something only his type of kin had, a life-will-power to make life be anew and to heal death-bringing hurts. It could only be done one time, and he knew in his liver that he had to try to save Hiccup on the chance that his life-will-power could also heal a two-leg.

His body began to glow with faint blue light as he closed the distance. Faint sparks danced between his scales, and the air around him filled with a buzzing power. Not that much could be heard over the roaring inferno beckoning them both into its maw.

Only a few life-organ beats were left before it would happen.

And he was chilled with fear.

* * *

Hiccup's shock was so great that he did not even feel any pain as he looked down at the gaping hole sliced in his chest. He fought to remain conscious even as the river of blood continued to pour out and scatter on the wind.

He was falling.

He could do nothing as the sky was falling down.

An odd clarity and calm took him as he knew that his fate was sealed. He silently thought a prayer to whichever god granted him a painless passage. At least it was a brave death in battle...

 _Sorry, Dad._

As his vision began to fail him, he vaguely saw Toothless diving for him. Toothless's eyes were wide with fear and pain. One of the dragon's wings seemed bent at an odd angle for a dive.

Hiccup reached out with his good arm in what he knew were their last moments together.

… _cut out your heart and take it to my father!_

He knew that his lungs had collapsed since he could not breathe.

 _I could have sworn you had…_

 _Yes, yes I did it!_

 _'Well Toothless, we did it...'_

 _Yeah!_

 _You need to see this..._

 _'Not bad for a cripple and a hiccup...'_

Something tangy and metallic seeped from his mouth.

 _He was protecting me!_

 _I looked at him and I saw myself..._

Darkness took him, and he focused on the one sensation that remained. He could still feel the air rushing past him.

 _I'm here!_

 _It's an occupational hazard!_

 _Thanks dad..._

Was that warmth Toothless grabbing him or the flames consuming him?

 _'I'm sorry my friend...'_

A strange shock and blue flash erupted from everywhere, and then even touch was gone.

The merciful darkness claimed him...

Nothing was left to feel or know...

Nothing else was...

Time ceased...

He was...

Not...

.

.

.

* * *

Toothless grabbed Hiccup with his maw and tucked the limp body tightly against his own chest. He closed his eyes and curled his good wing around his front to shield Hiccup as best as he could from the fire which claimed them both.

The life-will-power that was sparking around him was nearing its peak. The tongues of fire flowed over his scales. Ignoring the biting and burning pain encircling him, his thoughts went to the life-breaths of kin, assuming that there were any, flying above the sky and asked that they show mercy on this two-leg, on this good creature who had shown his true life-breath. He willed that part of his life-will-power wrap its protective wings around Hiccup, that Hiccup be saved too.

And then he allowed the final, irrevocable step to pass.

The swirling fire paused, the flames whipping around him froze in place, and all sound faded.

The unnatural bolt of energy and light erupted from his body and sundered the skies above.

His maw opened in a soundless roar of pain as he felt his body begin to melt and shatter from the release of power.

His last thoughts were of the one who had given him back his life after trying to take it, had done the impossible by restoring him to the skies where he belonged, and had helped him slay the Monster. His only regret was how short their time together had been. There were so many things that they would never get the chance to enjoy, to be, and to do.

His kin-in-other-scales.

Everything went dark.

.

.

.

* * *

Stoick watched the aerial battle with a combination of amazement, pride, fear, and shame. The Night Fury and the Monster had vanished into the clouds above with only the occasional blast of purple light revealing their locations. That the dragon which all Nords knew to fear was the reason they were still alive and that it was clearly fighting for them was unthinkable. And yet, there it was. He would not have believed it if he had not seen it with his own eyes.

That it was his son, his Hiccup, who had tamed the Night Fury now filled his heart with pride. It must have taken a special type of courage for such a weak boy to approach such a feared dragon alone, as surely he must have. The rest of the tribe, himself included, had all been wrong to think that Hiccup was useless; indeed, the fault was theirs for trying to make Hiccup into something he clearly was not meant to be. And here Hiccup was, risking his life for a tribe that did not, that could not, deserve him.

What had he done to deserve the bravest son of all?

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

If only he had listened better, how things could have been different. What if he had listened to Valka all those years ago? Hiccup had shown him that she was right about the dragons all along. They were not all monsters. What if Hiccup had considered telling him before the kill ring but had decided it would have been worthless to even try?

Things would be different from now on. He would have to find a way to change.

The Night Fury broke through the clouds, its back to the ground, with the Monster following close after it. Flames were trickling from the sides of the Monster's mouth, but it was not flaming at a target.

He gasped when he saw it spread its wings to halt its dive only for its wings to visibly tear. Hiccup and his dragon had somehow led the beast into a death plunge.

"It is going to crash!" he shouted.

The largest dragon that Nords had ever seen crashed headfirst into the base of the mountain and the rocky seashore. The ground itself, and possibly the entire island, shook with the impact.

They were treated to a very grisly sight, even for seasoned dragon killers, as the body imploded under its own weight and sent bits of scale and flesh hurdling through the air. All its remaining gas became exposed to the open flames.

The explosion which followed knocked every Nord off their feet and left most with a ringing in their ears or a blind spot in their eyes. The inferno consumed most of the torn-off hunks of flesh and left behind a fine cloud of ash floating on the wind. Fortunately, most of the people were all far enough away that they either had the time to take cover or the fire never reached them.

Those who were looking towards the uppermost reaches of the inferno saw a single bolt of purple lightning which stretched up into the clouds and was followed almost instantly by a sharp peal of thunder audible even over the roar of the fire.

A few more seconds of noise followed as the fireball rose to the heavens, burned itself out, and then…

.

Nothing.

.

Complete and utter silence.

.

No beat of wings on the air.

.

A deathly, empty silence.

.

Stoick rushed forward into the falling cloud of ash and smoke and quickly left behind the rest of his people. He held his hammer at the ready as a precaution.

"Hiccup!"

He stumbled along the beach.

"Son!"

The smoke curled behind him as he frantically searched. He firmly expected to find the Night Fury behind every major outcropping of rock. Faintly visible in every which direction were the ghostly forms of people searching the shore.

There was no sign of either the Night Fury or Hiccup.

He could hear the voices of others, most notably Gobber and the rest of the dragon training class, as they searched the rock formations along the beach for any sign of Hiccup. Perhaps the Night Fury was hurt and had to land far away.

He stepped around a larger boulder.

And then…

He would never forget the sight that met him. In an open area of the beach and not twenty paces from the shattered and charred remains of the Monster was a smoking crater a pace across where the rock had seemingly melted. As he carefully walked toward it, he could see that black scales, some of which were themselves melted, were strewn about the ground.

There was only one dragon he knew of which had black scales like these. Something truly terrible had happened to the Night Fury and that could only mean one thing…

"No," he whispered.

He did not want to look if it would mean confirming his fears. At the same time, he could not avoid looking because something drew him on towards the place.

In the crater lay a large black object. Its surface was smooth and shiny with veins of silver wrapping along it lengthwise. Even though no Nord that he knew of had ever seen one before, he knew exactly what he was looking at.

A Night Fury egg.

A single passage from the Book of Dragons rang out in his memory like the call of fate.

 _The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself._

At that moment, he knew the horrible truth without needing to see a body.

He knew it with perfect certainty.

Hiccup was gone.

Dead.

The hammer fell to the ground with a clang.

"Oh, son…"

He recoiled, turned away from the place, and took several shaky steps away from the crater. Then he lost all control. He tossed aside his helmet, fell to his shaking knees, and did what no Nord is ever supposed to do.

He wept.

He wept for shame that he had been useless as a father.

He wept at his willful blindness and pride that had led him to push Hiccup away.

He wept at the wrongness of what happened since no parent should have to bury their child.

There was not even anything left to bury or give the traditional funeral reserved to a warrior who had died well in battle.

He failed his son.

He failed the promise he made to Valka.

He failed.

After a few minutes of trembling and weeping, he heard an alternating clink and footfall behind him. It was Gobber.

The blacksmith did not crack any jokes or make any comment at all. Gobber grasped the gravity of the moment when he saw the Night Fury scales strewn about the shore. He solemnly removed his own helmet and placed his remaining hand on Stoick's shoulder.

"I… I did this…" Stoick barely whispered.

Gobber thought for a moment in silence, trying hard to not betray his own grief.

"Nae, we all did this."

"Why… couldn't I have listened? Why?" Stoick moaned.

Gobber opened his mouth to begin to respond but paused, knowing that there was nothing he could say that would make a difference. He knew that Stoick needed time to grieve.

This was definitely not his place. He gave Stoick's shoulder a soft pat and left him to his thoughts. There were wounded whom he could help care for in the meantime, and the rest of the tribe had to be gathered to be told what would happen next.

Several more minutes passed before Stoick slowly pushed himself to his feet, picked up his helmet, and put it on while giving a deep sigh. His beard was thoroughly soaked, and he felt very old. For the first time in his memory, he could feel his joints creak and a general soreness throughout his body.

Grief had taken its toll.

Still, he was the Chief. Decisions had to be made for his people. At least a couple of the ships had survived, so everyone would be able to get back to Berk eventually. The wounded, at least the seriously wounded, were already being tended to, and there was nothing more that he could directly do for them. For some reason, he was certain that they were not likely to have any more problems from the dragons.

.

Dragons.

.

He stumbled back to the crater, an obvious question on his mind as he stared at the strange thing within.

Where had the egg come from? It must somehow be connected to the dragon his son had tamed. Had the Night Fury been a female? Hiccup had called it a he, but that must have been mistaken. The egg must have somehow survived the dragon's death. It did not make much sense considering the extent of the devastation, but no other explanation made any sense at all.

Or maybe there was some truth to the mythical legend about the origin of Night Furies.

His thoughts turned to the likelihood that the egg would be eaten, get swept away by the tides, or go cold if it were left here.

 _Wait, why should I care?_

His conscience, which he imagined spoke with Valka's sweet voice, gave him his answer.

 _It is all that you have left of him._

Hiccup had risked his life to try to save his dragon, had thought of its safety after it was captured, and even he himself recognized that the dragon had seemed to care for his son in a way that he had not imagined possible from a beast. If Hiccup were watching from Valhalla, as he certainly would be, he would want his father to take pity on and protect this dragon egg.

So he would.

He would honor his son's memory and sacrifice by protecting that which his son would have protected. He knelt down and gently reached out with both hands to grasp the egg. It was very warm to the touch and also surprisingly heavy for an object of its size.

To think that just this morning he would have gladly smashed this egg and now he was cradling it as gently and with as much care as he would a newborn babe.

His hammer on the ground caught his eye.

He would need both of his hands to securely hold the egg.

.

He tucked the egg under his furs and held it against his chest to keep it warm as he turned away and walked down the beach. A single fresh tear streaked down his cheek before vanishing into his beard. His steps were slow and heavy.

He did not look back. It would have been too painful.

The sacrifices had been made. Now his people would have peace. Peace, the very thing he had wanted above all else for decades.

He had no idea if he would be able to enjoy it though.


	2. I - Elegy - I

" _Memento mori." – Remember death._

* * *

Elegy - I

* * *

The air had gone still on Dragon Island, and there was no breeze to quickly dispel the cloud that slowly rained ash.

The youths were still searching the beach alongside their respective dragons when Gobber called out to the group and had the young people gather around him. He gave them a sad shake of his head.

"Come on ye lot. We have ta go back."

Snotlout surprised himself more than anyone else by speaking up first.

"We are not going to leave him out there. We have to find him!"

Gobber looked directly at him and tried his best to keep his composure.

"There's nothing out there ta find."

Snotlout crossed his arms, turned away defiantly, and began to walk back into the gradually clearing fog. His Monstrous Nightmare followed after him.

"Well fine, you all stay here then! I'm going to find my cousin," Snotlout shouted through the mist.

The others looked back at Gobber who solemnly shook his head.

"Let him go. I need ye lot ta help me. Stoick ordered the rest o' the tribe ta the other side o' the island. Take yer dragons, find everyone else, and bring them back here. Stoick will need ta talk ta them soon. Go on now."

Fishlegs and the twins did not look pleased, but they mounted their dragons and flew off. Astrid remained behind at his side.

"Gobber?" she asked in a pleading voice.

"Astrid?"

The unspoken question passed between them.

Gobber's shoulders slumped, and he turned away from her.

"I'm sorry Astrid."

The blacksmith stumbled over to a large, man-sized rock which he then leaned against. He had lost so many people in his life. Both his parents had already passed, Valka had been like a sister to him, and of course there were the many victims of the dragon raids over the years. Every death hurt, but as time went on they impacted him less as he became more accustomed to the loss.

This one however…

He thought of Hiccup as the son he had never had. Hiccup had always been more open with him than he had with anyone else, his own father included. Hiccup always came to him seeking comfort from the teasing, for advice about life, to commiserate about his father's formal ways, and to share ideas that he had about smithing projects.

This one would be the hardest of all for him, but he had to be strong for Stoick, the other teens, and all the others who look up to him. There was always work to be done in the shop.

If he kept himself busy, then maybe there would hopefully not be enough time to think about what he lost.

* * *

Astrid stood there in complete disbelief as Gobber walked away.

She had been sure that Hiccup would be found. After everything that he had done, after showing her a world which no Nord before had ever dreamed of, it was unthinkable that he could be gone.

He was supposed to survive! How could he leave her now?

As though in a daze, she walked over toward her Nadder curled up on the ground and apparently dozing. She reclined against its side and held her own head in her hands. Astrid the shieldmaiden and fearless warrior did something she could not remember doing before in a very long time.

She cried.

 _Why?_

 _So stupid… I encouraged him to fight. I even told him to go and fly._

What else could she have done? Could they have just left the entire village to die? Gods above, they certainly would have deserved it for how blind and arrogant they had been. But Hiccup was too good to let that happen. He would have probably joked about the danger as being just an occupational hazard or something.

And he died for all of them.

Her dragon heard her distress, raised its head, and trilled questioningly. She absentmindedly stroked its side as she shook with tremors that had nothing to do with the weather.

Hiccup had done what every true Nord should dream of doing, what she herself had dreamed of on many occasions. He felled the greatest foe ever encountered in battle and had died a death worthy of the greatest legends. He certainly earned a place of honor in Valhalla.

So why did she feel so lost? She should be happy for him.

What had he been to her?

They had been playmates when they were very little and knew nothing of the real world. That changed after the first dragon raid which she could remember. The sight of spilled blood and bodies, both living and dead, being carried off in the jaws of the monsters had changed her. The carefree, six-year old little girl in her had died that night. In the aftermath of that terrible experience, she learned from listening to her parents and to others in the village what was expected of her. She became determined to be a fierce shieldmaiden who could protect her family and tribe from the monsters which brought nothing but ruin.

Her entire life had become absorbed by training. She had to train harder than anyone else; after all, for a woman to defeat grown men and dragons in battle she had to become stronger than she had been and, more importantly, she had to be more agile than her opponents. She quickly learned to spot weaknesses and how to exploit them. Every time she had seen Hiccup, the first things she noticed were his weaknesses. He tripped over his own feet, he was short, he had no physical strength to speak of, and even his ingenious mechanical creations inevitably failed to work as planned. It was as though he did not belong in their world. He was useless to the tribe.

That she had begun ignoring Hiccup had not seemed wrong since she had done so out of duty and necessity. It was for the greater good.

Then dragon training began. She had been frustrated beyond reason by Hiccup's inexplicable success at disarming dragons. All of her proper training to deal with dragons in the right way, the Nord way, and the runt had more success than her without even seeming to try! He just had a way with the beasts! She got rightfully frustrated with him and had gone to confront him and learn the truth.

What a world it was that he had shown her. The dragon, a Night Fury nonetheless, was protective of him and even seemed affectionate towards him. What she saw directly contradicted everything that tradition told her. Then came the flight. She had never imagined the experience of feeling the mist of clouds roll through her outstretched fingers, of looking down on the clouds as if they were an ocean stretching from horizon to horizon, and of seeing the lights of Berk on the horizon from on high. The flight that he had taken her on had been the most peaceful and beautiful experience of her life. It had made her feel wonder and the simple pleasure of being alive for the first time in many years.

Other than the first few terrifying minutes and the brief excursion to the monster dragon's lair of course.

That flight helped her realize that she could not be what the rest of the tribe wanted her to be. Especially so after they had landed from the flight and Hiccup had made it clear that he was going to protect Toothless.

Afterwards, she had to balance her newfound respect for him, the beauty of the flight, and the horror of what they had seen in the dragon nest. She was not sure why she had given him a quick kiss on the cheek; it just seemed like the right thing to do at the time. It was clear to her that she liked him now that her false image of him had been thoroughly shattered.

 _I would realize that too late... so stupid..._

With a start, she realized that she had sat there so long that her legs had gone numb. After rubbing and stretching them to get back some sensation, she got back to her feet. She sighed and tapped the Nadder's side to wake up the dragon from her short nap.

It opened one of its eyes and chirped at her.

"Come on girl, we should go."

* * *

Gobber had just finished helping to splint a broken leg when Stoick reappeared through the mist as it began slowly burning off in the heat of the midday sun. Stoick briefly looked around before spotting him and walking directly to him. They looked at each other without saying a word for the longest time.

It looked to him as though Stoick had aged a decade in the time he had been gone.

"Gobber, I… I need your help."

"I've already sent the teens away ta bring everyone back."

"Good. How many did we lose?"

"Four dead, dozens are burned, many have broken bones, but nae one else should die. It could have been far worse."

"Good. There is something else though," Stoick groaned.

Gobber waited patiently for Stoick to speak.

"I… I found this."

As he said this, Stoick pulled out his right arm from underneath his shirt and showed what he was holding. It was a foot-long ovular rock that was black pitch except for several silver markings.

Gobber's eyes widened and his jaw fell open in disbelief. He could tell that the object in Stoick's hands was not a rock.

"Is that wha' I think it is?"

Stoick solemnly nodded.

"I guess the myth is true. This is all that I found back there. Hi… Hiccup would not want it to be hurt."

"What do ya want me ta do?" Gobber wondered.

Stoick looked away at the wreckage of the battlefield.

"I need to help the wounded, make repairs to the salvageable ships, and talk to the tribe when they are gathered. I need someone I can trust to protect this until we get back to Berk."

He paused a moment before looking back at Gobber and continuing.

"I don't really know anything beyond how to fight them. Of all of us… still here… you know the most about them. You would know better than me what to do for it, and you could tell me what to do once we get home. Nothing may come of it, but maybe…"

"I know more than anyone else? That's nae saying much."

"Still… will you do this for me?"

He could understand the seriousness of Stoick's request. It was true that he knew, or at least strongly suspected, some things which were not written in the Book of Dragons.

As much as he wanted to be out helping his fellow tribesmen, he knew that his own physical limitations posed a challenge in many situations. This was a task that he knew he could do, and it was an important one since it was the protection of a life.

A dragon's life.

Oh, the irony. He, the person tasked with teaching generations how to fight dragons, was now responsible for protecting one that was yet unhatched. And he knew in his bones that it was the right thing to do.

He nodded at one of the small fires which had been set slightly away from where most of the people were gathering. It was where some of those with broken bones were resting. He hobbled over and sat down next to the fire with his legs crossed and his good arm in front of his chest. Stoick carefully handed the egg over, and Gobber firmly but gently received it.

The first thing he noticed about it was that it weighed far more than he expected. The second thing was that it was so smooth at its widest part that he could see some of the light from the fire being reflected off its shell. If he had both of his hands, he would have been sorely tempted to hold it up in front of the fire on the chance that the shell was thin enough that the inside could be illuminated. It was not worth the risk with only one good hand though.

"Gobber?"

"Stoick?"

A ghostly smile of appreciation played across Stoick's features as he gently clapped Gobber on the shoulder.

"Thank you."

"Nah, don' mention it. You get back out there and be the Chief fer everyone. I'll be right 'ere."

Stoick nodded and left to organize the tribe to see to repairs and the construction of shelters.

Gobber realized something just after Stoick left earshot. It was not comfortable to be sitting on the rocky ground.

 _I should have had him bring me a pillow_.

He then remembered that they were Nords and hadn't brought any pillows with them to war. He gave a deep sigh.

 _Oh well, if I see one of the teens I will have them fetch my bag of extra undies. They'll do well enough._

He settled into his quiet, simple vigil.

* * *

The twins and Fishlegs reappeared after an hour and gave Stoick the news that the other members of the tribe were safe and would be returning to the beach. In the meantime, he had been very busy. He and a company of men had already begun repairs to the one heavily-damaged ship which was still salvageable. Those people with the most serious injuries had already been sent back on the two undamaged ships. Stoick trusted that the healers back at Berk would tend to them.

Though he wanted to be off the accursed island, he knew that he had to wait. He owed his people an explanation for the day's events, and he wanted to tell everyone at once. That would have to wait until later when everyone returned from the other side of the island.

* * *

Astrid had briefly looked for Gobber to find something to do before giving up and going to find work on her own. Any kind of action would be better than just sitting around waiting for something to happen. She had found a few people who had minor burns and helped to bandage them up; however, she noted that most of them were reluctant to accept her help. She couldn't imagine why. After this simple work was completed, she saw the other youths, minus Snotlout, gathered together around a fire along with their dragons. She went to join them.

She sat down next to Fishlegs and rested against her Nadder. The dragon cocked its head at her and chirped happily at her return. The teens looked at each other in silence and exhaustion.

"Well, what have you all been doing?" Astrid sighed.

Fishlegs answered her after a moment.

"We came back to help out with repairs. No one wanted us to help though. We can't figure out why."

"Sure, we are just kids, but we can still help. It's so boring to just be sitting here," Tuffnut spoke up.

Astrid knew that Tuffnut and Ruffnut had a reputation for destruction and recklessness. Most of their pranks were directed at each other, but there was frequently some collateral damage. It made sense that there would be some unwillingness on the part of the villagers to accept their help on anything important, such as repairs to the ships. However, that did not explain their reaction to Fishlegs, or for that matter, to herself.

What was it that the four of them shared that would make the villagers reluctant to accept their help?

The answer was literally staring her in the face.

"Oh, no they don't!" Astrid indignantly exclaimed.

After a moment of thought, she realized that yes, they did. After all, the villagers were Nords and Nords, as everyone knows, have stubbornness issues.

"What is it Astrid?" Fishlegs asked as he looked up from the poking at the fire.

"They don't want our help because of our dragons. They don't trust us even after we helped to save them! Even after Hiccup just showed…" her indignation died instantly, and she looked away without completing her thought.

No, she was not ready to talk about that. The grief was still too near.

When she looked up, she saw that Fishlegs was staring aimlessly into the distance and Ruffnut was resting her head against her brother's shoulder. Tuffnut initially seemed confused by the gesture. After all, physical contact between them was limited to their fists. However, he was not so dense that he couldn't recognize her desire for comfort and thus, in a rare display of sibling affection, he did not pull away and make her fall on her face. Such trickery didn't seem right at the moment.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, and even their dragons seemed to pick up on their sullen moods.

All the youths were thinking along the same lines. What were they to do now? There was no possibility that any of them could revert to the life that they had been training to live. Hiccup had changed them by showing them that their lifelong enemies were not the monsters they had always been taught they were. He had also explained to them before they left for the Dragon Island that the dragons only raided to be able to feed the now-dead Monster.

What would happen in the future with that beast now gone? What would change now? They felt certain that dragons would not be the cause of more death and destruction on Berk.

Even though they had only had their dragons for less than a day, they already felt very protective of their creatures. Astrid most appreciated the Nadder's beauty and agility, Snotlout the Nightmare's fiery temper and imposing stature, Fishlegs the Gronkle's calm demeanor, and the twins the raw destructive potential of the two-headed Zippleback. All of them had initially experienced terror, Astrid being the exception, and then exhilaration once they began flying. To not be a prisoner to the ground, to look down on the world below, and to see the clouds rolling away beneath them was a prospect that had not occurred to them except in rare moments of childish dreaming. It was now their reality.

"What happens now?" Tuffnut interjected into the silence.

Astrid finally said what they were all thinking.

"It depends on what Stoick decides. Only the Elder could object if he decides to let the dragons stay."

They began wondering what would happen to their dragons once they got back on Berk. Would they indeed be allowed to keep them? What would they do if not?

Astrid could think of several people back in the village who would be absolutely opposed on principle to letting them keep their dragons.

"Are you going to try to talk to him?" Fishlegs asked.

She thought for a moment as a plan started to form in her mind.

"Yes, and I know just what to do."

* * *

It was mid-afternoon on Dragon Island. Stoick stood in front of his entire tribe minus those too wounded to walk and those already on the boats going back home. He could tell that his remaining people were afraid and confused. If they expected him to be able to ease their fears, they were mistaken. What he was going to tell them would change their entire world. He wasn't entirely certain what their reaction would be. He was still having difficulty accepting the truth himself.

Astrid had approached him a couple of hours ago and wanted to discuss the matter of the dragons. As she was one of the dragon riders who had come to their rescue, he had felt obligated to listen to what she had to say and to ask her questions of his own. Their discussion had also clarified some of the questions he had been asking himself concerning what exactly had happened.

He also found out that she shared his primary concern. Specifically, how was the peace, which they both knew was possible now, between dragons and humans going to be preserved given their history of violence. If there were to be an incident, it would likely be the result of a bitter and stubborn villager.

Stoick began to speak.

"Settle down everyone!"

They did.

"First, the two good ships we have are already sailing home with our most wounded. The ships will be back with supplies in a couple days. We will tough it out here until then. It'll be rough, but it is an occupational hazard. Some of you, you know who you are, are already on fishing duty."

A few nods of assent went around the audience.

"You are all wondering what happened."

A chorus of "Yeahs" and "That's right" followed.

"Well, all the dragon raids were because of that giant dead dragon over there. It used the dragons to gather food. With it gone, we will never be bothered by the dragons again."

He tried to keep it simple and to the point. He had found that doing so always helped when delivering bad or unsettling news. However, the villagers' reaction was not what he had expected. He had thought that they would be relieved to hear that they would not have to fear waking up to the sounds of a dragon raid in the dead of night. That they might actually get to enjoy peace for the first time in their lives.

He did not expect dead silence. It was obvious that they were confused and scared.

Change.

Their mutual hatred of dragons and unified struggle against the beasts had been the common purpose that kept their community together. It kept the peace by giving otherwise different people a common ground, something that they could commiserate about at the Great Hall while drinking ales. They did not know who they were without the past. Their very identity was going to have to change. They had no idea yet how much it would change if he had his way.

"In fact, we are going to do more than tolerate them. We have always been wrong about them. They were never our real enemy. I'm sure you are wondering what we are going to do now."

He paused and looked up in the sky to where Astrid was gliding in on her Nadder. The dragon dove elegantly and backwinged next to the pedestal where he stood. Astrid hopped off the Nadder's back and stood next to its head to reassure it against the assembled villagers, many of whom had pulled knives or were holding on to their axes for reassurance.

She rubbed its head underneath the jaw, and the birdlike dragon trilled in pleasure, even though it still looked around at its surroundings in suspicion.

"Good job girl. Don't worry, they won't hurt you."

She then turned and, still stroking her dragon, faced the stunned audience. They had never seen something so bizarre as a dragon standing peacefully next to a person who did not look at all afraid of it. Not only was that incredible, but the dragon seemed to enjoy the attention that Astrid was giving it.

Astrid was not afraid of being in front of crowds. After all, she had relished every opportunity to show her battle skills in the kill ring when they trained against dragons. However, she had never spoken in public before, and she was very nervous. Not that she would ever admit it to anyone or let it show. She was also slightly worried about the response to what she was going to say since it was going to be completely contrary to their tradition.

She held her head high and spoke as confidently as she could.

"We are going to train them."

Blank stares that passed between her, the Nadder, and the Chief were the only response they got. But Astrid was not very worried yet. She had suspected that something like this might happen.

"Do you know what this means? We will teach them to do things like hunt for us. Maybe even defend us against Outcasts. Think of how much they can do for us."

One of the villagers slowly got to her feet and made to speak. Astrid could not remember her name, but she did recognize her from the town. She was not an especially physically imposing woman, but everything about her bearing, from the way she carried her shoulders to the piercing glare of her eyes, bespoke a strength of will and character that few could hope to match.

"I know exactly what they do for us. I lost my husband last year and one of my sons the year before that! And take a guess what type of dragon it was that took them both!"

She was staring with a cold, unblinking gaze at the Nadder.

"You want us to trust these, these beasts when that one that you are cuddling," she spat on the ground, "might be the one that took my family from me!"

Several cheers of agreement went up throughout the assembly.

She finally remembered the woman's name, Ingrid, from the stories she had heard in the Great Hall about the most unfortunate in the battles. Almost everyone had lost an immediate or extended family member or one closely related to the family in some way. A few though were unfortunate enough to lose multiple family members. These ones generally became the most bloodthirsty of warriors, and thus tended to get themselves killed or abandoned themselves in drinking and other debaucheries. Ingrid was one of the ones who somehow maintained her sanity and her prowess in battle.

"They had to attack us for food. It was that or be eaten by that monster. It was responsible, not them," Astrid pleaded.

Ingrid shook her head and frowned at her response.

"That changes nothing. They are the ones who attack us! If they were afraid of it as you say, why didn't they just leave it?"

She did not know what to say about that. Hiccup had never explained why the dragons didn't simply fly away from the nest. What could possibly have been stopping them?

"You are so ignorant. Sure you have been in dragon training and did well, but we both know that training is nothing like the real world!"

"What? What do I not know! You think that I have not seen how bad it was? I have! I was there! Why else do you think I trained so hard and for so long?" Astrid yelled.

"You dare think that you have lost as much as I have! What do you know about loss?"

"I lost Hiccup!"

Astrid did not notice in the silence that followed that there were several fine trails of tears falling down her cheeks. No one else noticed either because all eyes save hers immediately went to Stoick.

He stood stiffly and slowly reached up to remove his helmet. He did not need to say anything for the rest of the assembly to understand that Astrid spoke the truth.

They removed their helmets as well.

"Hiccup trained that Night Fury, and he tried to tell us that we did not understand. But we did not… I did not listen," Stoick finally broke the relative silence after a few moments had passed.

"And what are we to do about the past, Chief? Should we forget our fallen brothers and sisters? What about justice for them?" Ingrid objected.

If anyone else had dared to speak up to the Chief at that moment, they would likely have regretted it. Ingrid's status and history gave her more liberty to speak her mind in such situations.

Justice.

 _Is that what is really important here?_ Stoick wondered.

Is justice just another word for revenge in this case? And if not, what do the dragons really deserve? He had no way to know what the dragons were really thinking, if they were thinking at all.

Being honest with himself, he knew that he wanted to take revenge on every dragon that had hurt either him or his own over the years. He completely understood her anger. After all, he had lost his beloved Valka to them years ago. But now, he recognized that pursuing revenge, or justice if one so wished to call it, would only lead to destruction and more death. It was a cycle of violence that tradition was incapable of escaping. He had already promised himself and Hiccup that he would change and make Berk a better place.

He looked up to the sky and gestured for everyone to look as well. They could all see several dragons gliding above the island. It was likely that possibly hundreds more were unseen.

"We can't bring back the dead, but we can remember them and we can make them proud by how we live. I would rather not have to fight anymore. I am tired of the fighting."

It was a very bizarre statement for the Chief to be making to his people. He was supposed to be a constant, indomitable person. But he now appeared vulnerable before them. His shoulders slumped slightly and his voice lacked the brash timbre which they had become accustomed to hearing from him.

"My son died for us because we would not listen. We have a chance to live in a better world now because of him."

He turned to face Ingrid directly and addressed her specifically.

"Think about Arnor and Hynrick. Do you want them to die in war also?"

She remained silent as she pondered his words of warning.

"We will allow the dragons that can be trained to stay on Berk, and I will put Astrid in charge of running the new training Academy once we get home. For now, we need to be patient and wait for the ships to get back."

Stoick finished his speech as firmly as he could and then stepped down to signal the end of the gathering. The crowd began dispersing with much muttering and grumbling.

 _That will surely give them something to think about._

"Oh, Astrid."

Astrid nervously turned to face him.

"Chief?"

He crossed his massive arms across his chest and gave her a faint smile.

"You did well in front of them. Just remember that she is not the only one who might not want to change. She is too honorable to do something bad now that I have spoken. Others though… I'll try to help when I can, but the Academy will be your responsibility as we talked about."

"Yes sir, I understand."

"Good."

"We could fly back right now and have fishing boats be sent over. We could get everyone back home faster and bring supplies."

He rubbed his beard in thought.

"Good idea Astrid. Just be careful not to scare anyone over there since they won't know what happened here. You will have to explain as best you can ehen they see your dragons. I'm leaving with the last group that leaves the island."

"We will leave at once."

She ran off without delay to tell the other teens about their new mission, and her dragon naturally followed her.

There was finally something productive to do. Something to keep her minds off other things.

It was her idea to establish the training Academy back on Berk. With enough time, everyone would hopefully be able to adjust to the changes that were coming. However, Nords, being themselves, would definitely need help adjusting. She did not think that the method for resolving disputes with each other, normally a fistfight, would work well with dragons. People needed to learn gentler, more appropriate ways to interact with the creatures they would be sharing their island with.

It would be up to them, her and the other teens, to teach the rest of the tribe everything they knew. That wasn't saying much though. They only had their dragons for a day and they were still learning how to interact with them. Some things seemed to happen naturally between them, such as the Zippleback heads seeming to try to keep the twins as far apart as possible. It was very likely that, in that one instance, they had more sense than their riders.

Hiccup had shown them everything that they knew, such as what kind of fish they liked, where they liked to be scratched, what to never attempt to feed them unless one wanted to be growled at, and how to hold on during flight. Other things that should be obvious, such as do not kick the dragon or do not yell at the dragon, were clear to her, but might need to be reinforced for the sake of others.

She finally arrived back where the rest of the teens were waiting. Fishlegs looked up at her approach. She also noticed that the Nightmare was back, and that had to mean that Snotlout was nearby.

"Hey Fish, he finally got back I see."

"Yeah, it was really bad. He was crying. I didn't know he cared that much."

"Where is he now?"

"He is over there with his dragon. I think he is sleeping, he only got back from searching about a half hour ago."

Astrid nodded. She would not ask Snotlout to come with them since he was not needed and he was not likely in good enough shape right now.

"Are you ready to go right now?" she asked Fishlegs.

"Uh, go where?"

"I suggested that we fly back to Berk to have them send more boats to get everyone back faster, and the Chief agreed. We leave as soon as we can."

"Ok then, I can leave now. Should I get Snotlout?"

"No, let him rest. He probably needs the time alone. We can do this on our own."

"Ok, I'll go get the twins."

Fishlegs left her side and made his way over to where Ruffnut and Tuffnut were resting. She walked over to her Nadder; it seemed very relieved to be away from the crowd and back around people that it knew. She took a few moments to give it a scratch under the chin and was rewarded with an affectionate purr.

"Hey girl, you ready to fly?"

It cocked its birdlike head and gave a single questioning chirp. Astrid looked up at the sky, and the dragon's gaze followed. Its eyes widened a moment later, and it gave a happy squawk while ruffling its wings.

 _Clever girl, you knew what I meant_.

It crouched down and craned its neck around to look at its back. Astrid took the gesture as the invitation to climb on. Then it struck her that this would be the first time she flew a great distance both alone and completely on her own volition with her dragon.

 _I can do this._

She pulled herself onto her Nadder's back and seated herself on the makeshift saddle.

"Ok girl, let's wait for the others."

A couple moments later, she saw the Gronkle and Zippleback take wing with their respective humans. She rested a hand against her Nadder's neck. It was time.

"Alright girl, let's go."

The dragon gave a chirp of delight and extended its wings. Astrid's breath caught in her throat as she knew what was about to happen. Flying was still a new experience for her.

The dragon leapt and began to ascend with sweeping strokes of its wings. Astrid held tightly to the saddle as her initial anxiety began to fade away and was replaced by a growing feeling of exhilaration. The air flowing past sent her braid flying behind her. The dragon ascended in a tight spiral and joined the other two after they broke through the remains of the faint cloud bank that had always hung over the island.

Astrid turned around and looked back at the island as the Nadder swerved through sea-stacks. The fog was thin enough that she could make out the entire shoreline complete with the ruined husks of their ships, the campfires and makeshift tents they had set up, and the still-smoldering pile of charred flesh and bones that had been the monstrous Queen dragon.

As an afterthought, she remembered that Toothless had not been seen since the battle. She knew that Toothless would have tried to save Hiccup and must have perished as well. A living Night Fury would have definitely had everyone's attention. She knew that she would miss that dragon too; after all, Toothless had given her the first experience of flight and had genuinely cared for Hiccup.

So much had been lost and gained on that island. She knew that she was going to have bad dreams about that place and everything that had happened this day for a long time. She doubted that she would ever return. What possible reason could she have to return to the place where Hiccup died?

Still feeling a sharp pain in her heart, she turned away from the island and looked toward the horizon where Berk awaited after several hours of easy flight. A faint breeze was starting to pick up in her face, and she could see storm clouds gathering on the horizon.

"Great, a storm."

The other two dragons came to fly alongside hers. At least the twins would have some fun on this flight.

"Well girl, I hope you are up for flying through a storm."

The Nadder chirped at its companions and kept her course out over the sea. It seemed to know exactly where Astrid wished to be taken.

She lay down flat on her dragon's back, closed her eyes, and slowly stroked the great neck before her.

 _Oh gods…_

The tears which trickled down her face were quickly swept away by the wind.


	3. I - Elegy - II

_**Author's note - Elegy was originally one chapter, but I needed to go back and split an early chapter in volume I into two chapters.** _

* * *

" _Memento mori." – Remember death._

* * *

Elegy - II

* * *

Never in all her life had Astrid thought that she would be worried to arrive back to Berk. Or that she would do so from the sky while soaking wet and shivering.

The storm had not started out particularly violently, but it had rained very hard and there had been several terrifying moments when a rogue gust almost tipped her off-balance. Her dragon though seemed to know exactly how to navigate such weather and instinctively reacted to each gust. Thankfully, the lightning storm stayed far above the three dragons as they passed through the rest of the storm. Between the multi-pronged forks and the constant rumbling in the background, it made for a very impressive display.

 _Perhaps Thor is angry._

The thought of Thor brought back something else to her mind. There had also been that one strange, purple lightning bolt that she had seen through the inferno. It only now struck her that the lightning bolt had been completely out of place. She had been too afraid and awe-struck to reflect on it at the time.

Her Nadder began to shiver, and its wings trembled as they pumped through the howling wind.

"It's ok girl, you can do it! Almost there!"

She could already make out the coastline of Berk through the thinning sheets of rain.

"I can see it!" she heard Fishlegs's distant shout.

They finally broke through the last of the sheets of rain and emerged into a glorious evening sunset on the western horizon. The signal-fires were clearly visible on the outer sea-stacks. Astrid looked back at the storm which they had just passed through and had one more reason to be relieved that she was not still back on that island.

The village itself looked mostly deserted because it was. Only the Elder Gothi, her attendant, the children, a couple women chosen to watch over the children, and a few farmers and fishermen were left behind. Everyone else had sailed with the fleet.

 _Where should we land? We don't want to scare them but we need to let them know that dragons are not a threat._

She finally decided that they could risk landing in town next to the Great Hall. Almost everyone would be gathered inside the Hall, so they could safely land outside and then, hopefully, explain what had happened.

The three dragons glided over the village, and Astrid guided them to land near the Hall. They seemed a bit nervous about being in the village again. The Zippleback and Nadder backwinged gracefully as they touched down, and the Gronkle buzzed in to land in its own way. The dragons then shifted on their feet while looking around the village.

The four youths, completely soaked to the bone and slightly shivering, looked at each other in the evening daylight.

"That was scary," Fishlegs mumbled.

"Yeah, we almost died," Ruffnut agreed with a breathy emphasis on the 'died'.

"I know, it was awesome!" Tuffnut answered.

Astrid just rolled her eyes in amusement.

 _Some things never change_.

"You all stay here to keep them company. I'll be right back."

She turned to the twins and held up a fist.

"And you two had better not do anything stupid! Or else!"

"Or else what?" Tuffnut shouted.

Astrid turned away, walked over to the Hall's entrance, and put her hand on the door. Then she took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

The sounds of revelry and the smells of mutton and ale immediately greeted her. Of course, the Hall was mostly empty, but there were still enough people in the village to make for a merry gathering. She looked around and located the person she needed. Elder Gothi was slowly sipping her soup while sitting alone at her customary position at the table nearest the door.

"Elder, I am sorry to disturb you, but I have something I need to show you."

Gothi turned her piercing blue eyes on her, and Astrid felt like the Elder's gaze stared through her very soul. This was the first time she had ever spoken with the Elder, and she felt ashamed, as if merely speaking to her was somehow irreverent, but she did not look away. Gothi eventually relaxed and turned to look at the door. She cocked her head to the side and looked back at Astrid as if to say, "At this hour?"

"Yes, I know it is odd, but I need to show you now. And only you."

Once again, Gothi looked suspicious, but she slowly rose to her feet while leaning heavily on her cane. She needed a bit of help pushing the door open, and Astrid gladly obliged to help in this regard. They walked outdoors together.

What would Gothi say? Or more precisely, what would she think? The entire plan depended on Gothi's opinion of the dragons and her willingness to speak up in their defense to the rest of the tribe. And yet, she had spent years seeing the results of the raids. The Elder was supposedly the wisest among the tribe, but had she lost someone dear for whom she harbored a need for revenge?

Astrid paused just before they turned the corner and she took a deep breath.

"Elder, before I show you I need to tell you not to worry. They will not hurt you."

Gothi's questioning expression spoke for itself.

"Well, you know how the Chief left for Dragon Island?"

A strangely sad, disappointed, and curt nod was her response.

"I and the other teens went too, and we just got back. We… we did not use boats."

There. She had said it. Only a complete idiot would fail to make the connection and, of all Berk's inhabitants, the Elder was certainly not an idiot.

Gothi stood stock-still with a far-away look in her eyes. Slowly, she turned to look at Astrid with a strange expression which she could not place. Was it indignation? Amazement? The two sets of eyes, one youthful and energetic and the other ancient and tired, stared at each other for several moments. Without any warning, Gothi walked forward with as much purpose as someone her age could muster. She turned the corner and froze in place. When Astrid joined her, she saw that the three dragons were calmly resting with their respective humans, Astrid excepted, reclining at their sides. No disaster had befallen the group in the couple of minutes she had been gone.

The impromptu saddles that had been constructed the day before were clearly visible on the dragons' backs. After a couple moments, Gothi began slowly walking toward the nearest dragon, her Nadder. It began to stir at her approach and raised its head to look at her.

 _Ok girl, please be very, very good..._

She made sure that her dragon could see her right next to the new person so that it would not be afraid. There were maybe ten feet between it and the Elder. Gothi then stood as tall as she could, not that it meant much considering her age, and let go of her staff, which fell to the ground with a clang. She hobbled very slowly with a heavy limp toward the dragon and held out a tiny, shaking hand toward the Nadder's head.

* * *

Astrid was very proud of her dragon. Even flying through that storm paled in comparison to what she had just done. Not only had she not seemed afraid of the Elder, but she had been very gentle with the old woman and had let the strange human rest a hand on her nose, on her blind spot. She could not see the expression on Gothi's face, but she knew from how the Elder was gently stroking the dragon's head that she had been completely won over.

 _I really need to give you a name. Something simple but not dumb. Hmm, Azure… Stormflier… Stormfly... Stormfly. Yes, that sounds good. I wonder what the twins will come up with. Probably something disgusting._

Slowly, as if to avoid startling the dragon, Gothi turned around and walked back toward Astrid. She stopped at the cane on the ground. Without being asked, Astrid bent down, picked it up, and handed it to Gothi who smiled kindly in return and used it to write a single word in the dirt.

 **Talk.**

"So after everyone else left, Hiccup… showed us how to get the dragons' trust, and we flew to Dragon Island. There was a monster dragon on the island. It was bigger than the Great Hall. It was making the others gather food for it or else they would be eaten. That is why the raids happened all these years. Most of the boats had been smashed and everyone was running around in chaos when we got to the island. Hiccup found his Night Fury, freed him, and they went to fight against the monster."

Astrid paused as those final moments replayed themselves in her memory. Gothi gently laid a wrinkled hand on her arm and silently told her to continue.

"They… they tricked the monster and made it crash but… they are… gone," she barely whispered the last part as if not saying it out loud would make it hurt less or be less immediately felt.

"We… we came back here to have all the fishing boats be sent to pick up those stranded on the island. Two boats from the fleet were still floating and are bringing the wounded back right now. And I brought you out here to show you that the dragons are not our enemies now. You know how stubborn the rest of the tribe will be. They would never listen to just me."

Gothi solemnly nodded once and looked off into the distance in obvious thought. Then the corners of her mouth lifted in a smirk. She used her cane to write in the dirt again.

 **Wait here.**

The Elder turned and hobbled back inside the Hall while Astrid went to give attention to the newly-named Stormfly.

* * *

She had been hard at thought ever since Hiccup's performance in the Ring. When one reaches her age, there is little more to do with the time than think. She was very frustrated with Stoick's pride. He led the entire tribe off essentially to war without even consulting the Elder or getting her blessing. There was also no mistaking what she had just seen and experienced. And that meant that everything else that Astrid Hofferdottir had said was likely accurate as well. It was truly a shame. Hiccup had always been different and had been able to learn something about dragons before any of them. She paused a moment as she remembered something else.

Hiccup's mother, Valka, had once said very similar things. Was it possible that she had learned whatever Hiccup had also realized? She had always been a little bit different as well.

Astrid was certainly right that only the Elder could possibly convince those of the tribe still on Berk about what she was claiming. But how to go about this? They were a very simple, superstitious lot who trusted in tradition unquestioningly. The tradition is that Nords kill dragons. But there is another tradition even older than the war against dragons. The tribe listens to the Elder when he or she makes a pronouncement. Especially when there are special circumstances surrounding the message. She smiled again to herself as she put together her plan to get her point across.

After hobbling inside the Hall, and making a noisy display of doing so, she walked directly up to the bonfire at the center of the Hall. She held her cane in both hands and raised her shaking arms above her head. The chatter in the Hall quickly quieted as they realized that something profound was happening.

* * *

Astrid paced back and forth as she waited for Gothi to reappear. Stormfly had long since grown bored of walking in circles and lay back down to rest. What was the Elder doing by the way? How could Gothi possibly convince them? She waited with baited breath.

After a few minutes, a small crowd of fishermen, women, and children began to trickle forth from the Hall. They turned the corner and froze when they saw the motley gathering. Astrid fully expected screaming, panic, and weapons to be drawn and had already moved to stand next to Stormfly to give her reassurance if the need should arise. The crowd, still being led by Gothi, slowly made its way closer to the dragons until Gothi held up a hand and pointed. If Astrid had not known that Gothi was already on their side, she would have thought that the Elder could have been commanding an attack.

Gothi then walked forward alone and repeated her earlier performance with Stormfly. The moment her hand touched the dragon's nose, Astrid heard a collective gasp from the bystanders and a great deal of muttering.

' _Impossible...' 'I don' believe it.' 'Wow.' 'Don't say that!' 'I…knew…I…one…too…many.' 'Wish I had my axe.' 'Is she mad?' 'You saw it, the vision was true.' 'Our Elder is a Seer!' 'Praise the gods!' 'And the kids really rode them?'_

The fact that almost none of them were genuinely contemplating threatening the dragons was good enough for Astrid, although she was rather curious what happened in the Hall. She spied young Gustav staring at Stormfly in what looked like awe. Most of the parents were holding onto their children very tightly, but Gustav was a very slippery and curious child. Perhaps he could tell her what happened.

"Gustav, what happened in there?"

He barely managed to tear his wide eyes away from Stormfly. He lowered his voice in a conspiratorial whisper.

"Oh, Astrid, it was so cool! The Elder had a vision, and she wrote everything down. She saw a great battle on Dragon Island and she saw that dragons were helping us and she saw dragons carry some of us back to Berk and everyone thought it was crazy and she said that we should come out here and see the gift of the gods and here you are and they are all friendly and they look so amazing!"

 _I wonder if he is excited at all?_

The next few minutes passed in a blur as she was asked all manner of questions about the outcome of the battle and how she had tamed her dragon. She was spared the continued difficulty of explaining the situation when Gothi began writing instructions and ordering the fishermen to make ready their ships. The healers were told to assemble their medicines and prepare for the arrival of the wounded. The crowd gradually dispersed until only Snotlout's little brother Gustav was left, still wide-eyed.

It was done. The ships were being readied, and Berk was ready for the arrival of its wounded. She had also made the first step toward peacefully introducing the dragons onto Berk. And now she finally realized how hungry and exhausted she was. When had she last eaten anyway? Or any of them for that matter?

"Gustav, is there any food left inside?"

"Yeah, there is a lot of bread, cheese, and fish but the mead is all gone and do you think your dragons would like some fish? I think they would like fish."

"Ok, how about you go get us some bread and cheese. I will get the fish. And I'll let you give Stormfly a fish."

"Ok!"

He was off running toward the Hall. She would have preferred to eat in the Hall since it would be warmer and would provide better shelter, but that would have meant them leaving their dragons alone outside. There were too many things that could go wrong with that plan since they were back on Berk.

She called out to Fishlegs, Ruff, and Tuff.

"I'll get a basket of fish from the storehouse."

"Ok, we'll be right here," Fishlegs piped up.

The three of them remained with their dragons outside the Hall and felt the exhaustion of a long day closing on them. Astrid eventually returned with enough fish for all three of their dragons to be at least sated, and Gustav also returned with bread and cheese for them. They ate in silence and the four teens returned to their homes an hour later with their respective charges in tow.

* * *

The camp back on the island was very impromptu with sails having been recovered to use as tents and ruined ships salvaged for firewood. The men were huddled around the campfires to ward off the night chill and were roasting what remained of the fish and chewing on tough bread. Every so often a wild dragon came near to investigate the camps and was shooed away. Stoick had given specific orders that none of the dragons were to be attacked except in self-defense. Stoick worked himself tirelessly, taking out his nervous energy and grief on logs that needed lifting and supplies that needed moving.

Finally, after all his men and women were taken care of, Stoick lay down as well. He briefly thought to himself how ironic it was that the first night of peace with the creatures was in fact spent with his tribe on Dragon Island as he had always thought it would be, but the peace was because of very different reasons. He had trouble falling asleep at first. There was an odd chill in the air that seemed to have nothing to do with the weather and the nearby fire seemed powerless to dispel.

In one of those tents, his head propped up by a pile of unmentionables, Gobber slept soundly with a precious bundle in his arms.

* * *

Astrid awoke at dawn as was her custom. It was evening of the fifth day after she and the other riders had returned to Berk. The first day had passed in a blur with various questions being asked of her, the supposed dragon expert, and her helping to slowly acclimate people on the island to their new company. That evening the first two boats arrived with the wounded and burn victims. She and the other riders helped to patch up the wounded. Between the additional fishing vessels making two round-trips and the initial boats returning as well, everyone made it off Dragon Island and was back on Berk. Stoick was the last one off the final boat. There was no cheering at his return. The final boat was also the one that carried the bodies of the fallen, brought back to Berk to receive their final rites as was custom. One of them had been crushed by the Monster and the others were burned alive in the initial firestorm the creature had unleashed. The ceremony in their memory was about to begin.

"It is time, Astrid," her mother Vídarr told her.

She was naturally very relieved that both of her parents had returned home safely. She had hugged her mother tightly when she returned in the second wave. There were many tears on both of their cheeks at the reunion. It had been very awkward introducing her parents to Stormfly. Her mother had gasped in fright when the Nadder flew over to Astrid's side. At least her father, Sigurd, had remained calm except for a slight twitching in his jaw.

Neither of her parents were especially great fighters, though they had managed to survive so far. They had immigrated to Berk a generation ago to escape an outbreak of tribal violence in the south. That the family was not completely native to Berk in part explained why they had not followed the tradition of naming their daughter something hideous. It was also the reason why they were lean and agile, very abnormal for Nords.

As the days had passed without incident, they had gradually come to accept Astrid's dragon as not being a threat to her safety or to theirs. There had even been one instance where she had to excuse herself for a moment and had returned just in time to see both of her parents subtly hand Stormfly a couple fish while grinning deeply.

As far as she was aware, none of the other youths had faced any major objections from their parents regarding the new pets.

Astrid led Stormfly to the stables that had been modified on very short notice to accommodate the dragons and then followed the crowd down to the harbor. The entire tribe gathered around the old sloop which Stoick had chosen to bear the deceased. They all removed their helmets as the bodies or selected remains were carried forth. The family members of the fallen lay swords, spears, and other mementos on the pyres. Finally, Stoick himself walked slowly onto the ship with both of his arms held out before him. In his arms lay a small tunic. No one needed to ask to whom it had belonged.

He lay the tunic on top of the remaining empty pyre. Alone on the ship and facing away from his people, he lay his hands on the pyre.

It was eerily similar to what he had gone through fourteen years ago. There had been no body for that burial either. He had at least still had his infant son to look after and to love back then.

Now though…

A horn sounded just as the sun dipped below the horizon. Stoick pulled himself away from the pyre and stood on the dock as the ship's sails were unfurled and picked up the eastern wind.

How absurd this was for him. He now had to give the same type of speech that he had given in the past to those who had fallen. He would sing their praises and recall their bravery in giving their lives for their tribe. They had earned Valhalla. As had Hiccup.

So why did it all seem empty and hollow?

He raised his axe high. The archers notched their flaming arrows and waited for the signal.

He lowered the axe and a dozen arrows soared through the air and lit up the ship out in the harbor. Everyone waited a minute for the flames to catch, and he found his voice again.

"We give honor to the Fallen. They have passed on in battle and have pleased the gods. May the Valkyries welcome them and lead them. Let their names be sung and their deeds be ever praised. They now feast at the Table of Kings in Valhalla with glory undimmed so long as the gods endure."

The sails were completely engulfed as the flames shot heavenward.

As one, the Berkians raised their voices in a cheer to honor the departed. While the noise was still dying down, Gobber noticed Stoick's gaze and spoke up on his behalf when the silence returned.

"Well, let's get a move on. Ta the Great Hall! We have celebrating ta do."

The Nords were accustomed to the ceremony by now, having been through it dozens of times in as many years. They quickly began moving towards the Great Hall, where they could already smell a true feast being prepared. Several large barrels of mead would be rolled out. Each of them knew that it would be a very long night filled with stories from those who were on the Island and saw the events unfold. The drinks would also spark conversation about the dragons that Berk now called its own.

None of them noticed that Stoick lingered at the harbor long after everyone else had left, staring out across the twilight ocean at the flames that still clung to life on the outline of the sinking ship.

 _I'm so sorry Val. I killed our son. I drove him away. And he was the strongest of us all. I don't know… Please forgive me._

The final spark still alight on the water was finally extinguished. He turned with a deep sigh and stumbled away to join his people in the Hall. No one would ever see that his sleeves were wet from having wiped away the tears from his cheeks.

* * *

Gobber left the feast early before the drinks began to catch up to him and hobbled his way back to his house to check up on a certain charge of his. He and Stoick had agreed that it would be best for him to hold onto the egg for a while longer so that Stoick could fulfill his Chiefly duties without being distracted. He closed the door to his small dwelling and walked over to the fireplace. He had wrapped the egg in an old cloth and left it a few feet from the fireplace. There was nothing else that he thought needed to be done for the egg beyond keeping it mildly warm and occasionally turning it as mother birds would.

After having spent a few days with it, he already felt strangely protective towards it. He brushed aside the top of the cloth and lowered his good hand to rest his palm on top of the egg.

 _I wonder what will become of you._


	4. I - On The Edge Of Tomorrow

" _It was better to know the worst than to wonder." – Margaret Mitchell - Gone with the Wind_

* * *

On The Edge Of Tomorrow

* * *

Astrid looked over the vista spread out beneath her. The trees had started turning several weeks ago, and most of the Ashes and Oaks were now bare in their crowns. There was more of a chill in the air now, and the clouds had taken on a dark hue to their undersides. It was autumn.

It always amazed her how Stormfly could manage to find the updrafts and currents that spiraled around the mountains on Berk. That let the dragon remain aloft for upwards of an hour with minimal effort. She lowered a hand to Stormfly's neck and gave the dragon a soft rub for which Stormfly purred in happiness.

The wind rushing past fanned her hair out behind her. She closed her eyes for a few minutes and relished the flow of the air over her and the whistle of the wind.

 _It is so peaceful up here._

Flying was definitely her favorite thing to do now, except for perhaps the time she still devoted to training as a shieldmaiden in the woods. She did not want to scare any of the dragons with the axes, swords, and yelling. Not that she was specifically training to fight against dragons anymore. No, it was simply her doing her best to keep her skills sharp.

Being up here among the clouds though made her feel… free. Like she was above all the bickering and stupidity in the village beneath her.

She sighed and tried to keep her frustrations from ruining this flight with her dragon.

It was not easy being a leader in the village. Just a few months ago, she had hoped to become important by being a prominent dragon killer. Now, she was the leader of the training Academy where people who wanted to learn were taught how to peacefully interact with dragons. She got to show them how to approach a new dragon; slowly and with clearly empty hands. The exception would be to do so with a fish. Yelling at the dragons never seemed to help since they would either completely ignore the one doing the yelling or would roar back far louder than any human could possibly hope to match.

Some Nords had a nasty habit of kicking farmyard animals out of frustration. She had made it very clear that such behavior was a certain way to get a dragon to attack them. Not that she thought that the people who actually came to the training sessions really needed to be told that since they seemed to be the more reasonable members of the village.

It was a satisfying way for her to contribute to the tribe. She got to show them that the creatures they had always been told were demons sent to plague the world were actually creatures just like any other. Treat them nicely and they will naturally do the same back. Some of them even seemed clever and capable of something like affection toward people.

On the other hand, hers was not seen as an honorable position in the community. Sure, Stoick, Gobber, Gothi, the rest of the teens, a good number of children, and a few of the adults seemed to approve of what she was doing. That she enjoyed the support of the Elder and the Chief meant that no one openly opposed her. The feeding stations remained filled, and the dragons that lived in the village were not harassed as far as she knew. Still, none of this stopped the rest of the village from shunning her in the Hall, refusing to deal with her family, giving her snide looks, and forbidding their children from attending the Academy or interacting with dragons.

Even aside from the villagers, the dragons themselves were not always the most cooperative creatures. They had initially wandered wherever they liked on the island, perched wherever they wanted, broke into the supply stores, and relieved themselves in public. She was normally the one who was called on to clean up the messes.

Through a combination of rewarding their dragons with fish for good behavior and frequent piling of the waste in the same place outside the village, they managed to train their own dragons to not cause problems. Of course, the occasional wild dragon that appeared near the village knew nothing about how to behave, and annoyed villagers always directed their complaints at her.

It was all very discouraging.

Still, there had been some good moments. Gustav had found a young Nightmare somewhere on the island and had surprised the other riders by showing them that he was already on a nose-touching basis with 'Flame' as he had so imaginatively named the dragon. A young couple, Finnbjorn and Katrina, had surprised everyone by taking in a Nadder and being far more patient and gentle with it than Astrid had thought they might be. Gothi seemed to have taken a liking to a small group of Terrors. A few others of the villagers did not have any dragons of their own but had taken to carrying around a few fish for when they met up with any guests. And so far there had been no serious incidents between the villagers and the dragons. The dragon-friendly were still in the minority though.

"What are we going to do about them?"

Stormfly angled her head slightly and squawked.

"They just need to see that you all are good to have around. Why are we so stubborn?"

Sigh.

"I thought that stubbornness was a good thing. That it was just confidence and bravery. So silly of me."

She paused for a moment as a familiar thought invaded her peace. It was the only truly depressing thought that ever troubled her up here in the sky on otherwise peaceful flights. She had once enjoyed another flight over this same island but with someone else at her side. Someone who changed her world for the better.

She lay down on her stomach and closed her eyes.

"I wish… I wish that he was still here. He would be much better at this than I am. He understood you guys much better."

She looked in the direction of the harbor.

"Why did you have to die?" she whispered.

She was not the only one who had been changed that day. Both Stoick and Gobber had become far more distant in the last couple months. Stoick had left after the party to celebrate the death of the Monster on Dragon Island and had disappeared into his house. For that first month, he rarely came out except when he had to act in formal capacity as the Chief. Gobber spent all his free time in the forge, away from other company. She thought that it was partly that he no longer had any dragon-fighting training to do. Another reason was likely that without his apprentice all the tasks took a lot longer for him to complete given his missing limbs. Finally, she suspected that he was trying to lose himself in his work.

She could almost see it even now, Hiccup on Toothless's back, the amazing pair gliding on the wind at her side. Herself on Toothless as well, her arms around Hiccup's waist, up here where nothing could ever disturb their happiness. She shook her head of the vision and allowed her gaze to wander over the island, though it kept being brought back in the direction of a certain cove hidden deep in the woods.

"Do you think that the rest of them will ever change?"

Stormfly just continued to lazily fly on.

"Yeah, I don't know either. I hope so though. They are already a little bit better."

They flew on for another hour or so until she saw a fishing boat out at sea with its nets draped over its bow.

That was the fairest complaint that most of the villagers had regarding the dragons. They ate a lot of fish, and this meant more work on the part of the fishermen for no immediate benefit. Of course, the benefit was that the dragons were not eating the livestock or worse, but that was too easily forgotten when the fishermen were having to work longer hours.

She narrowed her eyes and furrowed her brow as the beginnings of a plan began to come together.

"You guys have no trouble feeding yourselves out there."

She had seen how dragons would find what was presumably a school of fish and dive on them from above. They normally only emerged with a couple fish at a time, but it seemed that most dragons were adept swimmers and could easily swim to shore or even get aloft from the ocean. Those that were not so skilled stuck to the shallows.

"Oh Gods! That's it! Have the dragons help do the fishing. Why didn't I think of this sooner?"

It made perfect sense now that she thought about it. From above, she could direct the boats toward wherever the fish happened to be on that day. If the villagers saw the dragons contributing to the catch, then they would have fewer grounds to complain. The fishermen might even admit that they were useful to have around.

"And the best part is that the entire village will see you all helping."

Stormfly could sense her rider's excitement at something and trilled her happiness.

Astrid felt positively giddy now that her idea was clear. All she had to do now was share her plan with the captains of the fishing boats. No matter what they thought about the dragons, they would not turn down a chance to increase their catch with no additional work required. She reluctantly nudged Stormfly back toward the village. Back to the yelling and accusations. She would rather be up in the sky, but this had to be done for the good of the dragons and for Berk.

* * *

Gobber repeatedly pounded each metal rod. They had to be bent into the desired shape while still warm before being dipped in water. It was a tedious process, but it had to be done the long way. Any attempt to take short-cuts or not give the metal the full amount of time needed would leave the result bent useless or too brittle to be trusted. They could not just be reheated and bent back into the right condition without having to start the entire process over again.

So Gobber slaved on in the forge, sweat coursing down his brow as he struggled to keep the fire hot enough. It was good, honest work with a routine that he easily fell into. Idle time always resulted in his reliving that day two months ago.

He inspected the finished product with pride. This bar completed, he decided to take a break and rest his weary joints. He collapsed into a chair that he had set up in the forge for exactly this reason.

He had seen Hiccup asleep only a couple hours after he had been born. He had been among the first to give Valka, once she had woken up after giving birth, and Stoick his congratulations at being new parents. He had helped to comfort Stoick after Valka had been taken. He had seen the difficulties that Stoick had faced when trying to balance being a single father and the Chief. Especially so since Hiccup took so after his mother in not having a 'Nord-like' build or attitude. Stoick had not been able to fully accept Hiccup's being so different from the ideal son he had hoped he would have.

So he had stepped in and helped to mentor Hiccup as best as he could. He could not have children of his own, and Hiccup had been the son he never had.

He looked at his forge and groaned. The work was taking him far too long now that… he was having to do it all on his own.

 _I really need some help keeping the fires lit. Hmn, maybe I should get one of the beasties of my own. Put their fire to good use._

The strangeness of the idea surprised him, that a dragon could use its fire to help someone. But he had already seen strange things from the creatures. There was surely some way that he could train one of them to help him out. Or maybe get Astrid or one of the other trainers to figure it out for him.

He wiped the sweat from his brow, got back to his feet, and returned to his work.

The work was done when he turned out a couple more metal bars. Then he extinguished the fire in the forge and left for the day. But he had one more duty to fulfill in the meantime. He passed by Stoick's house to check on the egg.

There had been a period where his friend had effectively isolated himself to grieve. However, that time passed long ago. It spoke volumes of their Chief's character that Stoick still tried to meet the needs of others despite what had happened. However, that meant that Stoick had to spend a lot of time out of the house, and both of them had agreed that he should check in on the egg from time to time. Not that the egg needed as much attention as an infant would, but still someone had to make sure that it was warm at least. The evenings were also starting to get a bit cooler as the seasons changed.

He pushed the door open, walked in, and sat down in a chair near the smoldering fireplace. He gazed at the smooth, black shell wrapped up in old linens. For some reason, the sight always helped him relax and brought a smile to his face. He could distinctly remember the sight of the adult Night Fury, Toothless he had heard it had been called, diving into the arena and fighting the Nightmare to protect Hiccup. And it had been very unsettling the way that the Fury sat there silently in its chains and glared at them on the way to Dragon Island. He had seen something in its eyes on that journey. The creature had seemed aware and afraid of what was happening.

But beasts couldn't feel fear, he distinctly remembered telling himself.

He hoped that the egg would hatch. Even if for no other reason than that it would let them learn more about the rarest type of dragon. Plus, as Stoick had rightly said, Hiccup would have wanted them to take care of it. It had been a couple months already and the egg had not moved once as far as he was aware. However, no one knew how long it took for dragon eggs to hatch. They had never had a chance to learn such a thing.

 _Well, time for some food._

He got to his feet and gave the egg a gentle pat before leaving the house and making his way to the Hall. On the way, he saw a couple of dragons lazing about, a couple Nadders specifically. It was still a bit unsettling seeing them nearby even though the dragons in the village had been there for two months without major incident to life and limb. They were peaceable and for this he was both very grateful and willing to endure the minor inconveniences that they brought with them.

He gruffly entered the Hall and poured himself a generous portion of the chicken stew. He could not help but overhear the conversations around him.

'They broke my roof by sitting on it.' 'They eat too much fish I tell ya.' 'They scare the cows and the goats.' 'But they aren't causing much trouble now.' 'What about when the winter comes and they get hungry?'

There were other conversations besides, but he didn't have any interest in them. It was just more of the same. However, a small group of the men broke away and made their way over towards him. Leading them was Sador, one of the local fishermen.

 _Great, now what?_

"Evening Gobber," Sador greeted him.

"Evening, can I help ye any?"

Gobber pointedly tore off a chunk of bread while saying this to show his annoyance at having his dinner interrupted.

"I had an odd talk with Astrid Hofferdottir today. She seems to think she can train the beasts to help us catch more fish."

Gobber paused in his meal, now being quite interested.

"I wouldn' put it past 'er. She and the rest of the kids seem ta have a way with the beasts."

"Still," Sador replied, "it is so strange to think that the dragons would actually help us."

"Aye, it is. Everything is much better now than it was."

"True, I don't have to worry about my boat being burned up at night…"

"And ye all should be thankful o' it. I hear a bit too much complaining about stuff that don' really matter."

"If she can train them to drive fish into our nets or find the best places to fish, then she will have convinced me that the dragons are good for something," Sador replied.

The rest of his men nodded in agreement.

 _At least these are a practical bunch…_

Gobber finished his meal a few minutes later and excused himself from the Hall. He made his way back to his house in the evening twilight.

 _So Astrid thought that the dragons could contribute to the village by helping to fish. Clever lass. Stoick definitely picked the right person to lead the Academy._

He had no doubt that she would figure out how to accomplish it. She would hopefully figure it out before the weather turned for the worse. The transition from autumn to winter could be very sudden, and the village would need substantial stockpiles of supplies to feed their resident dragons. Assuming that the beasties stayed on Berk of course. No one knew where the dragons tended to go during the winter, probably to the south where it is warmer.

Speaking of warmth, his fireplace needed some wood to burn tonight. So he made a slight detour to where the chopped lumber was piled near the bluff overlooking the docks. He grabbed a couple of the blocks and glanced down at the docks. He paused when he saw Stoick standing on the shore with something too small to make out at this distance in his hands.

The Chief was seemingly staring out to sea.

How long was it proper to mourn? Stoick had nothing of his personal life left. Both his wife and only son were now dead. It was truly amazing that he was holding up as well as he was. Lesser men had gone mad from such grief and had needed to be Outcast to protect the tribe.

Still, he knew that Stoick would never be the same as he had been. The man would carry a soul-scar for the rest of his life. Time alone heals nothing. At best, one simply becomes numb to the pain, but that does not mean that the wound ever truly heals.

 _I'm sorry, my old friend._

* * *

Stoick was once again sure that he had made the right choice in appointing Astrid to lead Berk's training program. All of the youths from that training class seemed to interact well with dragons, but she in particular had a way with the beasts.

For a moment, he remembered Gobber telling him about someone else who supposedly 'had a way with the beasts.' That memory was quickly forced down, else the feelings that he had fought against for months would return.

Astrid made sure that the feeding stations were filled. She quickly answered any complaints that were brought up regarding the dragons. She never complained about the more unsavory tasks that she had to perform. Perhaps she did not have much patience with the most stubborn of the Vikings, but that was to be expected.

He had watched her introduce the willing members of the community to their pet dragons in the arena. There had not been any serious injuries to any of his people so far. As far as he was concerned, he saw no reason to change anything that she was doing.

Perhaps the best part of all for him was the fact that whenever someone had a complaint to make regarding dragons, he knew that he could point them in the direction of the arena or Astrid's house. Not many people of fifteen years could take the responsibility that he put on her shoulders, but she was doing admirably.

But all those musings and considerations did not matter at the moment. He had finally managed to work up the courage to go into Hiccup's room again, this time for answers.

The first time he had gone into the room had been to retrieve something that had belonged to his son. Something clearly recognizable as Hiccup's. He had grabbed the green long-sleeve shirt and gotten out as fast as possible to escape the feeling of a vice tightening in his chest. This was the second time he had mustered the bravery to open the door. He was doing this in the hope that he might find something, anything to help him understand who his son had been. Something to keep his son's memory close.

He had not known that Hiccup had been keeping a journal until he found it, a leather-bound book on top of the desk. It had several sheets of loose yellow paper folded inside its bindings. Gingerly, he had removed the papers and smoothed them out to remove the wrinkles in the fabric.

Dragons.

Finely drawn pictures of many different dragons sleeping, flying, and hunting. But one dragon in particular dominated most of the pictures. His son's dragon.

The Night Fury.

It was drawn in the greatest detail and with clear expressions on its face. It was as if Hiccup had specifically drawn it to have emotion. Some of the pictures included Hiccup as well, drawn right next to the dragon or even playing with it.

The pictures were eventually set aside, and he held the journal to his chest as he left the house and began walking aimlessly.

He was afraid to open it and yet he knew that he had to do so. Why had Hiccup chosen the dragon? Why had he not killed it instead? He had to know.

Without even planning it, he found himself down at the docks. It seemed a fitting place to do this in the remaining hour of sunlight.

He took a deep breath and flipped open the journal to the first page. It seemed that most of the first half of the journal was missing, as though that section had been torn out.

.

"I hit it! I'm sure I hit it! Of course, no one believed me. As usual. I am going to go find it tomorrow and then dad will be proud of me. I really hope it is already dead though."

.

"I'm a failure. A total failure. I just couldn't kill it. It looked scared and it looked at me! I let it go. Why did it let me go? It could have killed me."

.

"Gobber told us that dragons always go for the kill. The Night Fury didn't. It let me go after I let it go. Was it trying to be fair? I looked in the forest again and I found it. It is trapped in a cove in the forest. I'm not sure why it doesn't just fly away. It looks very hungry. Does it like fish?"

.

"I don't know why we do this training to fight dragons. Nothing we are supposed to be learning seems to help or even be learned at all. It doesn't help that I cannot fight them anyway."

.

"Wow. I never thought that a dragon would eat a fish from my hand. It was so clever, thoughtful even. It made me throw away my knife before it came near. Then it made me eat some of the same fish. Ugh. It is sleeping right now in a tree. Maybe it will let me touch it."

.

"The dragon let me touch its nose. Actually, it touched my hand with its nose. It trusted me! And it tried to draw pictures of… something. Maybe it was just imitating me, but still it is very smart."

.

"Well, now I know that Toothless is a boy. He likes to play tag. And to toss me in the water."

.

"His tail is hurt. He cannot fly on his own. I think I did this to him. He was flying fine before I shot him down. I hurt him. I'm going to fix this by making him a new tail."

.

"I just wanted to be one of them, but now how can I? I just flew with him! He wanted me to fly with him! It was very scary, but we figured it out just in time. Dragons are so amazing. I want to show dad and the rest of the village, but they would try to hurt Toothless. They think I am learning how to fight dragons, but I don't need to fight them. I don't know what to do..."

.

"I know why the dragons attack us. There is a giant monster on their island and it makes them hunt for it, or it eats them instead. Oh, it gets better. I won dragon-training earlier today. Yep, the entire village thinks I am going to kill the Nightmare and become a 'true Nord.' Become one of them. I tried to leave the island with Toothless, but Astrid found us. That is when we found out about what is on the dragon's island. I have no choice. I have to show them the truth. They need to know that the dragons are not what we think they are and we do not need to fight them. I hope my dad listens. I hope he is proud of me."

.

.

.

.

.

Stoick slammed the journal shut and closed his eyes. The evening breeze from out of the western ocean slightly ruffled his beard. He quickly sat down as he started to feel dizzy.

The shame and pain eclipsed him all over again. It was as if he were back on that island, watching everything unfold. Helpless to save his son from the doom that he himself had brought on the entire tribe.

 _He was thinking of us. He was trying to help us all along._

Nothing in the journal seemed to say why Hiccup didn't kill the dragon. Maybe he hadn't known himself.

Except...

Hiccup thought that the dragon trusted him. It clearly had to on some level. Was it that simple? Did Hiccup turn to the beast because he couldn't find anyone who trusted him in the village? Was talking to the beast the only way he thought that something would listen to him?

Had Hiccup felt completely alone even in the crowd of Vikings? In his own house?

He stayed there past dusk, sitting on the shore and listening to the waves lapping on the rocks. It was not hard to imagine the words that he had just read being spoken aloud by their author in his youthful and cheeky voice. The voice that he desperately missed and knew he would never hear again. That made the words written on these pages the closest thing that he had of his son.

Someone, probably Gobber or one of the youths, had retrieved the helmet that Hiccup had thrown away in the arena and had left the helmet on his doorstep after he returned to Berk. He had since hung it up in the most honorable place in the house. Directly above the fireplace. It would be a memento of both his lost wife and his lost son.

There was the dragon egg as well. It was associated with Hiccup through his dragon.

 _I should go check on it._

He made his way back to the house and added another log to the fireplace after checking on the egg and making sure to turn it as Gobber had told him he needed to do. It had been two months now and the egg had not shown any signs of being alive. Somehow though, he knew in his gut that it would eventually hatch. It seemed right that it would, considering its bizarre origins.

He could wait. He had no choice but to wait.

And hope that he would be able to heal with time.


	5. I - Nascence

" _To see a world in a grain of sand/And a heaven in a wildflower/Hold infinity in the palm of your hand/And eternity in an hour." – William Blake - Auguries of Innocence_

* * *

Nascence

* * *

.

.

.

Void.

.

Black.

.

Darkness.

.

Nothingness.

.

Silence.

.

Absolute absence of sensation.

.

Floating in the nothingness, seeing nothing, and feeling nothing.

.

Not aware.

.

Not thinking.

.

Not feeling time and change.

.

Then…

.

Being was.

He was.

He was able to distinguish between himself and everything that was not himself.

With this awareness came a thought.

A half-remembered name dredged up from the darkness.

Hiccup.

Hiccup?

His name was Hiccup.

With this knowledge and occasional flashes of recollection, a realization formed itself in his mind.

 _Dah dah duh, I'm dead!_

It was the first conscious thought that he had in what seemed both an eternity and an instant.

If this was death, it was nothing like what he had thought it would be. For one, he still existed in some way and he was aware that he was. He didn't know what to expect from death in advance, because who possibly could, but the reality was truly frightening.

It was awareness without anything to be aware of. It was the most complete solitude imaginable with nothing but thoughts floating in the nothingness. His few, confused memories of life were torturous because they only reminded him of what was gone forever. He wanted to scream in fear, but there was no sound, no air, and he could not feel anything.

An endless amount of time seemed to pass before anything else changed.

Then he was falling. Or floating. Up, down, or sideways, he could not tell since there was nothing that thought alone could orient itself to.

Something else happened.

There was a flash of darkness, strange though that seemed. In the same moment, he realized that touch was again. Sensation started returning to him.

Something soft filled the world around him. He leaned into the strange medium around him and reveled in its touch. That he could experience sensation at all meant that he had to have a body, and that necessarily meant that…

 _Well, I'm not dead!_

 _That's a relief._

He wanted to cheer when he realized that he wasn't actually dead, but he was too tired to do so. He was too weak to even open his eyes.

 _Strange._

It then struck him that he was stuck. He couldn't understand why he couldn't move because it didn't feel like he was paralyzed. It was as if the world itself was too small.

 _Where am I? What happened?_

His memories continued to return. Flying, fire, teeth. Fear...

 _Wait! If I'm still alive, then what about Toothless? Astrid? Dad? Everyone else?_

.

 _I must have been knocked unconscious after hitting the tail._

.

Thump… thump… thump…

.

A heartbeat.

.

His own heartbeat?

 _What?_

He was afraid. Something very strange was happening. He had never been able to hear his own heartbeat before, so why now?

He had to know where he was and forced open his eyes, but he couldn't see anything in the surrounding darkness.

Something moved next to him as the world shifted. A mass that writhed and pressed against him. It was becoming slightly uncomfortable.

 _How did I not notice it until now? What is it?_

Nothing came to mind.

His sight was certainly restored when he became aware of a faint, ethereal light in the darkness. It was far too dim to illuminate anything, but nonetheless it existed. Light means fire, warmth, and freedom. It was a small comfort in his situation.

His thoughts went astray, and he fell asleep again.

More dreamless rest and time passed in an instant. Then he was woken up by the strange something from before pushing into his side. That was very uncomfortable! He tried to stretch and made one life-shattering realization.

He could not breathe!

In his one lucid moment before complete panic set in, he was aware that he could not remember recently breathing at all. He was oddly unable to do so now that he tried because the stuff around him was not air.

Between feeling completely alone, being trapped in a dark unknown place, and being unable to breathe, his fear got the best of him and he began to squirm violently.

 _No, I won't die here!_

Die…

A dark spike cut in front of his vision and he heard Toothless's terrified scream.

 _Let! Me! Out!_

He felt the something next to him struggling as well as if it also yearned for freedom or was panicked as well. Something very welcome flooded into existence. He inhaled a single breath of air before realizing that it was already all gone. But that one breath gave him new strength.

He stretched and pushed against the dark boundaries of the world.

The world erupted in light as the ear-shattering sound echoed in his head. He took a deep breath as an abundance of air suddenly existed again.

He closed his eyes against the intensity of the light, fell to the ground in exhaustion, and felt the strange presence that had been at his side vanish. Whatever horrifying place he had been in he was now out of. But he had no energy left to do much.

He took several very deep breaths and relished the simple pleasure of being alive and free.

 _Ok, I'm not dead. I just need to rest and then I'll find dad._

 _Need sleep._

 _Sleep._

 _._

 _._

He was about to drift off to sleep when he thought he heard a very familiar sound. Specifically, a crooning that he associated with one particularly curious dragon. However, it sounded slightly different from how he remembered it. He could just be imagining it though.

 _Toothless?_

He opened his eyes with every intention of calling out to see if his friend was nearby but remained silent when he saw where he was. Familiar walls and rugs were all around him.

 _I'm in my house?_

 _Why am I in my house?_

The last he could recall he was at Dragon Island. Maybe he had been brought back from the island after getting hurt. That made sense. But why was he not in his bed as he should be?

 _Why am I on the floor in my house?_

He yawned in exhaustion and tried to raise a hand to cover his yawn. For some reason, it didn't work. He looked down at his arm, blinked away his stupor, and stared.

His arms were very short, covered in black leathery scale-skin, and ended in a paw with tiny claws on its fingers. The thumb was set slightly off from the rest not so differently from a human hand. It reminded him of a small version of Toothless's front paws.

What was the most frightening was that when he tried to move a finger the corresponding digit on the dragon limb moved as if it was his.

.

Because it was his.

 _._

 _What! Oh, no no no no no…_

He was instantly fully awake. He had not noticed anything odd until now because he had not been expecting anything to be odd. Everything had seemed natural until this moment. But now he noticed that his teeth were far too sharp against his tongue. His hearing and sense of smell seemed far sharper than he had ever noticed before. His sight seemed different, not in the sense of being fuzzier, but in the sense of there being more to see. Most alarming though was what he seemed to feel on his back and behind him.

He turned his head and what he saw confirmed his suspicions.

From behind his shoulders sprouted a tiny pair of slimy, crumpled appendages.

Wings.

He could feel every inch of their length. He absentmindedly flexed them with muscles he had no idea how to use and winced at the pain it caused. It was like having another set of hands only with very long fingers connected with webbing.

Behind his wings, he could see that his spine extended out into a tail complete with two tiny sets of fins: one at the base of the tail and one on the end of the tail. They were fins the design of which he knew very well, having inspected them in great detail for many days and built a replacement for one that was lost.

His wings and his tail!

As if this was not shocking enough, he also saw that his tail rested in the shattered remains of a black dragon egg. It was not hard for him to come to the completely impossible conclusion.

The world started to spin around him, and he had to remind himself to breathe.

 _No! No, this cannot be happening!_

He shut his eyes in defiance and rested his head on his hand-paws.

 _Ok, wake up. This is a bad dream. Everything will be fine…_

 _._

 _Wake up!_

.

Nothing changed. He did not wake up from this nightmare. He could still feel the weight of the wings at his side and the whip-like tail behind him.

.

This was too real to be a dream.

 _The gods hate me!_

The unthinkable had somehow happened, and he was now a dragon. Even worse, as if that were possible, he was only a hatchling!

 _How…_

He tried to avoid thinking about his dad and Astrid. About everything that was gone. His chance to enjoy his father's acceptance and Astrid's newfound affection.

He felt like crying, but no tears came. Maybe dragons could not cry.

The moments passed in silence except for the crackle of the fireplace as he lay on the floor. He had no energy or will to do anything. He focused only on his breathing in an attempt to distract himself and avoid thinking about what had happened.

Slowly, he began to calm down even though his mind was still spinning with every second of awareness of his body, both its strangeness and its naturalness.

A very bizarre thought came to mind. Was he was still a he?

 _Oh gods no, this could be even worse..._

Gender was not so obvious on the outside with dragons. It had taken several afternoons in the cove before he had known for sure that Toothless was a male after he saw the dragon relieving himself off in a corner of the cove. Since this body was so alien, he did not know how to tell just from what he could feel. A quick glance between his back legs did not reveal anything.

 _I really hope that has not changed._

He gave a soft sigh of despair. He looked down at his paws that he had been resting on and at the tiny digits and stubby claws on them.

 _What am I supposed to do now?_

Once again he heard the same cooing sound that he had heard before. He knew that he had not made the noise. Since he was not dreaming that must mean that there was another dragon nearby. His heart leapt a bit at the thought of who may have made that noise.

 _Toothless_?

He did not see his friend's black form anywhere nearby. However, several feet away from where he lay, its body back-lit against the small fire in the fireplace, was a tiny dragon. Specifically, another Night Fury hatchling.

Its head was slightly cocked to one side, and it was staring directly at him with its vibrantly green eyes. He would probably have thought it very adorable if it were not for the circumstances.

In that moment, Hiccup realized that he knew nothing of this strange dragon other than they were the same kind. He felt afraid of it. It looked slightly bigger than him and fighting had never been one of his skills. What would it try to do to him? Was it hungry enough to attack him? He did not want to think that a dragon, let alone a Night Fury like his Toothless, could be a cannibal but there was much he did not know about dragons.

He fell into a defensive stance and slightly bared his teeth in warning. The other dragon continued staring at him with obvious interest. How could that be a good thing? At least it was not moving towards him and seemed to have understood his warning.

* * *

.

.

.

He became aware of himself as his memories returned to him in a flash and the long sleep ended. He could not see, hear, or feel anything, but he knew he had once done so. With nothing around him to change, he could not notice the passage of time, but he could vaguely remember it happening in the past.

 _Is this death?_

His entire life flashed before him.

Opening his eyes for the first time, seeing others of his kind, the nurturing he was given, play, learning to speak, his first attempts at flight, the passing of seasons, the attack on his home nest, his first experience with death, escape into the wild, and survival.

A nest of killer two-legs, danger, a nest of kin on an island of fire and warmth, the Monster that rules them and eats them, his protecting of kin while they fight the two-legs for food, and seasons of death.

Alone.

Another night raid, two-leg vines encircling him, his fall from the sky, and a sharp pain in his tail. Sadness gripped his liver at the memory.

 _Is that how I died?_

Pain, bound limbs, a small male two-leg, and a not-claw. His death accepted because two-legs give no mercy.

This one did. Mercy. A two-leg knows mercy and gave him freedom? What? Take revenge! Justice… Revenge... Mercy? Mercy.

Forgiveness.

His hunger, imprisonment in the hole in the ground, his broken tail, despair, the two-leg again, and curiosity. It tossed away its not-claw, gave a gift of fish, his return gift, its daring, his annoyance, and rest.

 _What an odd creature._

Image-making in the ground, his own image, play, dancing, bravery, wariness, and trust offered. The two-leg trusted him.

 _What?_

He was very confused.

 _Why do I know this two-leg?_

Trust accepted and the touch of a two-leg paw... No creature ever trusted its life to him before. More fish, hope that he might return to the skies, help given, failure together, practice together, flight together, joy together, falling together, fear together, and roars of triumph together.

Everything fell into place. Hiccup, the two-leg called himself. What was the word Hiccup used for him? Toothless.

He was not sure what the sounds meant, but it was his two-leg who gave him that sound-name and that made it meaningful.

The world burst into existence.

Time existed again as he could feel differences between here and there, this and that.

Sensation returned to him. His body existed again. It was overwhelming for all these sensations to fill the void that he had not known existed.

He could touch the world even though he found that he was trapped. Despite his movement being very confined, he was still comforted by the warm surroundings. He had little strength with which to open his eyes. The only sounds he could hear were that of his own life-organ and its echo.

Why did this seem familiar, as if he had already been here before?

 _Where am I? Where is Hiccup?_

Flying and a female two-leg… the call of the Monster in the mountain, a need to show the two-legs the reason for the raids, rescuing Hiccup from the angered fire-scale kin, being trapped in chains, being taken to fire-nest island, hopelessness, rescue, flight against the Monster, and its death plunge.

The spiked tail, his pain, Hiccup's life-water pouring from his chest, their fall, and his own sacrifice with his life-will-power.

In that terrible moment, he knew exactly where he was and why he was alone. He had tried to do something that had never been done before and probably failed. There had been no way to know exactly what would happen, but anything would have been better than this. He was sure that Hiccup was gone, that he had failed his friend.

 _Gone!_

He wanted to roar and howl in pain, but he had no breath with which to do so. It did not even occur to him that he should know none of this: that he should have no awareness of himself and his memories. All he knew was the emptiness.

The pain of having something so deeply good in life and then having it taken away. All was wrong with the world. Why should he live again and not Hiccup?

His limbs and tail twitched as he shivered in fear. How could he live happily knowing what he knew? The comfort that his small world had afforded him was replaced with panic and anger.

Something else moved beside him. He paid it no mind. It did not matter.

He stretched and pressed. He could hear the barriers of the world begin to shatter under his strength. Then he felt his tiny muscles begin to give out. He was not strong enough.

Panic. Sheer panic. This was not good! Why was he not strong enough? He knew what would happen if he could not get out.

He did not want to die.

Hiccup would want him to live.

He pushed again just as the strange thing alongside him did the same.

The dark world around him shattered. He fell to the ground in a slimy mess as he felt the shards of his egg crumble beneath him.

There was light.

The warmth and light before him was almost irresistible. He crawled to it, still getting re-accustomed to his new limbs. He slowly opened his eyes as a world of color and sensation revealed itself. Being outside of his egg, he could also smell everything around him.

He was inside a two-leg den and before him danced a small fire in a pit full of wood and ash. It did not look like a wild fire, instead it looked like it was meant to be there. Warmth. A perfect place to curl up and rest. Just like snuggling against the belly of its dam would be for a normal hatchling.

He fanned his small wings out before the fire to help them dry off. It hurt to stretch them out, but it was still good to do since it meant he would get the egg-water off sooner. There were no sounds other than the soft crackle of the fire. From a quick glance around the den, he thought that it must be during the night since there was no light other than the fire before him.

And the smells!

Skins of many four-legs and prey covered the ground and the sides of the two-leg dent. Ashes of old fires were scattered near the living fire. The scents of meats, fish, and other two-leg foods assaulted him. The smells of the fish and the meats made him realize how hungry he was. The most powerful smell, however, was the musk of one two-leg male. It was a scent that he recognized and did not particularly like. The two-leg Alpha. Hiccup's sire.

True, the male had freed him from the chains under the water, but he had also put him in the chains in the first place. That two-leg hated kin. So why would his own egg be in this two-leg's den?

 _My egg. Strange._

The urge to look at the remains of his egg was overwhelming. After all, he had no past, no memories, and little awareness of his self the first time he had hatched.

He turned and froze in shock.

The dark black egg had split in half with the bottom half being mostly crushed when he fell out of it. Surprisingly, it lay surrounded by a pile of two-leg things like the false skins they wore. Almost like it had been in a nest. The egg had also been left near the fire where it was kept warm. He would think about how strange it seemed that his egg had been cared for later because it was not this realization that left him amazed.

It was the fact that he was not alone.

There, resting on the ground with its eyes closed, its body still a slimy mess, and its tail resting inside the eggshell was another hatchling just like him.

 _What!_

 _._

 _Two from one egg? Impossible!_

What he had done could not create new life: it could only save life that already exists. Twin hatchlings from the same egg was unheard of. Something was very odd about this.

 _Wait! What I did… How can I remember?_

He only just fully remembered the implications of what he had done. He had been healed of his death-bringing wound by being made new instead of only having the bad hurts be made not. Had what he remembered about the life-will-power been wrong?

He trilled softly to announce his own presence to the other hatchling. He did not want to spook it into attacking or thinking him a threat. With no adults to oversee the young, there was always the possibility of them hurting each other.

He also did not bother speaking to the hatchling since it would not know what he was saying. He would have to teach this hatchling himself if they both lived. After all, he was the adult here.

In a way.

The other hatchling visibly stiffened at the sound he made and opened its eyes. At first, it looked around at its surroundings in clear confusion.

 _It is probably looking for its dam._

After a few moments, it seemed to realize something important because it looked down at the ground near its forefeet. It then reacted by swinging its head around and looking over its back towards where the egg shards lay.

Hatchlings are supposed to be relieved at leaving the egg. It is a good and necessary part of life and growth. So why did this one groan as if in pain, shut its eyes against what it had seen, and shake its head in denial? It gave its wings and tail a twitch as if to confirm that they actually existed and then lay down again with its eyes tightly pressed shut and its head on its front paws.

Toothless cocked his head in thorough confusion at this hatchling's actions. He could not understand what could be so disturbing to it. It did not seem very concerned about the world around it. It should have been confused about where it was and the strange sensations around it. Instead, it is its own body that it seemed to find strange.

 _What is wrong with it?_

.

… _only save life that already exists…_

 _._

He froze and his tiny wings flopped down at his side as his eyes went wide. An impossible explanation came to mind. There had been one other person to whom he had extended his life-will-power. But still it seemed too good to be true. Did he dare to hope?

He took a moment to consider the hatchling, a male he could tell from its scent and tiny head-frills, and all he knew about it. The more he thought about it, the more the impossible explanation seemed to make sense. It would somewhat explain the other hatchling's origins. It would definitely explain why it seemed confused with itself. Sure, a hatchling normally needs time to learn how to walk and a long time to learn how to fly, but that is not the same as being confused by the existence of ones own limbs.

And why did it shake its head? That is a very two-leg thing to do.

It must be! The explanation seemed to have little lift, but no other explanation had any.

Toothless looked directly at the other hatchling, searching for some sign of recognition.

"Hiccup?"

It looked up directly at him at the sound of his voice and its eyes quickly narrowed to slits. It took a defensive posture with its teeth slightly bared and hindquarters lowered to be ready to pounce. Two pairs of forest-green eyes stared into their own reflections. One was hopeful and the other was fearful.

They stared at each other while he tried to figure out what to do. He was confident in his own ability to win a fight if it came to that since he had a lifetime of experience. He did not want to fight. Especially since he was sure that the little one before him was, somehow, his Hiccup. So why would Hiccup not trust him?

A moment of thought left Toothless feeling quite foolish that he had not realized the reasons sooner. Hiccup would have no idea how kin nestlings behaved. Would they fight for dominance? Try to eat each other? Of course Hiccup would be afraid. Hiccup's being a kin now must surely be very disturbing and confusing to him. Even he himself was confused at how this had happened since what he had done should not have changed what Hiccup was. It also made sense that Hiccup would not recognize him.

 _How can I show him that I am Toothless? What would he recognize?_

The answer came to him, and he barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes at his how obvious it was. He knew what he had to do. It was very dangerous, but if Hiccup would recognize anything in this situation, it would be this.

* * *

The other dragon just stood there and looked at him with its wide green eyes. He gradually became less afraid as it did not make any threatening moves. It seemed to be excited about something since its tail was twitching and ears were raised. What could it possibly be excited about?

Then it did something that made his eyes widen in shock.

It smiled a distinctly gummy smile at him.

Hiccup blinked in amazement and closed his mouth. He knew that expression. Only one dragon that he knew of had ever known that toothless smile.

 _T… Toothless?_

As if he knew that he was allowed to approach, the dragon that might be Toothless began slowly walking towards him in an evidently non-threatening manner. Hiccup raised his own head to be on the same level as the other hatchling.

* * *

Toothless stopped directly in front of Hiccup and sat down. They were so close that they could feel each other's scentless breath. There was one more thing that he would do to prove to Hiccup who he was.

He closed his eyes and tipped his head back to expose his throat.

He remembered the gesture that Hiccup had made by entrusting him with his life. But it was not merely that he risked his life; it was that Hiccup had intentionally given him the chance to do whatever he wanted to with the trust that was given. If anything could convince Hiccup, it would be to do the same for him.

 _Please trust me._

* * *

Hiccup understood when he saw the other hatchling close its eyes and present its vulnerable neck. He had done something very similar to gain Toothless's trust on the first day he had gone into the cove. All his doubt and wariness vanished instantly. The baby dragon before him was his Toothless! Not only that, but Toothless clearly recognized him even now.

He still had no idea what had happened to either him or Toothless for that matter to put them in this situation, but in that moment he did not care. Toothless was alive! Somehow they were both alive!

Toothless stood still, clearly waiting for him to do something. Hiccup opened his mouth to shout out Toothless's name but then remembered that he could not speak. More precisely, he did not know how to speak as a dragon even assuming that such a thing were possible. How could he show Toothless that he understood?

Hiccup took one unsteady step forward, closed his eyes, and pressed his nose against Toothless's neck.

* * *

Toothless's life-fire leapt the moment that he felt Hiccup's muzzle. Never mind that such nuzzling was a gesture only used by mates to each other or to their offspring. Hiccup could not know that. What was important was that Hiccup recognized him! Not only was Hiccup alive and clearly recognized him, but now they were…

What exactly were they?

They were not truly nestmates since there was no nest. Egg-mates? Is that even a thing? After all, they had come from the same egg even though they did not have the same sire and dam.

"Hiccup, you are alive."

He knew that Hiccup would not understand his meaning, but the effect on Hiccup was immediately apparent.

It was not the first time he had heard Toothless make a complex series of sounds. He seemed to have many different grunts, purrs, rumbles, and chirps. However, this was the first time he had heard those sounds with a dragon's ears. It was also the first time Toothless had properly spoken to him.

These were not the simple, monotonic, or animalistic sounds that he remembered. They were rich with pitch, tone, and intent. There seemed to be an entire range that he had not been able to hear before. With a shock to everything he thought he knew about dragons, Hiccup realized that he was not hearing the mere noises of a creature expressing pleasure or displeasure.

He was hearing a language.

A language which he had no reason to doubt was capable of conveying ideas. It was too complex and intricate to be otherwise. Toothless was talking to him! True, he had no idea what Toothless was trying to say, but that did not change what he was hearing.

He cocked his head and made what he thought was a questioning warble to ask Toothless what he meant. Surely Toothless would understand that sound.

Toothless could barely contain his excitement at the prospect of truly talking to Hiccup. It had been very frustrating in the past only being able to share how he felt in the most basic of ways. Sure, Hiccup had quickly figured out when he was happy, unhappy, and hungry, but those were hardly sufficient. There was so much that he wanted to tell Hiccup about. There had been no way that Hiccup could understand him in the past, but now Hiccup could. He would have to teach Hiccup how to talk. It would not be easy, but he knew that Hiccup had been very smart for a two-leg and that was unlikely to have changed.

Toothless nudged Hiccup's chest and then flopped onto the ground. He closed his eyes, spread his limbs, and remained completely still without even drawing breaths for a few moments. He then opened his eyes and looked up at Hiccup.

He shook his head vigorously and growled before rolling back onto his feet. He walked back over to Hiccup and pressed his nose against Hiccup's chest again while rumbling in happiness.

Hiccup thought he knew what Toothless was trying to say. He had first indicated Hiccup, pretended to be dead, and then motioned no. He was happy that Hiccup was not dead.

"Hiccup, I am happy that you are alive."

Toothless tried to say this as slowly and clearly as he could since Hiccup needed to hear as much as possible if he was going to be able to learn. Incredibly, Hiccup was able to mimic the sounds very closely after hearing them only twice. He could not yet know what he was saying, but Toothless was now sure that he would eventually be able to teach Hiccup everything.

As excited as he was about these developments, there was something else that was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.

His hunger.

After all, his body had never had any food before. What a twisting thought…

He gave a soft purr and bumped Hiccup's head to get his attention. Once he had his attention, he looked in the direction he thought the fish smell came from. He was once again struck by how strange the inside of two-leg nest-dens were. He saw a familiar type of object on the side of the area where the food smells came from.

Every time that Hiccup had brought him something that looked like this object there had been fish inside it. This one would surely be no different.

He slowly began walking across the wooden floor towards the fish smell while staying alert. He did not like that he was in the sire's den and did not know where the two-leg was. It had been easy to defend himself before, but now he was completely helpless. It was only a few moments before he realized that Hiccup had not followed him. He paused and saw that Hiccup had not moved. Instead, Hiccup was staring at Toothless's tail.

He looked at it himself and, unsurprisingly enough, it was there. So why was Hiccup still staring at the tail as if there were something special about it?

What could…

He quickly curled his tail against his side in order to get a better look at it. He stared in awe.

There, at the end of his tail, were two gloriously whole fins. Two whole fins!

He gave each one a lick and then fanned them open and shut several times to confirm that they actually existed. They did. He gave a soft roar of joy and began to jump around while flapping his wings in delight.

Actually, it was more of a squeak and he probably looked very silly since he would not be able to fly anyway for a while, but he could not care less how he sounded or looked.

He was whole again! He was not grounded! He would fly again! He could teach Hiccup how to fly and they could fly together!

He looked back and was surprised to see Hiccup staring at the ground with his wings drooping at his side. Hiccup looked completely distraught about something. It was not hard to figure out why.

Guilt.

Ever since he had come to know Hiccup, he had strongly suspected that Hiccup was somehow responsible for trapping him in the ropes that dragged him out of the sky. What other two-leg was clever enough? Why else had he been the one two-leg who knew where he had fallen? This also meant that Hiccup was the one responsible for the loss of the tailfin, which then left him unable to fly on his own. Now, looking back over his tail, he was very grateful that he had not known that when Hiccup had spared his life and cut him free from the ropes. He did not want to think about what he might have done if he had known that Hiccup had shot him down and crippled him.

He also knew that it was because he could not fly that he had the opportunity to know Hiccup at all. He had long considered it a worthwhile trade that he would gladly make again, but it seemed that Hiccup did not know that he did not resent him.

He walked back over to Hiccup, who also looked up at his approach but avoided his gaze.

For the last few months, Hiccup had felt slightly guilty about the injury he had dealt to Toothless. He was not someone who enjoyed seeing others in pain. For a dragon to be unable to fly would certainly be worse than the physical pain of the injury. To lose the freedom of flight would almost be to lose their very self, to lose what made them dragons. At the same time, he knew that without Toothless being unable to fly they would not likely have ever come to know each other. Toothless's freedom had to be sacrificed so that their friendship would be possible.

Still, he could not help but think that he had just been making excuses for himself to evade his responsibility.

He had initially thought that dragons were mere beasts, animals like any other. Unlike the other Vikings, he did not especially hate them. They were more of a nuisance, an inconvenience to him since he had no skill or true desire to hurt them. Something had changed when he looked into the eyes of the downed Night Fury. He had not seen madness, anger, or blind instinct. Instead, he saw intelligence, fear, and loneliness. They were windows that opened into feeling. Almost as though they were mirrors. As he spent more time in the cove and learned how clever and caring Toothless actually was, he came to suspect that that the dragon was not very different from a human. That he is capable of thinking about others well-being and safety and of wanting their happiness.

That he is a person as well.

Now that he was a dragon and knew that Toothless had his own language, there was no doubt in his mind. So much so that when Toothless turned around and walked back to him, he could not bear to look him in the face. His own shame was too great. His blindness and desire to conform had maimed a person who seemed naturally good and kind to him.

 _I'm so stupid._

Because he averted his gaze, he did not see Toothless stop at his side. The first warning he got was the pressure from one of Toothless's paws on one his own tailfins. Specifically, the left one. The same one that Toothless had once lost.

Hiccup inhaled and quivered slightly in fear. What was Toothless going to do? Surely Toothless was not going to hurt him, would he?

He fearfully looked up.

Toothless had one of his paws on Hiccup's tailfin and the other on his own. He looked from one, to the other, and finally at Hiccup. Very deliberately he lifted both his paws and shifted his own tail around so that it rested against Hiccup's and the fins overlapped.

Toothless exhaled once.

"I forgive you."

There was no mistaking the message even though Hiccup did not know what he said. Hiccup let out the breath that he did not know he had been holding. Toothless clearly did not blame him. There was still a bit of guilt too deeply ingrained to be so easily forgotten, but for now it was enough that Toothless understood the reason he was upset and offered him forgiveness.

Hiccup could only give Toothless a toothless smile of his own to show that he understood. He still wondered how someone could be so easily forgiving of such a great wrong. In a way, it did not seem right.

"Come Hiccup."

His musings were interrupted by Toothless calling out to him as he bounded off toward the kitchen.

 _Of course Toothless would go there of all places._

 _Actually, that does not sound like a bad idea._

In fact, he was starving.

 _Well, the food is not going to come to me._

He rose to all fours, strange though it still seemed to him, and slowly followed in Toothless's footsteps. He initially found it difficult to walk now that he was having to consciously think about the action. How did Toothless do this? It wasn't the kind of thing that he had really paid attention to in the past. He watched Toothless's natural movements. He moved his limbs on the opposite sides with one in front and one in back each time he took a step.

Now it made sense. He had been thinking about walking like he always had before but that would not work anymore. It was oddly easy to replicate Toothless's way of walking since it made perfect sense for a four-legged creature. Running, he was sure, would be a slightly different matter. He could distinctly remember that Toothless used a leaping motion with his front and back legs working as separate units for each bound.

Another problem quickly arose. Specifically, his wings were awkwardly dragging at his side. That was definitely not right. Toothless's wings were neatly folded at his side and didn't even seem to shift when he moved.

 _Ok, I can figure this out._

He grimaced as he stretched and flexed his new muscles and fanned his wings out to their full length. Not that they were very large at all. He could not resist the urge to inspect them more closely.

They were so thin that he thought that he might be able to see through them if he were to hold them up in front of a fire. The bones which the smooth webbing enclosed were clearly distinguishable underneath the leathery skin. The wings were pitch black, just like Toothless's, except for the places where a thin sheen of slime gave them a bit of a reflective shine. The egg-slime would be cleaned away with time.

Holding his wings off the ground as he was currently doing quickly turned out to be a very strenuous activity. He had to relax them. He drew them back to his side and blinked in amazement that they naturally folded into place.

 _I'm not sure how I did that…_

Toothless bugled to him.

 _I'm coming, I'm coming._

Unencumbered by the act of walking and with his wings neatly folded away, he crossed the smelly rugs on the floor and joined Toothless in the kitchen next to the basket that usually held fish. Toothless looked from him, to the basket, and back. He cocked his head and rumbled as if to say, "Well, get the fish!"

 _Wait, fish_? _Fish… Great, I'm going to be stuck eating raw fish from now on. Love it…_

He sighed.

 _Well, at least Toothless loves fish, so I guess I will too._

Now that he was next to the basket, he realized exactly how small both he and Toothless were by comparison. They seemed about a foot long, ignoring their tails, and maybe twice that across with their wings fully stretched out. Smaller than a Terrible Terror. In fact, a large fish that the village catches is definitely bigger and heavier. It was quite embarrassing and more than a little frightening. Things that he had never had reason to be afraid of he now definitely had to fear. Things like being stepped on.

The basket did not have a lid. Hiccup surprised himself by successfully making two great leaps, one up onto the chair and the next up on top of the kitchen table. As usual, it was a mess, but he was able to look down on the basket. It was empty except for one very large and rather tough-looking fish. With their lack of real claws and with only very tiny teeth, there was no chance that they could eat it.

 _What a shame…_

Among the mess on top of the table, Hiccup noticed a plate with a slightly charred salmon, which had already been skinned, and a nearby bowl of stew. His dad's cooking, if it deserved to be called such, was unmistakable. They both looked like they had been untouched for a while.

That would have to do.

He looked over the table at Toothless and beckoned him up with a flick of his head. Toothless joined him on the table a couple seconds later and quickly located the fish. He grumbled when he saw the food.

 _Why do two-legs ruin fish by burning it? Well, it is better than nothing._

Toothless did not waste any more time and attacked the salmon by tearing off small chunks which he was able to swallow. Hiccup was more hesitant.

This piece of fish presented a challenge to him. This would be the first time he ate food with paws and claws instead of hands and utensils. It would be the first time he ate food as a dragon. It seemed to him that to eat this fish meant that he accepted that his human life was gone. He was not ready to do that and did not think he ever would. Yes, he knew that his body was that of a dragon but that did not really make him one. Did it?

Perhaps magic was real and had done this to him. If so, maybe he could be changed back. He held on to that hope.

Once again Toothless interrupted his reverie, only this time there was a small strip of fish hanging from his mouth. He dropped it at Hiccup's feet. Hiccup's stomach betrayed him by choosing that moment to grumble.

"Eat."

Hiccup had to understand his meaning. Almost at the same moment, he realized that he had a perfect opportunity to start teaching Hiccup his language. He looked at the bit of fish that he dropped and back to Hiccup. He poked it with a paw.

"Fish."

He looked into the basket where the enormous fish lay.

"Fish."

Of course there were different types of fish, but such distinctions could wait until later.

At first, Hiccup was not sure what Toothless was trying to tell him, but he quickly realized that he was making the same sounds every time he looked at a fish. Did he mean to say "fish" or was he commanding Hiccup to eat? Probably "fish." His mouth still felt all wrong when he tried to repeat the word. Still, his attempt was close enough that Toothless gave him a happy mumble and a smile before nudging the slimy piece of fish toward him using a paw. Hiccup groaned at the irony.

 _Why do I always get fish from his mouth?_

He picked up the bit of fish in his gums and tried to ignore how slimy it now was.

 _Ok, now what?_

He thought back to how Toothless never seemed to chew his fish. Instead, he always swallowed them in large chunks if not whole. It actually made sense now that he thought about it. A Night Fury's sharp teeth were made for tearing, not grinding.

 _Here goes nothing._

It took a bit of maneuvering but he was able to get the chunk of fish to the back of his throat using his oddly shaped tongue. He followed Toothless's example by tipping his head back. Strange reflexes seemed to take over and he swallowed seemingly without volition. The piece of fish was gone in an instant.

It was surprisingly satisfying even without chewing. The fishy taste that he had always merely tolerated was now delicious. Suddenly, the rest of the fish looked far more appetizing.

 _What has happened to me? Oh, yeah… I'm a dragon, that is what..._

Toothless gave a mumble of approval before returning to the plate where he had already set aside several pieces.

 _Well, I am very hungry…_

He knew that he should not just sit there and mope. He resigned himself and walked over to the remaining pieces of fish. Between the both of them, all the remaining bits of fish, save the bones of course, disappeared very quickly. Incredibly, Hiccup was still hungry afterwards. His father's fish stew began to look delicious. That was mildly disturbing to say the least.

 _Ok, my dad's cooking looks good. Now I know that I'm losing my mind!_

Toothless also looked at the dish with suspicion. After sniffing at it and narrowing his eyes in doubt, he took a cautious slurp. And then a second. Apparently, it was not so bad that he would refuse to eat it.

"Hiccup, eat this."

Together, they worked on the cold fish stew. Hiccup could not quite tell what his father had put in the stew to make it taste so good. Then again, it was possible that he had not added anything to the stew and it only tasted good because he himself was so different. That was more likely.

After the bowl was emptied, Hiccup realized that he had eaten far more than he had thought he would. In fact, both he and Toothless were so small that the relatively light meal left them both feeling slow and with filled bellies. It was a great feeling considering that they had both been starving only minutes before.

With such a full belly, Hiccup was beginning to feel very sleepy. He had been feeling tired before, but then the excitement surrounding his strange body, the other hatchling, and his discovery that the other dragon was actually Toothless had given him a lot of energy. Now that energy was wearing off.

The warmth of the fireplace where he had first seen Toothless became very appealing. Toothless saw where he was looking and purred in agreement.

"Good idea."

Toothless walked to the edge of the table and leapt down to the chair and from there onto the floor. Hiccup was a bit less comfortable with the action. It could not be more than three feet from the tabletop to the ground, but to him it looked like a much longer distance to fall. It had been easy to get up, but getting down looked to be a bit more challenging.

 _I can do this. I can do this._

He walked up to the edge of the table and looked down at his front paws. He was not yet accustomed to how different they felt. Not to mention the fact that he walked on four limbs now. He took a deep breath and leapt.

And misjudged the distance.

He crashed into the back of the chair instead of landing on its seat. The chair tipped backwards.

 _Oh, oops…_

CRASH!

The sound of the chair toppling to the ground broke the relative silence of the night. Toothless whipped his head around at the noise.

"Hiccup!"

He was at Hiccup's side a moment later. Hiccup was laying upside down on top of the back of the fallen sitting-thing. He looked rather dazed, but his wings and tail both looked unharmed. Hiccup moaned in annoyance and covered his head with a wing in embarrassment. Toothless knew how horrible it was to have ones wings or tail injured, and he breathed a sigh of relief that neither had happened.

The situation was actually rather amusing now that he was sure that Hiccup was not hurt. Clearly, he had not lost all his innate clumsiness. Toothless laughed a throaty laugh before nudging Hiccup.

"Get up."

Without waiting, he turned and began to walk back towards the fireplace. He could not see the glint in Hiccup's eyes as he rolled off the chair to right himself. Hiccup lowered himself to the ground and prepared his attack.

 _Toothless, you think that was funny! Well, take this!_

He lunged and pounced. This time he found his target.

He landed on Toothless's back while being very careful to avoid his wings. His momentum sent both of them rolling forward in a flailing mass of limbs. Hiccup curled himself into as tight a ball as he could to take the roll more smoothly. When they came to rest, Hiccup found himself standing on Toothless's back with his front feet. He raised his head high in triumph.

 _Yes, I have brought down this mighty…_

Toothless whipped his tail around and swept Hiccup's back legs out from under him. He twisted his own body to the side so that Hiccup could not brace himself. Hiccup fell to the floor on his side with a squeak, and Toothless pounced on top of him. Toothless's front legs held down Hiccup's and his tail did the same.

Hiccup was pinned.

They looked at each other in silence for several moments before Toothless, looking very pleased with himself, gave Hiccup the smile that he so much liked and released him. Hiccup just rolled his eyes.

 _Useless reptile._

.

 _Oh..._

 _Yeah, I can't use that one anymore._

Defeated, Hiccup followed Toothless over to the warmth in front of the fireplace. He was considering where would be best to lie down when he saw it hanging above the fireplace.

His helmet.

The helmet his father had proudly given him. The helmet that he had cast aside in a public act of defiance. The only relic that he had left of his mother.

The combination of being back in his house, being completely exhausted, and the sight of the helmet which carried with it such powerful memories brought back the feelings of despair and emptiness.

He would never again wake up and put on clothes, help Gobber work in the forge, craft new machines, draw pictures, write in his notebook, talk to his father, and Astrid... Oh Astrid! Why had this happened to him just after he had finally gotten Astrid to like him? None of it was fair!

He hung his head and gasped in sadness.

 _I've lost everything…_

Toothless was not sure why Hiccup was so obviously upset again. How could he help to warm Hiccup's liver? The moment after Hiccup hung his head, a hint of mischief shone in Toothless's eyes. His tongue darted out and licked Hiccup's face. Hiccup rumbled to himself and tried to wipe as much of the slobber off his face as he could using a paw.

 _Ugh, Toothless, why would you do that?_

Actually, he knew why Toothless had done it. He had not really lost everything because he still had his best friend. They were both alive, and Toothless was trying to help him.

With time, he might eventually find a way to move on. There was still the hope that he could be turned back into a human.

He settled down with his belly on one of the rags in front of the fireplace. The heat from the fire felt absolutely glorious even though the fire was a bit bright. He curled his tail up near his head and examined the tail closely. The veins in the fins stood out vividly in the glare from the fireplace. He stroked the tail and the fins with a single paw and was acutely aware of how his tail and wings had seemed to move completely naturally and felt like they were truly part of him. As if he had always been like this.

 _Strange._

He fanned his fins wide and curled them over his head just as he had seen Toothless do in the cove. Between the exhaustion of the day and the heat of the fire seeping into his scales, Hiccup was sound asleep in moments.

Toothless was still pondering Hiccup's actions as he watched him fall asleep.

 _Why are you still so sad, Hiccup?_

The only answer had to be that he was not comfortable with what he was.

 _I would be very chilled if I turned into a two-leg._

He shuddered at the thought of not having his wings and of never again flying beyond the clouds. Had something similar happened to Hiccup? There was the female two-leg that two-leg Hiccup seemed attracted to. Still, they had no young and had not been mates. He would have been able to tell if they had been mates. There could have been something else though that he did not know of.

"I had to save you," he whispered.

 _You would have died. I did not mean for this to happen to you._

It was his fault that Hiccup was life-chilled. He did not regret what he had done. He still had no idea why Hiccup had been changed since he did not intend it and had no idea how to intentionally change him. Still, he would much rather Hiccup be alive as a kin than be a dead two-leg. He could only hope that Hiccup would eventually accept his new life.

He lay down at Hiccup's side and rested his head on his paws. The only sounds were the steady crackling of the fire, the whistle of the outside wind, and their own slow breaths.

"I will keep you safe, Hiccup. I promise."

They had both survived the impossible together. He truly hoped that Hiccup would be happy again. And he would be there at his side to teach him everything he would need to know and to face whatever would come. Hiccup was all he still had in life.

With that thought, Toothless finally drifted off to sleep as the wind continued to whistle outside.


	6. I - Prodigal Son

_"An idea... resilient, highly contagious. Once an idea has taken hold of the brain, it is almost impossible to eradicate." - Inception_

* * *

Prodigal Son

* * *

The snow crunched underfoot with every step he took. The only part of his body that was exposed to the elements was his eyes and only through the slits cut in the cloth wrapped around his head. Anything more would have already been frostbitten.

This was a true Berk winter.

It was very late by the time Stoick finally managed to extricate himself from the party. The annual celebration had been in recognition of the tribe's survival despite the harshest weather that nature could throw at them. The tradition was to hold the festival in the dead of winter and in the worst conditions possible just to show that they could.

It was a perfect example of their stubbornness.

And did nature ever comply with them this year! The worst blizzard of the year had hit one week ago. It began with hail and sleet and transitioned into howling winds and unending snowfall. Several of the trees most exposed to the winds had frozen solid and snapped under the gale coming from the western sea. The remaining trees creaked ominously overhead with every gust. All in all, it was looking to be one of the harshest winters in recent memory.

Despite the horrible weather, there was a life and vibrancy that came from having so much of the community gathered in the same hall, drinking the same mead, feasting together, trying to sing songs, and attempting to dance. It was a defiance of the natural order, the act of doing so showing everyone what they could do together.

If only he could still enjoy it.

He had stayed at this celebration throughout the entire night in previous years. It was something that was expected of the Chief, and he also had a reputation to defend. Specifically, the challenge to see who could drink the most and be the last one standing.

But he was different now.

None of it mattered to him as much anymore. The songs, the dancing, and the drinking did not bring him the same joy that they used to. He was simply too tired, and even if he had the energy, he had no desire to join the celebration.

Crunch…

.

Crunch…

.

His life was not all that different now compared to what it had been before. He still woke up at dawn, prepared the same soup, attended to his Chiefly duties through the day, returned home either after eating or to prepare dinner itself, and then went to sleep. There was one thing in particular that was different.

The peaceful silence of the house.

It was an oppressive, almost tangible quietness that pressed in around him during his moments alone. The crackle of the fireplace was now the loudest thing ever heard in the Haddock house. It was a peacefulness born not of rest and comfort but of absence.

Of emptiness.

A void where something had once been and was now lost forever.

The house was occupied and empty at the same time.

Just like him.

He knew just how much he was responsible for what had happened. Others had tried to convince him that it wasn't his fault, but he knew better. He knew why Hiccup was gone.

Crunch…

.

Crunch…

.

He could not see more than a few feet ahead in the now near-total whiteout. He ducked inside a storage shed to shield himself from the worst of the wind. The barrels inside the shed held fish. A lot of fish. The stockpiled supplies were far more than the tribe could ever manage to eat through before the weather breaks. All thanks to the dragons.

The dragons…

How different Berk was now because of them. Most stayed completely out of the way and did not even show themselves in the village. This was almost universally considered an improvement. There were also the few that moved in. It was mostly the group that had attached itself to the youths, now known as "the riders" as they were known in the community. Maybe half a dozen other dragons could also be considered to be permanent residents of Berk.

Astrid had, after much frustration and many fish, managed to teach several of the dragons how to fish. Or rather, she had shown them how they could help humans catch more. Of course dragons knew how catch fish on their own. However, working together was faster and led to larger and more frequent meals for all parties involved.

No longer did fear descend at dusk at the thought that there might be an attack that night. Everyone recognized the material benefits of having the dragons work for them.

And yet…

The only families and persons who took an active interest in the dragons were the younger ones. He could not fault the adults who wished to keep their distance. How could he blame them when so many of them had lost a loved one or a friend to the creatures in the past? It was possible that one of the dragons that now lived peacefully in the village could be one of the ones which had killed someone from the village. How could that be ignored?

The young did not generally know the pain, the loss, or the grief of a family torn apart. They truly lived in a different world from their parents' generation. These two worlds were opposed to each other and could not coincide.

He knew which one he thought would be best for his people, but he had no idea which one would prevail. What would that transition to the new look like? People can do terrible things when they are afraid and confronted with new ways.

As he knew all too well.

It certainly helped the dragons' cause that there had not been any recent incidents. The dragons had not done much of anything since the winter had set in. Those that did reside in the village mostly slept and only arose to eat and relieve themselves. That they were doing nothing meant that they were not doing anything that could legitimately be complained about.

However, even in doing nothing they had proven to be beneficial. Those who had a dragon of their own took pity on it and brought their dragon indoors, foregoing the outside stables. They then found that they had an always-present source of warmth especially on the most bitterly cold of nights. A source of warmth that seemed to enjoy curling up with them, bizarre though that seemed to everyone who did not have a dragon.

They had peace.

The storm outside seemed to be letting up for the moment so he decided to forge ahead. Step after step followed as he made his way through the storm.

Alone.

Then he arrived at his house. The dim light from the window bespoke the fire still burning within and the warmth that awaited him inside.

With a great heave, he opened the door, stepped inside, and quickly closed it behind him. He gave a sigh of relief at finally escaping the freezing cold.

He had left earlier that evening without finishing his dinner, and the leftovers needed to be dealt with. He grabbed a log from the stack of chopped firewood next to the door and meandered over to the fireplace. He froze mid-step at the sight that greeted him.

The egg, which had become a fixture of the living room, was shattered. It must have hatched. Almost in the same moment he saw the egg, he noticed the two baby Night Furies curled up together in the warmth in front of the fire.

"What?" he whispered.

There had only been one egg, so why were there two dragons?

"Twins?"

It must be since they looked identical except that one was slightly smaller. They were both tiny! He had never seen a baby dragon before and was very surprised at how… how innocent they looked nestled up against each other. They did not look fearsome at all. To think that these tiny things would one day grow into the terrifying beasts that…

No, he corrected himself. He could not think like that anymore. Hiccup and the months since… it happened… had shown everyone on Berk who was willing to understand that dragons were not simply beasts. They were creatures capable of some degree of affection toward people and were certainly useful to have around. Just like dogs, wolves, horses, and other pets.

He carefully hung his coat up above the fireplace while keeping close watch on the sleeping hatchlings. The floorboards creaked with one of his steps. The larger hatchling shifted in its sleep and nuzzled closer to its sibling.

It was such a simple thing, yet it pierced Stoick's heart to see such an affectionate action from so small a creature. How comforting it must be to have your only family member close at your side.

If only Hiccup were here to enjoy this with him. Even now, months later, the pain and the guilt never truly went away.

He stood there for a few minutes silently observing the sleeping dragons before him. This was his chance! His chance to show that he had learned from his mistakes. His chance to make Hiccup proud even in Valhalla.

His chance to begin redeeming himself.

"What have I gotten myself into?"

He had no idea how to take care of dragons, let alone newly-hatched ones. His dragons. He, Stoick the Vast of Berk, after decades of defending his people against dragon raids, was now responsible for raising and training two dragons. Of course, he had known that this would probably happen when he chose to rescue the egg. It would not have been right for anyone else to be responsible for it considering its origins.

After a few more moments, his practical side told him that the dragons would be hungry when they woke up. Feeding them sounded like one of the best ways to get their trust since that seemed to work with the fully-grown dragons.

 _Perfect, I'll let them finish my dinner._

He walked into the kitchen and was surprised to find the plate picked clean except for bones. One of the table chairs was also knocked over.

 _So they already helped themselves_. _Well, there is one more fish that I can prepare in the morning._

He walked back to the fireplace and placed the log into the fire. Now it was sure to burn well into the morning and keep the house, or at least the room, warm. He gave a wide yawn. The exhaustion of the day was finally catching up to him. Weeks ago he had moved his sleeping skins out of the bedroom and into a corner of the living room as he did every winter. It was too cold to sleep anywhere else in the house.

Whether by chance or by design, his sleeping arrangement left him with a clear view of the fireplace and Hiccup's helmet hanging above it. It was a dual reminder of both his son's bravery and his own blindness. It was always the last thing he saw before he closed his eyes at night.

Silence reigned once more in the house, but now it was somewhat different. He had a purpose outside of his necessary duties to the village. He would do all he could for these little dragons because it was all that he could do for Hiccup now.

* * *

The cheering intensified around him. What he was about to do was crazy and reckless, but he had to put an end to this. His entire village was wrong in their belief that dragons were monsters, and only he and Astrid knew better.

Beyond this gate in front of him waited the Nightmare, but it was not the dragon he was worried about. He hoped that the villagers and Stoick would accept what he would show them. They had to... right? He just wished he had a chance to talk to Astrid before he went out there in case something went wrong. He had to know that she would protect Toothless.

The gate in front of him remained shut as the moments passed by. Then suddenly the shouting went silent. His heart started breathing faster.

It was time.

"I can do this. I'm ready."

The gate swung open, and Hiccup strode confidently into the arena. But there was no dragon anywhere in sight. However, there was a man standing across the arena in full battle armor with a massive hammer on the ground at his side. It was his father.

"Dad, what are you doing down here?"

Stoick did not answer. He only stared directly in front of him. Something was very wrong. Suddenly, Stoick reached down, picked up his hammer, and began to walk towards him with deadly purpose and a furious expression on his face.

"Monster, you took my son from me!"

 _What!_

"But…but dad, it's me."

"You are no Nord! You are not my son!"

Hiccup's heart broke into an uncountable number of pieces. How could his father say such a thing?

He tried to hold out a hand to plead with his father, but instead he saw a claw. He suddenly became aware of his wings and his tail. He had not seen a dragon because he was the dragon!

Nords kill dragons.

"Dad, dad no! Stop!"

Stoick was charging at him with his hammer held high. The crowd began cheering again in anticipation while Hiccup recoiled in fear.

"Please, it's me!"

However, instead of words, he only heard the roaring of a panicked dragon. His father could not understand him. He turned away and tried to run but tripped over his strange feet. A moment later a blinding pain flashed through his tail. He screamed. Despite his pain he chanced a glance behind him.

The end of his tail was crushed and twisted in an unnatural angle by a hammer. The same hammer that even at that moment was being swung through the air towards his head.

Crack!

The next thing he knew was that his father was standing over him with a knife drawn directly above his heart. He tried to speak, to make any sound, to beg for mercy, but nothing came. A strange ringing filled his ears, and his vision faded in and out of focus.

Stoick's face, which had been proud and furious, was now pitiful and shattered with tears streaming into his beard. The knife quivered in his grasp.

"Oh son, I'm so sorry…"

The knife fell.

Hiccup awoke in a panic. For a moment, he imagined phantom pains in his chest before realizing it was all just a dream. He was not in the area, and his dad was not trying to kill him. He was safe in his house and in front of the fireplace with Toothless sleeping at his side.

 _Wait, what?_

Why was Toothless in his house? Why were they both on the floor?

The events of the previous evening returned to him and a quick glance at himself confirmed his suspicion.

 _Not entirely a dream then, great…_

He yawned and was again surprised at how wide his jaws seemed to open and that his teeth seemed to not be fixed in place. Of course, he knew that Night Furies have retractable teeth, but it was too strange to have them himself. It was only one of many strange things he was having to consider about himself as he lay his head back down on his paws.

 _How did this happen to me?_

The last that he could remember he was falling toward the firestorm and he might have felt Toothless catch him. Neither of which explained why he was a dragon.

 _Well, since I'm up I might as well look around._

He got up and walked over to the window. He was reminded of how small he was when he realized that he could not see directly outside. However, he could look up at the clouds in the pre-dawn darkness.

It was snowing.

 _But, it doesn't snow in the summer!_

Blink.

 _It's not summer anymore._

How much had changed on Berk while he had been supposedly dead? The fact that his and Toothless's egg had been kept in his house meant that the village could not be absolutely against dragons. Or maybe his dad had kept it in the house in secret.

His dad.

How could he face his father now? His father naturally would not recognize him, and he could not talk to him anymore. He would not know that his son was still alive, in a way, unless he could figure out some way to tell him.

In the midst of his melancholy thoughts, he heard a strange clanging in the kitchen.

 _Toothless, what did you do?_

He turned the corner and gave an involuntary squeak of fear. There, in front of him and looking as tall and mighty as Thor himself, stood his father. He could not help but back away from the giant in front of him. His father slowly turned around at the noise he made and looked down on him.

* * *

Stoick had been having trouble sleeping in recent weeks. Well, more so than was usual anyway. So when he woke up before dawn, he decided to get to work as was his routine. Routine kept order and stability in his daily life. Now his routine would have to change slightly because of his two self-appointed charges.

He was in the kitchen, skinning the salmon when he accidentally knocked over a pan which made a sharp peal when it crashed. He grumbled in annoyance, picked it back up, and returned to his task when a strange squeal sounded from behind him and broke the silence. Even in his poorly-rested condition he knew exactly what kind of creature must have made that sound.

He slowly turned around, the anxiousness and excitement growing in him. Sure enough, not even three paces from him stood one of the two hatchlings. Specifically, the slightly smaller one. And it looked terrified of him. He had to show it that he did not mean to hurt it.

 _How do I get its trust?_

Fish seemed to be the most effective method to gaining their trust that he had observed. He tore off a small sliver of salmon, turned from the table, and took very slow steps toward the dragon. It took one cautious step backwards and crouched low to the ground. Strangely it was not looking at him. Instead, it was looking down at the ground.

He sat down in front of the tiny creature and slowly held out the piece of fish.

"It's ok, I won't hurt you."

He wasn't sure why he was talking to it. It could not understand what he was saying, but maybe something in his voice could reassure it. Some animals responded well to a calming, steady voice. And the fish he was offering it should certainly be a plus.

The dragon did not immediately snap up the fish. Nor did it retreat from him. After a few moments, it looked up from the floor and stared directly into his eyes without blinking.

It was very strange to see those reptilian, forest-green eyes because they reminded him so much of Hiccup's. And the way that it was staring at him bespoke awareness and understanding. As if it were waiting for him to do something.

Just how smart were they? He had wondered this on several occasions in the last several months. It made sense that adults could be trained and learn tricks. But for a new hatchling to seem so aware was very unsettling.

A few more moments passed before the dragon seemed to make up its mind about something. It carefully inched forward and sat down on its haunches in front of him. It opened its toothless mouth and gently grabbed the bit of fish. It bobbed its head back and the sliver of fish was gone.

 _For such a small thing with no teeth, you sure can make a piece of fish disappear fast._

The sight of the baby dragon taking food from his hand was so mesmerizing that he neglected to draw his hand back. The next thing he knew he could feel smooth, leathery skin against his palm and faint vibrations coming through his hand. Its eyes were closed and it was purring.

It was one of the most surreal experiences of his entire life. This tiny dragon whose entire head was no thicker than his fist was peacefully resting its head against his palm. It was trusting him, a complete stranger and a human, with its life. This was amazing. He could not help but give a tiny grin.

 _Oh son, is this what it was like for you?_

A few moments passed before either of them moved.

"I guess you were hungry," he finally said out loud as he drew back his hand.

The hatchling looked up and nodded.

"Well, I'll get you some more then."

He rose to his feet and turned to go grab another slice of fish. He took a couple of steps before he blinked and realized what just happened.

It nodded at him!

A baby dragon just responded to him by making a human gesture!

 _What_?

He turned back and looked at the baby as it stopped following and looked up at him. Even it seemed to realize that it had done something very odd since it suddenly looked more wary and even bashful.

"Ok, this is strange."

It only got stranger when the dragon nodded again. He was definitely not imagining this. Surely it could not be mimicking since it had never seen a human before.

"Do you… understand me?"

The little dragon looked around the room wildly. What could it possibly be looking for? It must have seen something because it walked forward and reached out with one of its front legs. It grabbed one of his pant legs with its tiny paw and gave a tug while gesturing towards the fireplace with its head. It then let go and bounded over to the fireplace where a few embers still smoldered amidst the ash.

The dragon then sat down and looked at him expectantly. Completely confused, he walked over and stood next to it. It extended a tiny claw over the ashes and what followed left him breathless.

It wrote runes in the ashes!

Not only was the fact that it wrote clearly recognizable runes inexplicable, but what it wrote sent shivers down his spine.

 **Hi Dad**

.

 _What?_

 _._

 **I am Hiccup**

Neither of them moved. He stood there in a daze and stared off into the distance with a blank expression as he tried to comprehend the impossible. Hiccup was dead. Everyone knew that. There had been no body, but neither could anyone be expected to find one given the devastation that occurred that day. The circumstances surrounding his finding of the egg and the fact that it hatched twins were both very odd indeed, but this…

"No. It's impossible. My..."

He choked on his own words.

"My son is dead."

One of the few sources of comfort he had been given was the knowledge that those who had fallen in battle had earned a place in Valhalla. It was something that he had been told many times that he should be proud of.

He looked back down at the dragon and saw that it was staring at something above the fireplace. There was nothing above the fireplace except the helmet.

Hiccup's helmet.

His blood froze and his knees began shaking. Mutilated bodies, tribal treaty-making, and outbreaks of disease, he had dealt with for years. But this was entirely beyond his ken. He dropped to his knees and forced himself to take breaths. Before he could do anything else, the dragon wiped away the previous writing and began anew.

 **Are you still proud to call me**

"My son," Stoick finished the line with barely a gasp.

Then he completely broke.

All the months of repressed emotion spilled over as he fell prostrate to the cold floor and held his face in his hands. He was on the battlefield grieving over his lost son all over again. He was enduring the silent glances of commiseration and looks of pity from those who had also lost loved ones. He was maintaining his composure in public while being torn apart by his shame and guilt. He was returning to an empty house every single day. All at once.

He had no idea how long he lay prone on the floor before he felt a soft tap on his shoulder. He sat up and looked at Hiccup's extended paw. He tried to imagine it as the small hand that it should be. If he was any judge of draconic expressions, Hiccup looked very anxious from how he was crouched low to the ground and how his tail was twitching.

"Hiccup?"

Hiccup looked up at him with wide and attentive eyes.

"Can… can you forgive me, for… for everything?"

Hiccup leapt up onto his lap and tried to embrace him while standing on his hind legs. For a moment, Stoick did not know what to do. He had never been one to give hugs, but here he could not help but make an exception. He gathered Hiccup into his arms and held him tightly. Perhaps too tightly as Hiccup squirmed and gave a squeak of discomfort.

"Sorry," he whispered as he loosened his hold.

The feelings of the smooth scales, the leathery wings folded at Hiccup's side, and the tail resting on his lap which he had just a moment ago thought incredible were now unnerving since he knew to whom they belonged. There was no doubt in his mind that this tiny dragon was, impossibly, his son.

"I'm sorry I never listened. I was a fool."

Hiccup shook his head and grumbled.

"Yes, I was. I was too proud, too arrogant, useless as a father."

He realized that he had been crying the whole time. He finally released Hiccup and wiped his eyes with his sleeve.

"How did this," he finally gestured at Hiccup, "happen?"

 **You just gestured to all of me**

After a moment of silence, they both gave wry chuckles, though in Hiccup's case it sounded more like coughing. He then got back to writing.

 **I fell**

 **Toothless caught me**

 **Then I woke up like this**

They both looked at the egg shards.

 **That was strange**

 _Toothless? Oh, right, the Night Fury he found._

"Wait, so is that…?" he asked while pointing towards the still-sleeping hatchling over near the fireplace.

Hiccup nodded once.

 **Toothless**

Stoick could only stare, dumbfounded, and rubbed his head in confusion.

"But where did the egg come from? I thought your dragon was a female."

* * *

Hiccup shrugged his shoulders and grunted once. He did not think his father needed to know exactly how badly he had been hurt when he fell from Toothless. Or that he had probably died.

 **No idea**

 **Toothless is definitely a boy  
**

Hiccup paused and cocked his head slightly in thought.

 **Well he was but I am not sure if we are now**

He hung his head slightly as he finished writing. It was a disturbing thought to both of them.

He then looked at his paws and noticed that they were covered in ash and soot from all the writing he had been doing. He held up one of his dirty paws for his father to see.

"Oh, I'll get a cloth for that. Are you still hungry? I can make you some fish."

Hiccup nodded vigorously in response. He wasn't sure why but he was already starving even though he had the small serving of fish a few moments earlier and he and Toothless had helped themselves to the leftovers some number of hours ago.

"Ok, I'll get it ready."

Stoick disappeared back into the kitchen, leaving Hiccup to his thoughts.

 _Well, that went well. My dad knows that I'm alive. He knows that I'm a dragon. He doesn't hate me. And, yep, that pretty much sums everything up._

The prospect of some real cooked fish was initially very appealing. Then again, the bit of raw fish that he had eaten earlier had not actually tasted that bad. And if it were cooked that would mean he was trusting his dad to not mess up.

Raw was starting to sound better and better the more he thought about it.

 _I wonder if Toothless will eat fish if my dad makes it. What am I saying, of course he will if he is hungry enough. Actually, I should go get him up._

Hiccup walked over to where Toothless was still dozing. For a moment, he pondered pouncing on Toothless while he still slept, but then he decided against it.

* * *

He was dreaming about the sky and gliding. The soft winds caressing his wings, the clouds parting around him, and the warmth from the sun seeping into his scales. No danger anywhere in sight. A full belly. Perfection.

At least, it seemed perfect at first. But something was absent. Someone?

He saw a brief flash of someone else's wing next to him when the dream suddenly faded and he was back in the waking world. He gave a small groan of displeasure and slowly opened his eyes. He was very hungry again and it had been a good dream. Hatching had been very hard work after all. He was back on the floor in the place where Hiccup's sire lived. It was hard to tell exactly how long he had slept since it was still a bit dark in the cave. At least the place where the fire had burned still gave off some warmth.

Speaking of Hiccup…

Hiccup was standing right in front of him and apparently had just nudged him to wake him up. He got to his feet and stretched his limbs and wings while arching his back. He yawned widely to help shake off the post-waking lethargy.

"Good morning, Hiccup."

Hiccup settled down and listened carefully as he began speaking. Hiccup clearly knew that he was being spoken to and was trying to figure out what was being said. Toothless realized the main difficulty that they were going to fly through on this flight. It was one matter to repeatedly say the word for a specific thing like a fish because eventually Hiccup would make the connection. However, he had no idea how to express more abstract ideas in a way that Hiccup could understand. Sure, Hiccup was very smart, but would that be enough?

He looked directly at Hiccup, made sure that he had his attention, and pointed at him with a forepaw. He remembered that Hiccup had used that gesture to direct attention to something.

"Hiccup."

Hiccup raised a paw of his own, looked at it, and replied questioningly, "Hiccup?"

Toothless shook his head.

"No."

He walked the couple of steps over to Hiccup and looked over his entire body.

"Hiccup."

He then looked at himself.

"Toothless."

Hiccup seemed confused for a few moments and closed his eyes in thought. Then he opened his eyes and his ears went up in a very satisfied and smug expression.

He pointed at himself first.

"Hiccup," he said with confidence.

He pointed at Toothless.

"Toothless."

"Yes!" Toothless hummed in excitement. It was working! Hiccup was learning.

He was a bit surprised though when Hiccup called out his name again but made that silly face thing while doing so. First, he said "Toothless" when his teeth were not showing, nodded, and said "yes." However, the second time he said "Toothless" his teeth were bared, and he made sure that Toothless saw them, he shook his head afterwards, and said "no." Hiccup then sat down and looked at him expectantly.

Why had Hiccup connected his name to that expression? He remembered that the first time Hiccup had said the two-leg word was after they had made the same silly face-expressions at each other back in the cove. Two-legs like to designate things. To name things. Names.

 _Wait, did he… no he did not!_

He glared at Hiccup in mock indignation, but he hoped that Hiccup did not know that he was only pretending.

"Hiccup! You named me that silly face!"

Hiccup at least had the dignity to look twisted at what he had done. However, his expression brightened once again and he looked back at Toothless.

"Now what are you going to tell me?" Toothless huffed.

Hiccup said his own name and then began coughing as if he was having uncontrollable spasms or coughing. Toothless was almost concerned enough to go see if Hiccup was alright when they stopped. After doing so, Hiccup closed his eyes and groaned in clear exasperation. He then opened his eyes, and they looked at each other.

A moment passed between them before they saw the beginnings of grins forming on each other's faces. Then they both lost control and collapsed to the ground in hysterics with their wings flopped to the side and tails twitching uncontrollably. It was the deepest, most uncontrollable fit of laughter that either of them could remember. Their amusement was finally starting to die down when Hiccup seemed to get a real case of the hiccups.

The hysterics resumed with renewed strength.

It took nearly a minute before they managed to contain themselves, Hiccup only managing to do so by holding his breath.

"Hiccup and Toothless…" Toothless shook his head in exasperation, "what a twisted pair we are."

A very welcome scent wafted into the room, and Toothless immediately perked up.

"I smell fish!"

That also reminded him of how hungry he was. He licked his lips and got to his feet to find the fish. Hiccup correctly recognized the word for fish and quickly bounded away while motioning for him to follow. Toothless did so but froze as soon as he saw into where the smell was coming from.

There was Hiccup's sire. The Alpha.

The two-leg was standing with a weapon in his paw. Unbidden images of the two-leg roaring and charging with rage blazing in his eyes came to his mind. His own eyes narrowed, and a soft growl began building in his throat. This was the one who tried to kill him after he came to save Hiccup from the danger the other two-legs put Hiccup in!

It was Hiccup's gentle croon that calmed him and let him relax somewhat. He also knew that it would not be wise to be hostile since the sire was now many times larger than him. However, he was not ready to trust the two-leg. That would take much time if it ever happened.

The sire was using the weapon to slice up a fish. Could he mean to give the fish to them? He must because there was no other good reason for him to cut it up into such tiny pieces.

Hiccup jumped up onto the table, and he thought that Hiccup already seemed a bit more confident about his movements. The sire said some things to Hiccup in the two-leg language and then gave the fish to Hiccup to eat on top of the table.

 _Is he going to give me any?_

Evidently, he did not seem that he would. If the Alpha was going to give Hiccup fish to eat, why not give him some as well?

 _I need to eat too…_

After a few moments pondering what he would do, he joined Hiccup on the table, and Hiccup moved aside so that he could eat as well.

 _At least this fish is not burned!_

* * *

Stoick wasn't sure how hungry Hiccup was so he decided to carve up the entire fish. As the moments passed in such a repetitive task, his mind began to wander and kept settling on one very serious matter. How could his son have been changed into a dragon? It was unlike anything he had ever heard of. Sure, there are a few stories in which a person is cursed in exactly that way because of their own greed or some other vice. But those tales were purely tools for teaching the right morals in the readers.

He had always looked down on the villagers who believed in magic. The gods could intervene whenever they wished and they did so in mysterious ways, but that was not the same as magic. The gods would not have done this to his son. Was he wrong about magic? If so, what creature would have done this to Hiccup?

Immediately, the only possible answer came to him. He had not been superstitious before these events, but even back then he knew that there was something different about Night Furies. They were too mysterious, too fast, too powerful, and too clever to be natural. Had that Toothless, as Hiccup called it, done this to his son? Because if it did…

He gritted his teeth at the thought.

After a couple moments pondering what he would do if he found out that the dragon was responsible, he was interrupted by a series of clicking sounds behind him. He turned and saw that both of the hatchlings were walking into the kitchen. Hiccup, the slightly smaller one, seemed to be leading or encouraging the other. As for the other one, it looked like an exact copy of Hiccup except that it was slightly bigger and looked far more wary from how it was constantly looking around.

It was hard to imagine this tiny thing before him as being the same fearsome creature that had ravaged their towers in the raids, which Hiccup had tamed, and which he himself had fought in the arena. And which had fought for them in the final battle.

 _This would be easier if it were any other dragon._

He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths to calm himself. He was not going to do anything to Hiccup's dragon. It was just another dragon like all the others that lived in the village.

"Uhm, I have the fish. I still need to cook it."

Surprisingly, Hiccup shook his head and leapt up onto the table.

"You want it raw?" he asked while holding up a piece of the sliced fish.

Hiccup nodded and licked his lips.

In a way, it made sense that his taste preferences would be different now. Still, Hiccup had always refused to eat raw fish before. What else might be different about him now?

He put all the fish that he had carved onto a plate and set the plate down on the table. He had just turned to grab some utensils before he realized how silly that would have been. Hiccup probably could not use a fork anymore. His hands, Stoick refused to think of them any other way, did not seem to be shaped the right way to hold a utensil. Hiccup began snapping the tiny slivers of fish up directly in his mouth.

It broke his heart all over again to see his son reduced to eating like an animal.

"I promise that I will make this right, Hiccup. I will find a way to get you back."

Hiccup immediately looked up from the meal and nodded solemnly. He wasn't sure exactly what he could do for Hiccup, but he would figure something out. And he would have to be very discrete about it. The knowledge of what had happened was not the kind of thing that he wanted the rest of the village finding out about. He could imagine the panic that could ensure if it were known that people could turn into dragons. No one could possibly be allowed to know the truth.

Toothless also jumped up onto the table, and Stoick almost yelled at him to get off. He only restrained himself because Hiccup purred at Toothless and pushed several pieces of fish towards him. If Hiccup wanted Toothless to eat with him, well, he was not going to deny Hiccup his wish.

Hiccup chirped to get his attention and held up a paw-hand that was now coated in both fish slime and ash.

 _Oh, right._

He grabbed a cloth and a bowl of water and set them down on the table for Hiccup to use. He thought that Hiccup would wash his paw-hands in the water, but instead he pretended to drink the water and looked at it suspiciously. He then looked up at his father and cocked his head in an obvious request. Not all the water that they used in the house for washing was also good for drinking since their stores were limited in the winter.

It only took a moment for him to fetch another cup and fill it from the store of drinking water which Hiccup then began lapping at.

There was nothing else that he had to do in the house this morning, and he had some responsibilities to attend to in the Great Hall. It would also be very good to have some time to think about everything that had happened and that he needed to do.

After all, it is not every day that a dead son reappears as a baby dragon.

"I have some stuff... I have to do in the village. Will you be ok staying here for a few hours? It is very cold right now, and I don't want you getting cold out there."

Hiccup looked up from drinking and cleaning himself off and grumbled as if to say "Of course I'll be fine."

"Ok, I'll be back and… uh, stay here, inside."

Hiccup rolled his eyes and groaned, but he also smiled at his father's protectiveness.

Stoick put on his heavy coat and paused at the door before opening it. He looked back at Hiccup with an expression somewhere between relief, anguish, and yearning. It looked as though he wanted to embrace Hiccup again to reassure himself that Hiccup was actually there. He almost took a step toward Hiccup, but he paused and turned away without making a sound. The door opened and a gust of frigid air rushed through the house as Stoick's cape whipped through the door frame and out into the winter air.

* * *

Hiccup was rather perplexed at what just happened.

 _That was odd, what was that about?_

After a couple of moments though he decided that it wasn't very important. Of course his father would be confused since he just found out that his son was not actually dead and was now alive as a dragon. It would be a lot to take in.

His dad had said that he would find a way to make him human again, and he was sure that it was possible. After all, one truly incredible thing had already happened to him so why not another?

"Hiccup..." Toothless called out and interrupted his thoughts.

Toothless looked up from the cup and dipped a paw in the water.

"Water."

He then took several welcome sips of water and looked back up to Hiccup.

"Drink."

"Water, drink" Hiccup repeated and easily committed the words to memory. He was once again surprised how easily all these strange words and sounds came to mind. Maybe dragons were actually good with language, though he still thought that unlikely. Maybe it is because their babies learn faster.

 _Who knows? I wonder if Toothless knows what happened to both of us._

It was certainly possible, but he had no way to ask right now. He needed to learn more words first.

Toothless finished the last bit of the fish and turned to Hiccup with a very satisfied look now that he had a full belly. Now that the sire had left, he was very eager to explore the inside of the two-leg cave. He jumped off the table and fully stretched out his wings to glide to the ground. It would be a very long time before he could even try flying, but the sooner he started practicing the better.

"Hiccup, is this your nest?"

Hiccup thought that Toothless was interested in his home since he was looking around at the surroundings. This gave him an idea: he could show Toothless his room. Presumably, their room now. If it was still his room that is.

 _I'll have to talk dad into letting Toothless stay in my room._

"Toothless."

Hiccup jumped down from the table, much more successfully than the first time, and beckoned with a nod toward his room.

Not much looked like it had changed. The same animal pelts hung on the wall and the same clutter lined the hall. If anything, everything looked a bit shabbier than he remembered it. Not that any Nordic home could be said to be neat of course, but his dad had never been exceptionally messy before.

Strangely, the door to his room was cracked open. It was a good thing too since Hiccup only then realized that he had no way to open the door otherwise. He had no idea what to expect inside.

He nosed through the door and stood still in the doorway. His room looked exactly as it had been when he had left it many months ago on the way to the training ring. The same pile of contraptions, metalwork, and papers cluttered the corners of the room, the clothes were strewn about as they had always been, and the bed was a complete disaster.

While Hiccup stood motionless and lost in his thoughts, Toothless was positively giddy with excitement. He jumped into the place and began nosing and pawing at everything in reach. The entire place smelled of Hiccup! At least, it smelled of two-leg Hiccup and only faintly at that, but still it was unmistakable.

"I like your cave, Hiccup!"

While Toothless was busy inspecting his surroundings, Hiccup was staring up at the bed. His goal right now was to get up to his desk to see if his journal was still where he had left it. That required that he get on top of the bed to be able to jump onto the desk. If he could get to his notebook and find a pencil, he might be able to figure out how to write properly, assuming that it was physically possible now.

The best way to get up seemed to be to climb up the blankets that were hanging off the side of the bed. He looked at his claws and wished that they were slightly sharper to help him climb.

 _Well, here goes nothing._

With a great leap, Hiccup was able to grab on to the sheets, though he had to use his teeth at one point, and was able to pull himself up over the edge. It was a success on the first try even if he did rip the blanket slightly.

 _Ha, I think I have jumping figured out now._

He looked at the messy blankets and, despite his purpose in coming up here, found the temptation to be too great. He nuzzled underneath them and burrowed on his belly until he was mostly buried. He had to consciously tuck his wings against his side to prevent them from getting caught in the blankets. It was still a very strange sensation to be using formerly non-existent muscles to control his wings and to do so completely naturally.

The scratchy wool of the blankets felt a bit different to him, most likely because of his different skin. It was also a bit cold in the bed, but the same could be said for the entire house except the area around the fireplace. Still, the action of snuggling under the blankets was comforting. It brought back memories of lazy, rainy mornings with nothing to do and no responsibilities before everything in his life had started going downhill.

Something tickled his tail.

 _What!_

He turned around under the blankets and his tail followed the rest of him inside his hideout. He looked out and did not see anything.

"Toothless?"

There was no response.

Every sense tingling, he inched his way forward towards the edge of the bed. The presence was not directly felt but Hiccup somehow knew that something was above him. He looked up directly into green eyes not an inch from his own and smelled a huff of fishy breath directly in his face. It was startling enough that he squawked in surprise. Toothless laughed at him.

 _How is he so sneaky? I didn't even feel him get up on the bed._

Hiccup rose to his feet, and the blankets on his head rose with him. He slowly wiggled out from under the blankets and walked over to the head of his bed. There was a bit of a gap between the bed and the desk. He would have to jump. He braced his legs on the edge of the bed, took a deep breath, and pushed off. He successfully landed on the desk and managed to not knock anything off it as well.

His notebook was not evidently there.

 _Maybe it is in the drawer._

How to open the drawer though? He needed some way to reach over the precipice and pull the drawer away from the desk. His tail twitched slightly as he searched for the solution.

His tail.

He turned to the side, draped his tail over the side of the desk, and wrapped it around the drawer handle. He was surprised at how strong the tail seemed to be and at how easily he was able to slide the drawer a couple inches open. From there he was able to pry it open with his paws. Then he remembered that Toothless was able to sleep in the cove while hanging in a tree with just his tail.

A quick peek inside the drawer showed that it was empty. His notebook was missing.

 _Oh well, Dad must have moved it somewhere._

"Hiccup!"

He looked over to where Toothless was standing in a corner with his nose in a stack of papers. What had he left over there? Those look like…

 _My drawings!_

He jumped back onto the bed and then onto the floor. He walked over next to Toothless and saw the pictures which he was so interested in. They were the drawings that he had made of Toothless in the weeks after they had met and encountered each other in the cove. He had drawn Toothless in all manner of poses. The sleeping Toothless with his head partially hidden under his tailfin, the curious Toothless with his wide-open eyes, nosing and pawing at the saddle and other strange things he brought with him, the angry Toothless with his teeth bared and ears slanted back, and the hungry Toothless munching on a pile of cod. Also included was his own impression of what they looked like flying together over Berk.

It was unlike anything Toothless had ever seen before. Well, not quite. Hiccup had made dirt-pictures in the cove, but this was much more detailed. Seeing what was clearly a depiction of himself from how the kin had only one tailfin was an incredible experience since he knew that the drawing was made by Hiccup. He turned to Hiccup, smiled, and placed a foot on one of the pictures.

"This is me!"

Hiccup bobbed his head in agreement.

"Yes. Toothless."

Then his ears went up as an idea came to his mind. There was a specific word that he really wanted to learn how to say. He cocked his head to the side and warbled questioningly.

"Toothless fish no. Hiccup fish no. Toothless Hiccup?"

He put a paw on the picture.

"Fish no."

Toothless was very confused at first. Of course he and Hiccup were not fish. Then he realized that Hiccup was trying to figure out what they were called.

"Kin, we are kin."

"Kin," Hiccup repeated. Then he looked at Toothless while raising a paw to his own chest and asked the question that had been on his mind since he woke up yesterday.

"Hiccup no kin?"

Toothless's ears drooped, and he grumbled in frustration. Hiccup was asking why he was a kin and not a two-leg. How could he possibly explain it to Hiccup when he didn't fully understand it himself?

He hung his head. It would be a while before Hiccup understood enough for him to even begin explaining. The life-will-power that he had used was long since gone. He couldn't even remember what it felt like.

He finally looked up at Hiccup and shook his head to tell him that he had no way to explain it. He was also very afraid of what Hiccup would say or do when he found out who was responsible for what had happened to him. Surely Hiccup wouldn't hate him for it, would he?

Hiccup was slightly frustrated at his inability to get the answers he wanted, and he grumbled in annoyance. Still, he knew that he had to keep learning if he wanted to have any chance at understanding his predicament.

A few minutes later, and after much gesturing on both their parts, he learned wings, tail, legs, teeth, and other easy to learn words.

Patient though Toothless was trying to be, being a hatchling meant that he had too much energy to sit still for long.

"We should play!"

He had the perfect game too. Better yet, Hiccup should recognize it since they had played it on several occasions in the cove. It normally ended up with him sitting on Hiccup or with Hiccup in the lake after being caught, which he was sure Hiccup thoroughly enjoyed from how he screamed when being tossed through the air.

Toothless crouched low to the ground, raised a paw, and nudged Hiccup's shoulder before quickly backing off a few feet.

Hiccup glanced back at Toothless in confusion.

 _What, Toothless?_

Then he noticed Toothless's posture, low to the ground with narrowed eyes trained on him and a slightly twitching tail. Ready to pounce.

 _Oh no._

Somehow, he saw when Toothless's weight began to shift as he began to push off with his hind legs. Hiccup narrowly dodged the leap by throwing himself to the side. He took advantage of the brief moment when Toothless was off-balance to bound out the door and down the hall as fast as he could. He could hear footfalls getting closer behind him every second.

 _How is he so fast?_

He was about to turn the corner and jump into the living room when something vice-like clamped onto his tail and he was brought to a sudden halt. He glanced over his shoulder and what he saw did at least make him chuckle.

Toothless, looking very smug, had his tail in his mouth. He playfully wrestled with it and gnawed on it before letting go.

"Easy, now you."

Hiccup was thoroughly confused. Why was Toothless so much faster than him? Sure, Toothless is much better at being a dragon because he is meant to be one. Still, it did not explain why Toothless was so much faster at simply running.

Toothless noticed that Hiccup seemed confused about how he had been caught so easily.

"Look."

He ruffled his wings and let them droop at his side while also letting his tail drag on the ground.

"No."

He then tucked his wings close to his side and held his tail more off the ground except for its very tip.

"Yes."

Hiccup nodded once in understanding and made the needed adjustments.

 _Ah, well, I forgot about those. Those were hard to run with._

Hiccup made one more discovery about himself in doing so. Despite being very whippy, his tail was very strong. He could hold its entire length above the ground without it even feeling uncomfortable. Actually, it was not at all odd now that he thought about it since the tail had such an important role in controlling flight.

But pondering the mechanics of flight could wait.

"Hiccup Toothless play?" Hiccup growled.

So saying, Hiccup reached forward with a paw and gave Toothless a shove and a brief head-start before bounding into the living room. Toothless's eyes gleamed with mirth as he bounded after him.

"Yes, we play."

Their delighted squeals and playful growls echoed through the halls of the formerly-silent house.

* * *

Stoick trudged through the snow on his way to Gobber's house. It was located right next to the forge so that Gobber's peg-leg would not overly hinder his ability to get to work. For the first time since winter set in, Stoick did not notice the biting chill in the air. His mind was consumed with one recurring thought.

 _My son is a dragon… My son is a dragon…_

At first, he had been absolutely elated that his son was still alive. It was far more than he could have ever hoped for. However, the moment that he had seen Hiccup be unable to eat like a person should be able to had changed his sentiments. It was completely unnatural.

At least if Hiccup was truly dead, he would have been seated at the Table of Kings in Valhalla for his brave deeds. He would have merited the greatest glory a Nord could hope for in life. But now…

His son was trapped in an alien body and completely unable to do the things he was supposed to do. There was no way that Hiccup could be his heir and become Chief. He could not be wedded, as was the custom, to produce an heir. It would be the end of the Haddock name, of his own line.

Worse, he was not even sure that Hiccup would have a chance to please the gods now and earn either Valhalla or the Folkvangr Fields. He could be condemned to whatever fate awaited the dragons and other mere beasts when they pass on.

He had to find a way to get his son back for both their sakes.

There was smoke rising from Gobber's chimney.

 _Ah, he must be awake._

Knock. Knock.

He waited a moment for Gobber to answer the front door. While waiting, it struck him that he had no idea what Gobber did in his spare time now. What was there to do when cooped up in the house during the winter?

He heard the lock unlatch, and the door swung open inwards a moment later. What greeted him was a most peculiar sight. Gobber stood there completely shirtless with a leather-bound book in his good hand.

Stoick closed his eyes at the sight of his childhood friend's expansive belly, which was even greater now than he could ever remember it having been, and tried to pass the action off as being because of the cold.

"Ah, good morning, Stoick. What brings ye to my humble abode so early in the morning?"

 _You have no idea…_

"May I come in, Gobber?"

"Oh, of course. Come in and make yerself at home. I'm afraid I don't have anything fer ya to munch on though."

"I'm not hungry, I already ate. I could do with a drink."

"Now that I can help you with."

They seated themselves across from each other at the table. Though he did not have any food on hand, Gobber always kept a readily-available stock of ale. He poured them both a mug, one of which Stoick accepted with a nod of thanks.

They took a long swig and then turned to look at each other again.

"So, Chief, what's on yer mind? I doubt ya came all this way just fer my drink."

Stoick waved a hand at him.

"No, I'm just Stoick today."

"Oh, excellent. So, what's on yer mind, my old friend?"

"Have you ever… have you ever wanted something that seemed completely impossible, which you knew is somehow possible, but you had no idea how to make it happen?"

Gobber only raised a single eyebrow at him.

"I mean, if it was something truly important to you. Imagine, what if Val were still alive somewhere in the world and I knew where she was, but I knew of no way to get to her."

Gobber's eyes narrowed on him.

"Stoick, I don' like where ye'r going with this. If this is about Hiccup…"

Stoick closed his eyes and sighed deeply.

"No Gobber, I promise you that I am not… grieving… for Hiccup. It is a simple question. Perhaps a different question… Ok, what is the most important rule of being a Chief?"

"That ya protect those ye'r responsible fer."

"Yes, a Chief protects his own. A father is supposed to do the same for his own, for his family. What if you had never had your 'accident' and had been able to have a family of your own? What would you do in that case I told you about, the one with Val?"

Stoick rested both of his arms on the table and stared intently at Gobber.

"Is there anything that a good father would not do for his family?"

Gobber waited a moment in silent thought.

"Well, if I knew that someone I loved was alive as ya said, I guess I'd do everything possible ta get them back."

"What about something impossible?"

Gobber's mouth hung open for a moment in complete confusion.

"Eh… you sure that this is your first mug today?"

Stoick actually chucked. Gobber did so as well and realized that he had not heard him come even close to laughing since… it happened all those months ago.

"Aye, I'm sure. You are right, forget I mentioned it. I've just had a lot to think about today."

"What has put ya in such a mood?"

"Well, uh, the egg… it finally… hatched."

Gobber's mouth fell open again and this time it stayed open while his eyes went wide as well.

"Why didn't ya say so sooner! Congratulations Stoick, ye'v got yer own dragon now!"

"Gobber…"

"I can see it now, ye'r going ta learn how to train your dragon, the only Night Fury."

"Gobber."

"Just imagine it, you're going ta be able ta fly on it and..."

"Gobber!"

Gobber finally went silent. Still, a baby Night Fury! The thought that Berk would be the first village to train a Night Fury was too exciting for the smith to ignore for long. He could not place the strange look on Stoick's face though.

"Sorry, I just got a bit excited. What is the matter, Stoick?"

"There are two of them."

"Eh?"

"There are two Night Furies."

Gobber was dumbfounded and took another swig of his drink.

"But, there was only one egg."

"Yes, and there are two baby Night Furies eating fish right now back at my house."

"Wow Stoick, that's amazing. Ye'r really lucky ya know."

"Sure."

"Ya don't seem very excited fer someone who just got two baby Night Furies of yer own. What's the matter?"

Stoick tapped his fingers on the table and opened his mouth several times to speak but always paused before saying anything. Gobber spoke up before him.

"No, don't say anything. I got it. You're not sure how to raise them right. Well, don't you worry, I'll be able to help with anything ye need. Not that I'm an expert or anything, but I think I know some stuff that should help with them."

"Thanks Gobber. Somehow, I doubt that I'll have much trouble with these… hatchlings."

Gobber almost made a witty remark to tease Stoick about his misadventures when raising Hiccup, but decided against it. He did not completely lack any sense of propriety.

"Well, if you want advice when they start chewing on stuff or making messes, just let me know."

"Aye, I will."

Stoick glanced at the half-full mug, grabbed it, and raised it in the air again. Gobber followed suit, and they briefly nodded to each other before downing the remainder of their ales.

"Stoick, ya don't think I could see them sometime soon, do ye?"

Stoick visibly stiffened for a moment before replying.

"I mean, they are the only Night Furies we know of. None of the riders have seen another one."

"Sure, Gobber. You have to come by in the afternoon though. I will be in the Hall this morning and I need to refill my stock of fish afterwards."

"That's fine by me. I'll just get back ta my book in the meantime."

"What are you reading by the way? I didn't know that you liked to read."

"Neither did I... But last year Johan brought some books about smithing from his ventures farther south. With the dragons not fighting us anymore, there is a lot more trade happening up here now. I'm also learning how to knit."

Stoick blinked once.

"Wow, never thought I'd hear that one," he muttered.

Gobber raised his arms in exasperation.

"What? It's a necessary life skill."

A thoughtful silence took over. Finally, Stoick broke it with something else that had been on his mind.

"Gobber, what is happening to us?"

"What do ya mean 'what is happening to us'?"

"With the dragons and everything. Everyone agrees that it is good that they are not trying to kill us, but I feel like we are becoming weaker."

"How so?"

"Well, we are not training like we used to. The youth want to learn how to train dragons, not swing a sword or sail a boat or lead a raiding party. We don't…" he gestured towards the forge, "build weapons like we used to. We spent so long fighting the dragons that we stopped raiding the mainland. What are we but a bunch of sheep-herders, fishermen, and dragon-petters on some forsaken island in the middle of nothing? What happens when our enemies come back and no one alive remembers how to hold a spear or block a hammer? How will we protect ourselves?"

"I imagine that the dragons won't like their masters being attacked, will they?" Gobber answered.

Stoick slammed his fist on the table.

"But that is exactly my point! It would not be us defending ourselves. It would be the beasts defending us. It is not our way to rely on anyone… anything else. How can any of us get into Valhalla if there are no battles to win? If we forget how to be warriors."

Gobber frowned.

"Ya actually sound like yer disappointed that we have peace right now. And don't ya worry, there will always be battles to fight. So what if we start using dragons to fight for us instead of just using our own tools? Surely ya agree that it takes guts ta train these beasts. It is not the same as charging at an army with only yer axe, but it is still courage all the same."

Stoick slumped back into his chair and softly sighed.

"So much has changed Gobber. Even more than you know. I don't know that all of us can change with it or that it is all a good thing."

"Well, don't worry about it. What will change, will change. It's as simple as that. Ya might as well beat your head against that rock from the story that ya told me about if ya cannot accept that. I'm sure glad that I don't have ta worry about my house getting torched while I'm in it or getting carried off."

"Yeah, as if that could happen," Stoick waved a hand in the direction of Gobber's belly.

"Exactly, it's my last line o' defense," Gobber replied with a chuckle.

"Yes, I'm sure that is the reason for it," Stoick just shook his head and rose from the table. It was so like Gobber to make such a jest. Gobber also stood up and saw him to the door.

"Well, I'll see you later then Gobber."

"Aye, good talk. I'll probably come ta the Hall for some grub. Can't wait to see yer new arrivals though."

Stoick nodded and stepped out into the gap in the snowbank. Gobber shut the door, and Stoick wrapped his coat tightly about himself against the chilling breeze as he set off towards the Hall.

 _I'm going to need to talk to Hiccup before Gobber comes over. Can't have him letting Gobber know what happened._


	7. I - Winter Nights

" _To light a candle is to cast a shadow." ― Ursula K. Le Guin – A Wizard of Earthsea_

* * *

Winter Nights

* * *

Play was very fun.

They chased each other around the house, nipping at each other's tails and pouncing on each other, for a long time. Toothless had been yelling and taunting Hiccup the whole time, except when he was the one doing the hunting. Of course, Hiccup had no idea what Toothless was saying, but it was clearly teasing of some kind.

Hiccup felt quite foolish at first while chasing after Toothless and knocking into various household items. But the playing took his mind off everything else that had happened. He was also quite proud of the fact that he had no difficulty running since the action seemed to work exactly as he had thought it would. He also remembered Toothless's advice and kept his wings closely tucked at his side.

Play was also very tiring.

He ended up completely sprawled out on the ground in front of the fireplace with his wings, tail, and legs all aching from the exertion. Toothless was also exhausted and stumbled over to where Hiccup had collapsed. He flopped down next to Hiccup and yawned widely.

"That was fun. I wonder when we will get more fish. I am hungry."

Hiccup opened one of his eyes and chuckled at Toothless in amusement.

 _How are you already hungry?_

"Toothless eat fish?" he asked.

Toothless nodded.

"Yes, more fish."

Toothless looked away from Hiccup and off into the distance as he remembered winters in the past.

"Not all hatchlings get enough food," he mumbled to himself.

Hiccup wasn't sure what Toothless was saying, but it was clearly something sad. He deeply wanted to learn more about Toothless's life and dragons in general. There was so much that he could learn. With time, he was sure that he would.

"One sun-cycle... I will tell you everything, Hiccup."

Toothless lay his head back down on his paws and closed his eyes to fall asleep.

* * *

It seemed very intimate for him to have Toothless regularly sleeping at his side, and yet he did not feel at all awkward about it. They were two friends who completely trusted each other and took pleasure in each other's company. There had been a few occasions when he had slept under Toothless's wings back in the cove because he had not wanted to go back to the village or the weather had been bad. Toothless had been the one comforting and protecting him then. Now, it seemed that he was able to somewhat return the favor.

What must this be like for Toothless? To somehow be re-born, re-hatched actually, with his former human friend now his blood-brother, a dragon just like him. Toothless certainly did not seem terribly upset that he was a hatchling again.

 _Do dragons even have brothers? Do they know what a family is? Probably.  
_

He now knew that Toothless was far smarter than he had once thought. Toothless had to have been taught how to talk by someone, most likely his parents.

 _I wonder where they are. How long has it been since he has seen them?_

He felt Toothless's tail brush up against his own as Toothless shifted in his sleep.

 _His tail is not broken now. He… doesn't need me anymore._

Of course, he had already realized that he couldn't ride Toothless anymore. Toothless would be able to fly entirely on his own. But what did that mean for them?

A disconcerting thought came to mind.

He was afraid that Toothless would want to leave now that he could. Toothless was free of the dragon monster and obviously did not need him to work a prosthetic tail. Why would he want to stay?

 _Yes, he is my friend, but why would he stay? He only needed me to be able to fly before._

Toothless was the first person who trusted him, accepted him when almost no one in the village cared, came to his rescue in the kill ring despite the risk to his own safety, was now teaching him how to speak his language, and was in this strange situation along with him.

He took a breath to calm himself.

 _It should be a while before he can fly. I still have time to figure everything out._

He had no idea what the world looked like beyond the walls of this house. Except for being covered in snow, of course. What changes had befallen Berk since that day months ago? Was everyone else alive? What was the tribe doing to dragons now?

 _I'll have to ask dad when he gets back. It can't be that bad I imagine._

He finally lay his own head down to sleep as well, and his eyelids began to droop. Before he fell asleep though, he felt a faint pang in his belly.

 _Hmm, I hope dad comes back soon with more fish._

* * *

 _What am I going to do about Hiccup?_

It was hardly the first time that Stoick had asked himself that very question since this morning. He had answered some questions in the Hall and assured the concerned that, yes, there were enough supplies to endure the winter and, no, the dragons were not going to start eating people because they were hungry. Thankfully there had not been much that was too difficult for him to manage and this let his mind wander back to the most important problem in his world.

How to truly get his son back.

 _Something bad changed him. Dark magic. Never thought that stuff was real._

As far as he was concerned there was nothing good that could come from the occult. His people had no need for such forces. They had the gods. They had their traditions. The tradition was that the use of sorcery of any kind not sanctioned by the gods was punishable by being Outcast or death if the Chief felt merciful. That a person should have such power over nature was… unnatural. Hence, he had secretly thought that there was nothing to the old stories.

 _Now I know better. It must be real._

Who could he possibly talk to? He could imagine it already, walking up to Elder Gothi and asking her if she knew of a way to magically change a person back from being a dragon to being a human again. She would hit him on the head with her staff and ask very inconvenient questions afterwards.

That plan would not work.

Gobber might be trustworthy enough to keep his mouth shut if he knew about Hiccup's situation, but there was nothing that the blacksmith could do to help fix the problem.

 _No, there is no one on Berk that can help._

No one on Berk.

But there had been one other person not from Berk who seemed to know something about dragons and had a strange power over them. Granted, he had been a madman, lost to ambition and dark forces of his own. That man had almost killed an entire gathering of Chieftains in a display of his force and unnatural control over the creatures. It was entirely possible that he was a sorcerer of his own upon second thought.

He closed his eyes against the memory. He was the only one who had managed to escape that day. He had known that no one would have believed his words that a man could have control over the dragons, so he had not told anyone the truth. To the rest of the world, the gathering had been ravaged by a dragon attack and there was nothing more to say about it.

No.

There was no help to be had from that monster, even assuming that he was still alive. It had been years since he had heard any news of that creature.

He looked around the walls of the Hall, seeing the portraits of the Chiefs who had come before and the lineage that they shared. Fathers were depicted proudly handing over their chair to a massive, grown son.

It seemed hopeless, but he had already failed Hiccup one too many times and was determined to not do so again.

 _I should probably go back now._

He put on his coat and once more braved the frigid winds swirling outside. He could not see anyone else out in the cold. That was fortunate since it would be strange for him to be seen carrying back a basket of fish when everyone knew he did not have a dragon to feed. Perhaps he could pass it off as being for the Academy or someone who does have a dragon though.

But the door to the storeroom was open.

 _Who would be out here now?_

He walked in and shut the door behind him only to see Astrid standing at one of the barrels and sorting through the fish with a basket on the ground. He was only able to tell that it was Astrid underneath the winter coat and hood because of the golden locks drooping out across her scarf.

"Hi Astrid."

She jumped slightly in surprise.

"Chief, uh, good to see you here."

Stoick was not seen outside that often, and he rarely offered conversation.

"Well, I ran out of fish," he stated as he began filling up a basket.

"Same sir, Stormfly really seems to like cod and we have so much fish thanks to the dragons."

"Well, you did help a bit with teaching them. You're doing a good job leading the Academy."

Astrid blushed at the praise before tentatively continuing. There was something else that she had been meaning to bring up with her Chief.

"You haven't thought about getting a dragon of your own, have you Chief?"

He did not immediately answer.

"I mean, we have enough fish to feed several more and if you get one, then maybe more people would accept them. Plus, they are nice to have around."

What could he say to her? He would eventually have to tell the village about the two hatchlings back at his house. At least, there seemed to be no way to fix Hiccup any time soon.

 _I might as well tell her something now…_

"Well, I may actually have a couple hatchlings already."

She blinked in surprise.

"Hatchlings sir… I... I didn't know that they laid eggs. I mean, of course they lay eggs, but I didn't know that any of ours already did. What kind are they?" she eagerly asked.

 _Why is she so inquisitive?_

"Well, none of ours here did. They are Night Furies."

Her jaw dropped and she was struck speechless for a few moments as she tried to comprehend what she had heard. The fish that had been clutched in her hands fell to the ground.

"Night Furies," she whispered.

"Wow sir, you are so lucky. Night Furies are… amazing. I hope I get a chance to see them."

Stoick tersely nodded to her and picked up his basket.

"I'm sure you will Astrid. Keep up the good work."

He bundled himself up and left the storeroom. Astrid could not help but wonder though.

 _Where did he find Night Fury hatchlings? Did he find eggs somewhere?_

There was no telling when or where Stoick could have found Night Fury eggs. They had never seen an actual dragon nest where eggs were laid. There had been no eggs in the mountain of Dragon Island as far as she had seen. And they had only ever seen the one Night Fury during the raids.

She couldn't help but chuckle at the thought that her Chief was now going to be training his own dragons.

 _How times have changed…_

* * *

When Stoick got back in the early afternoon, he first deposited most of the frozen fish in the outside barrel where the cold would keep them indefinitely and only brought a couple of them in to thaw. He quickly noticed that Hiccup and his dragon were fast asleep in front of the fireplace.

 _I'll let them sleep._

He spent the next couple hours carving fish and brooding over the problem. There was no one on the island that he could possibly talk to, so he would have to discuss it with others. The next chance that would occur would be when trader Johan makes his spring stop on Berk to trade.

 _Johan travels a lot. He must hear some strange tales. Perhaps I'll invite him up here for some drinks and see if he knows anything._

It wasn't much of a plan, but it was all he had.

* * *

When Hiccup woke up, he immediately realized that he had a problem. An inevitable and very awkward problem. Yes, he was hungry, but that was not what was so concerning. Neither was it specifically his new body. In fact, he didn't even feel at all odd about it this time.

No, it was the dawning realization that he had to relieve himself.

Hiccup moaned aloud in embarrassment.

 _Oh gods… not this._

There were several outhouses that had been constructed around the village. The nearest one was not far away, but he wasn't sure that he could make it through the weather outside. He didn't feel nearly as cold as he used to in the winter, probably because of his now being a dragon and having scales instead of skin, but he had no idea how much cold he could safely endure. Let alone a full grown dragon in the winter, the idea of a hatchling wandering around in a snowstorm did not seem like a good idea on many levels.

None of these musings though, did anything to help his situation.

 _I better ask dad to help with this._

Hiccup got to his feet and walked into the kitchen, hoping that his dad was home. He had been asleep for a couple hours so surely his dad would have gotten back by now. There was a strange smell in the air. It was very musky and oily, with hints of fish and leather. Almost at the same time he noticed the smell, he also heard his father in the kitchen.

 _Is that what he smells like?_

It was possible. Who knew how dragons' senses worked? There were many other smells in the house, all sharper than he remembered them being and some being completely foreign to him.

 _I wonder what they can tell just with smell. I guess I'll find out eventually._

He chirped to get his father's attention. As soon as his father looked over at him, Hiccup bounded back to the ash pile near the fireplace. Stoick got the message and knew that Hiccup had something to tell him.

 **Dad I need to go**

"Go, go where?"

Hiccup face-pawed and then slowly, embarrassingly, wrote.

 **Outhouse**

Stoick's face turned bright red. This was going to come up eventually. Most of the dragons in the village had been trained to do their business outside the village limits. Astrid and the other 'riders' were responsible for cleaning up the few messes that still occurred. Of course, Hiccup would not do his business just anywhere like an animal.

"Uh, ok. I'll take you. What about him?" He asked while pointing at Toothless. Hiccup thought for a moment.

 _Well, if I have to go, then Toothless will probably have to soon as well._

Now that he thought about it, he should definitely show Toothless where they would need to go for now. As long as he had known Toothless in the cove, the dragon had always kept himself clean and only relieved himself off in a corner of the cove. Toothless would definitely want to keep his new home clean as well.

 **He should come**

"Ok, I'll take both of you."

Stoick still noticed a problem though. What could he carry them in? The idea of carrying his tiny dragon-son in his arms felt wrong. As if he was a pet. And yet, he did not want Hiccup to have to walk the distance to the outhouse through the cold. He looked in the closet where he kept extra supplies and found a large satchel that had once carried hunting supplies. It would have to do for now.

Hiccup meanwhile had gone back to the fireplace and woken up Toothless. He had no idea how to tell Toothless what they needed to do, so he just got his attention and gestured towards the door.

Stoick was standing by the door with a leather bag in his arms. He set the bag down on the ground.

Hiccup tipped his head to the side and hummed to ask his dad what the bag was for.

"I'm going to carry you two in this."

 _Oh well, it's not like I have a better option._

Hiccup nodded once and hopped forward into the bag after briefly wiping his paws clean on a cloth. His head could just barely stick out of the bag and allow him to look around, though the rest of his limbs were a tangled mess. He could only imagine how it would be when Toothless joined him.

 _What does Hiccup want me to do?_ Toothless asked himself.

Hiccup kept looking from him to the empty space in the not-basket.

 _He must want me to get in with him._

A moment later and the bag was filled with two squirming hatchlings, both with only their heads visible. Stoick almost found the sight cute, then he remembered who the heads belonged to and that he had a job to do. He put on his coat, grabbed the satchel, and went outside. It was not as cold as it had been this morning, but there was still no way that he would let Hiccup try to make his way alone.

Hiccup's eyes narrowed to slits because of how bright it was. Snow was everywhere. Understandably, there did not seem to be anyone else outside at the moment.

Despite the weather, there was something else that greatly excited him. He could see what were clearly feeding stations. Great, wide-open barrels off the main paths. That there were stations for feeding meant that there had to be dragons in the village, except for himself and Toothless of course. There also seemed to be giant perches on some of the houses and there were some stables that had to be recent constructions.

He couldn't help but purr in happiness at the thought that his people had changed!

Then he saw the small shed and the pungent smell that accompanied it. Having lived on the same island for all his life and there being a variety of farmyard chores during the summers, the smell had not been completely overpowering before. But now it was far more intense. Probably because of his new sense of smell.

 _Oh great._

Stoick opened the door and sat the bag down just inside.

"Ok, I'll be… outside while you… you know."

Then Stoick turned away and left the door only barely creaked open.

It was quite an amusing experience for Toothless. This was obviously the place where the two-legs dropped their waste. He had been sure that two-legs had to do something like this since there was never any waste just lying around in the village. But why had Hiccup brought him here?

It was a very embarrassing experience for Hiccup. Since his vocabulary was so limited, he had no way to tell Toothless what to do. He had to show him by example and walked over to stand over the hole. The fact that Toothless was watching while he did such personal business was beyond mortifying. But Toothless had to know for his own sake.

There was one positive thing that came from this experience though. At some point during relieving himself, Hiccup made a very reassuring discovery. He was indeed a boy.

His business finally done, he hopped aside to let Toothless take his place over the deep hole. Toothless obliged with an amused grumble and did not seem at all ashamed of what he was doing. Though Toothless apparently had no objection to observing him doing his business, Hiccup gave Toothless privacy by looking away.

For a moment.

His curiosity got the better of him, and he looked. He wanted to know if Toothless was also still a boy. He felt that Toothless was but wanted to make sure. A covert and very, very awkward glance revealed that, just like before in the cove, Toothless was indeed a boy. Hiccup gave a sigh of relief.

"What are you looking at Hiccup?" Toothless asked.

Hiccup just groaned.

Their business done, they both hopped down to the ground and walked over to the door. Hiccup pushed on the door with a paw, and the door slowly swung out with a creak.

Stoick was standing next to the entrance, still holding the bag in his arms.

"So… all done in there?"

Hiccup nodded once before a thought came to him. He reached out and began scrawling in the snow.

 **I am a boy**

 **So is Toothless**

Stoick had not really considered that potential aspect of Hiccup's problem. Now though, it was somewhat comforting to know that his son was still, despite being a dragon for now, a boy. He nodded gruffly and sat the bag down.

A moment later, Stoick was headed back to his house with a pair of bagged hatchlings in hand.

Toothless turned to Hiccup right next to him in the bag.

"Hiccup, I want fish. I am hungry."

As usual whenever Toothless said anything fish-related, Hiccup rolled his eyes. Toothless noticed this time and imitated the action to tease him.

"Yes Toothless, we eat fish."

Toothless purred when Hiccup told him that there was more fish waiting for them at the home cave.

It was quite disturbing for Stoick to hear Hiccup squawking, growling, and purring all at once. No different from any of the other dragons.

It was as if… Hiccup was losing himself. Truly becoming one of them.

He pushed that frightening thought out of mind and resolved to talk with Hiccup about it later after they got home and Hiccup could explain himself.

The first thing that Hiccup did when they got back to the house was to run into the kitchen and hop up onto the table while staring at the fish basket. Stoick brought the freshly carved fish that he had been working on earlier and set it out on the table.

"Hiccup," he asked, "what was happening earlier on the way back here? You were growling like a dragon."

 _I have to find some better way to talk than writing in ash. I hope that I can figure out how to hold a pencil._

For now though, he had no option other than to do as he has been doing. He left the remaining fish with a groan, hoped that some of it would remain when he came back, and bounded over to the remaining ash.

 **Talking with Toothless**

Talking with a dragon, nonsense! Maybe they can make sounds to show when they are happy or mad, but actually talking, of course not.

"Don't be silly. Dragons don't talk."

Hiccup stood up on his hind legs using his tail for balance and held his front legs wide open while smiling a dragony smile. As if to say, look at me!

Stoick blinked and waved a hand in annoyance.

"You don't count. You… are not a dragon in here," he said while pointing at his own head.

 _I don't disagree with you there, dad._

 **I really can talk with him**

Stoick just stared at the words, apparently deep in thought.

"Ok, say something."

Hiccup growled his own name.

"Now something else."

Hiccup growled Toothless's name.

"Those don't sound any different to me. It is just growling."

 **I hear them differently**

Could it be true? Did dragons have a language other than that of beasts? Or was Hiccup only imagining what he wanted? He was sure that nothing he could say would convince Hiccup that he was wrong and his dragon was just chittering at him. Clearly, the dragon was happy to see Hiccup, but there was no way that it could actually be talking to him. That would mean that dragons were smart, as smart as people even.

He decided to deal with this troubling matter later.

"Hiccup, Gobber and Astrid might be coming by later. I told them about my new… dragons. We cannot let them know what happened to you. Don't let them know who you are!"

Stoick ended this on a desperate note and a slightly wild look in his eyes. Hiccup was confused and upset by this. Why shouldn't he let Gobber and Astrid know that he was still alive?

 **Why not?**

 _Because I am your father and I say so! Because I am the Chief! Because what happened to you is unnatural! Because dead you are remembered well! Because…_

"…it would be bad if the rest of the village hears what happened to you."

Hiccup's ears drooped. What his father said did make some sense. What had happened to him was very strange to say the least and people generally did not take well to anything new or different.

Still, Gobber and Astrid should know that he is still alive and surely would not hate him for what he had become. Would they?

He could easily imagine it. He saw himself writing on the ground to show Astrid that he was still alive and to tell her how much she means to him. And her repulsion at finding out that this dragon used to be Hiccup. Unless he could somehow be changed back he would never be able to hold her hand, to dance with her, to feel her lips on his, to...

He blinked and stopped his course of thought in embarrassment. He had to talk to them. He'd make sure they never told anyone, but they had to know. He would just have to make sure his dad didn't know about it.

So he nodded at what Stoick said and kept his designs secret. After that, his dad seemed to calm a bit and to regard the conversation as finished. As he had many times before.

Hiccup sullenly made his way back to the kitchen and hopped onto the table. He was very surprised to find that there were still a few slivers of fish left that Toothless had not eaten. In fact, Toothless nudged them towards him.

"Here Hiccup, you must be hungry."

Hiccup smiled at him and quietly gobbled down the fish.

 _Thanks Toothless._

When he looked up from finishing his meal, he saw that his dad was nowhere in sight. Perhaps he left the house again or maybe he had something else to do on his own.

Hiccup just shrugged his shoulders and hopped down from the table to head towards his room. If his dad had to be somewhere else... that was fine with him. It gave him more time to try out an idea that he had.

Writing in ash was not very effective. For one, it was messy. Secondly, it meant that he could only talk when there was ash on hand… on paw. He was determined to figure out how to write properly with a pencil and paper. And that meant practice as well as having a pencil and paper.

 _Plus, I can draw pictures to help learn more words from Toothless. It's perfect!_

"Hiccup, where are you going?" Toothless called out to him.

Hiccup just continued on into his room and began nosing around looking for a pencil. He already knew where some paper was since he had never gone through all the paper that he had acquired for doodling or drawing.

 _Come on, give me something to write with… give me something to write with._

He eventually spied an old pencil among some of the rubbish in the side of his room and immediately bounded over to it. He held up one of his front paws and inspected it closely.

The fingers were uncomfortably short and single-jointed. The now-dull claw-tips slightly curled down at the end. However, it was the thumb that he was most interested in. It seemed to flex and bend in the same way a human's would. This discovery greatly excited him. Perhaps he could still do some of the things he had done before even if imperfectly.

 _This might actually work!_

He considered how best to hold the pencil and settled on curling all digits around it lengthwise and grasping it against his palm. He grabbed the pencil and ambled over to the loose paper in the corner. The first try at writing his own name was truly horrible and took a full minute to write since his wrist didn't flex and bend the way he wanted, but at least it was barely legible.

 _I can't wait to show this to dad!_

"What are you doing, Hiccup?"

Toothless hopped over and examined the strange object and the pictures which Hiccup had drawn. He stuck his nose into the soft flat surface that Hiccup had drawn on and wondered at the significance of the pictures.

Hiccup then had an idea that made his tail twitch in excitement. He could teach Toothless how to write! Then no one could deny how smart dragons were!

He bent back down and wrote out the runes which spelled his friend's name. He then looked at Toothless and set his other paw on the paper. He said Toothless's name while looking back and forth between Toothless and the paper.

Toothless was puzzled. Why was Hiccup saying his name but looking toward the two-leg thing?

 _Unless… maybe the pictures mean me?_

They certainly did not look at all like him, unlike the other, much better pictures of him that Hiccup had drawn.

"What?"

Hiccup thought that he could recognize the new word. Toothless seemed puzzled when saying it. What Toothless was saying had to mean some type of a question.

The stupid language wall...

He needed to explain that each symbol means a sound and the series of symbol-sound pairs make a word. But the sounds for the human word that is Toothless's name are not at all like his dragon name. He was also very sure that Toothless's language did not have a written part. The idea of dragons writing words on the ground to communicate seemed quite silly. There was no clear way at the moment for him to be able to show Toothless how to write.

He grumbled his frustration.

 _I guess I just have to wait, as usual._

The rest of the afternoon passed slowly with him drawing various common objects or indicating previously-drawn pictures of dragons and asking Toothless for the correct words. For many human objects, he found that Toothless did not have a distinct word. Instead, he said the same words each time and Hiccup was sure that it partly translated as something like 'human thing'.

Toothless also had a simple way of distinguishing different types of dragons. All the different names had the common word kin but also seemed to have unknown, at least to Hiccup, modifiers. The only one he thought he recognized was kin-fire-scales. Toothless said this when he pointed to the picture of a Monstrous Nightmare.

 _That makes sense in a way._

Another question came to mind. What are humans in the dragon tongue?

"Toothless kin yes, Hiccup kin yes, fish kin no."

While saying this, Hiccup put his free paw on an old picture of himself.

"Kin no, what?"

Toothless considered the question. Hiccup was asking him what he used to be called. Two-legs obviously, their having no other features worth emphasizing. As for himself, he had always known that two-legs were smart creatures. They worked around all their weaknesses, such as not having claws or protective fur, by making or taking what they needed. They also built things that no other creature had the ability to make.

He told Hiccup the phrase for two-legs while indicating the picture that Hiccup was using. Hiccup was slightly amused to hear the word for legs in the words.

 _It is a fair description. We do have two legs after all._

Finally, after several more minutes of learning, Toothless yawned widely, his eyes drooping in a clear message.

"Toothless sleep?" Hiccup asked.

In response, Toothless hopped up onto the bed and burrowed into the blankets until only his tiny head and vividly green eyes were visible looking out over the room. He looked quite snug.

 _Oh well, suit yourself bud. I'm going to keep writing._

Hiccup held the pencil aloft and returned to his work while Toothless purred in contentment. Hiccup stared at the pencil in paw and down at the paper, fully determined to practice his penmanship despite his increasingly heavy eyelids. He tried to fight off the encroaching threat of yawns.

Only for a moment though, as he fell fast asleep a few moments later with his head resting on one of the early pictures he had drawn of himself and Toothless in the cove.

* * *

Stoick was lying on his bed, half-asleep when he heard the knocking on the door. It could only mean one thing. Gobber was here to see 'them'.

He groaned heavily and swung his feet out of bed. Not seeing Hiccup in the living room, he concluded that he must be in his room. He stumbled to the front door and flung it open. To his surprise, there stood Gobber and Astrid, both quite cold and obviously eager to escape the biting cold.

"Hello Chief, may we come in?" Astrid asked while shivering.

"Uh, sure."

He stood aside to let them walk in. They both gave a sigh of relief when they felt the warmth from the fireplace, and they sat down on the chairs in the living room.

He knew that this moment would come, but it did not help him feel any better about the inevitable meeting.

"Hopefully we did nae wake ya up from yer nap, Stoick," Gobber offered.

"No, I was actually just getting… wait, how did you know I was napping?"

"Well, just a lucky guess. Nae much else ta do inside anyway."

Stoick just nodded. It was certainly true. Everyone tended to spend a lot of time napping during the winter. It was a way to stave off the boredom.

"I guess you want to see them, huh?"

They both nodded eagerly.

Stoick gruffly got to his feet and began to walk toward Hiccup's room.

"I didn't know he found eggs. Where did they come from?" Astrid wondered out loud.

She gave a gasp and got to her feet before Gobber could respond. She made her way over to a corner of the room near the fireplace. There sat half of fractured black eggshell. She could not help but stare in awe.

"Oh, ya never knew, Astrid. Well, he didn't want me ta say anything, so I didn't, but he found that egg back on Dragon Island. Right after… well, ya know."

Astrid was stunned and wandered back to the chair. Stoick found a Night Fury egg after Hiccup and Toothless died? Something didn't seem right about that though.

"But, that can't be. It couldn't have come from Toothless. He was a boy."

"How do you know?"

"Well, Hiccup said so."

"I'm just saying Astrid, there's no other explanation. Ya know we've never seen another Night Fury."

"Wait, you said he found an egg, but he has a couple hatchlings," she persisted.

"I don't know, perhaps they are twins? Came from the same egg and all?"

"Maybe, it still seems odd though," she added.

"Well, I know there was only one egg since I brought it back here fer him."

Astrid was again stunned and a bit frustrated that such an important thing had been kept from her.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"He didn't want me ta say anything about it. I think he was too…" his voice trailed off as Stoick walked back into the room. Both of their gazes were drawn towards a dark, leathery bundle in his arms.

Astrid gasped in amazement.

 _Oh my! That must be one of them!_

Slowly, a tiny, triangular head rose from the bundle, yawned widely, and looked out over the room. Green eyes surveyed the surroundings and froze upon spying the two newcomers. Stoick bent over and placed the bundle on top of the table.

The bundle sprouted legs and got to its feet.

Astrid's heart melted at the sight.

A Night Fury hatchling. Its head looked a bit large relative to the rest of its body, its wings and tail were very thin, and it was very small, perhaps no longer than her axe. But none of this was the most surprising thing about it.

It was staring very intently at them. It was not just looking in their direction: it was staring at them as if it knew them but was still afraid.

Astrid slowly got to her feet, fearing a single misstep in the encounter that was about to take place. She walked toward the table as the tiny dragon padded toward the table's edge as if to greet her. She slowly extended a palm toward the dragon, trying to be as nonthreatening as possible.

"Hi there little one," she whispered, "I'm Astrid."

Her palm was directly in front of the hatchling's nose, and she hoped that, if the dragon was going to be friendly, it would touch its nose to her palm just as Stormfly had done on many occasions with her.

Instead, it raised a forepaw and placed it against her palm. As if it was shaking hands.

She gasped and smiled deeply while laughing heartily.

 _Night Furies are amazing!_

"Wow!"

It was all she could say. Taking the gesture as a sign of trust, she reached out and picked up the hatchling at its armpits, its wings and tail going completely limp at her touch. It seemed to freeze as she drew it to her and held the hatchling against her bosom. She began stroking the soft ridges on its back. Then she looked up and over to Stoick who seemed to have gone oddly tense.

"What is this ones name?"

"His… name…"

"So it's a boy then?"

Stoick nodded before continuing.

"Yes, it is a boy. I… haven't really thought about names for them yet."

 _Them… oh right, there is another one._

"Where is the other one then, sir?"

"Probably somewhere in Hiccup's old room."

A far-away look came over Stoick's face as he looked down on the hatchling.

"Actually, I think I have a good name for him. I'm going to name him Hiccup, in honor of my son."

Neither Astrid nor Gobber noticed the smirk that flashed across the hatchling's face.

"And the other one, I'm going to call it Toothless. That was the name of Hiccup's dragon, right Astrid?"

She nodded solemnly before looking back down at the hatchling in her arms.

"Well, Hiccup," she raised a finger toward his chin, "you are very cute."

Her finger found its way under the dragon's chin and little Hiccup promptly sighed in pleasure and completely melted in her arms.

She chuckled in amusement.

 _Well, looks like that works on them too._

Gobber got to his feet and joined her at her side. He looked down on the hatchling in her arms and made a soft cooing sound, which was completely unbecoming a burly fellow such as himself, while stroking the dragon's limp wings with his good arm. She looked back up at Stoick who, true to his name, was looking on quite impassively.

"Sir, you are so very lucky. Be sure to take good care of them."

"No need to tell me to do that, I will."

Astrid looked back at the blissful hatchling staring up at her through drowsy eyelids. Then she reluctantly passed the hatchling off to Stoick who had moved forward to swoop up his charge. He carried little Hiccup off into the bedroom and put him on top of the bed before returning to the living room to see to his guests.

He looked at them somewhat sheepishly.

"So, yeah, I'm not sure where the other one is, but those are them."

There was no mistaking the amazement and childish grins on both Gobber and Astrid's faces. For the rest of the day, they were both a little bit more cheerful than they had been so far throughout the winter.

* * *

Hiccup was completely mortified.

Astrid had been there. His Astrid had been right there. Had been holding him against her chest! Had been stroking his back! Had seen his entire front!

Not that there was anything to see though.

And she had called him cute! That was completely unacceptable!

He had so wanted to talk to her, to write on the ground and show her who he really was. But he had not been in a fit condition to do so. He had also been afraid of what she would think or say.

Plus, his dad had told him not to let anyone know what had happened to him.

He sighed once, still hearing Toothless's rumbles from somewhere under the covers.

 _I'm not ready to face her yet._

He blinked several times.

Gobber had been there too. He had been more restrained than Astrid, but even he had been slightly giddy at seeing the baby dragon. At seeing him.

 _I wonder what he thinks of dragons. Maybe he has one of this own now. Astrid probably does after I showed her that Nadder. They seemed like a good pair._

Yawn.

 _I need to ask dad… about everyone else. At least… she is ok._

His eyelids began drooping.

 _Why am I… always so… sleepy?_

He did not have much time to ponder this very important question as he fell fast asleep shortly thereafter.

* * *

He woke up several hours later to the absolutely glorious smell of roasting fish. He simply lay there on the bed for a while in a bit of a daze until he heard a door slam shut. Finally, he got up, stretched, and sniffed in the mouth-watering smell while his belly began protesting its emptiness.

Something, someone, nudged him in the back. By now, he was almost expecting something like that to happen and didn't even flinch.

"Hiccup, I smell fish! We should eat!"

 _No objection there bud._

They both hopped off the bed and turned to wander toward the kitchen. There was a plate with diced fish right there on the floor near the door. Hiccup felt his mouth beginning to water as they approached the fish. Strangely, Stoick was nowhere to be seen.

 _He must have just left. I really wish he would stay longer, I need to talk to him._

They both dug in while Hiccup kept wondering what the matter could be with his dad. Of course, Stoick would be disturbed at what had happened to his son. But was that a reason to ignore him? It was almost as though he didn't even want to look at him.

Toothless nudged him again and rumbled happily with his belly completely filled. The plate finished, Hiccup hopped over to the window and looked outside. The snow was falling again, and the wind was blowing a bit more fiercely.

 _Well, now what? What is there to do?_

There was no going outside, and his dad had left the home to go do something. He flopped back onto the bed and resigned himself to more waiting. It was boring. Before this had happened to him, he could have doodled or planned new contraptions. With no better option, he lay on the bed in frustration until Toothless barked out to him from on the floor near the papers.

Hiccup looked over the edge of the bed and was amused to see Toothless trying to grab at the pencil and growling at the paper in frustration.

"Hiccup, what is this?"

Hiccup still had only a very vague idea of what Toothless was trying to say.

 _Well, there is always going to be that. I still have a lot to learn from him._

Deciding that learning from Toothless was better than sleeping, Hiccup hopped down onto the ground and took the pencil in paw to begin writing and drawing. Toothless stayed nearby, but he lost interest in trying to hold or use the pencil.

* * *

In this way, Hiccup and Toothless passed the winter, slowly learning how to speak roughly the same language, chasing after each other through the narrow halls of the house in fits of play, gobbling down an incredible amount of fish, and sleeping next to each other for many days and nights.

As is usual for Berk, the weather refused to break for over four months.


	8. I - Verdant

" _Spring is the time of plans and projects." - Leo Tolstoy - Anna Karenina_

* * *

Verdant

* * *

Spring had long since broken over Berk. The sheets of ice and compacted snow had finally melted and the trees' buds were finally blooming. No longer were the mornings freezing, and a fog-bank now regularly formed before dawn only to be burned away by mid-morning. The winds had shifted to be generally out of the southwest and brought with them tepid breezes.

This was also a special spring for the inhabitants of Berk. Dragons were everywhere, freely flying to and from without fear. Most of the people on the island had become accustomed to the creatures, especially since they became useful at catching fish and since there had not been any serious incidents with them. There were also a few more of the wild dragons that began spending more time in and around the village. The riders' services had begun to be more demanded as more people interacted with wild dragons.

The one remaining thing that would finalize the arrival of spring was trader Johann's annual appearance to trade wares and news from far-away tribes. He was already a little overdue, but the winter had been fiercer than usual.

Astrid was sitting at her desk at midday, pondering the most recent problems that had arisen. Stoick had assigned to her, as the head of the Academy, a room next to the training ring. Her office was filled with papers. She had to keep track of who was interested in which dragon, how much fish was being brought in compared to being eaten, who had filed complaints and what for, and other matters besides these. It was so complicated that she had to construct a system of filing and record-keeping due to the number of papers she had to keep. It was all incredibly frustrating.

On the other hand though, it was very rewarding seeing someone who just last year would have run at a dragon while roaring a battle-cry and swinging an axe now offering the peaceful dragons of the village fish or giving them a soft rub and scratch. Every such event was a reminder that the existing peace was preferable to the life that had been in the past.

For all the time she had to spend keeping records, teaching, and resolving disputes, she always made time for flying with Stormfly. The Nadder, and other dragons with human keepers as well, seemed to get fidgety and a bit grumpy if they went for an extended time without flying with their human.

Her work was interrupted by a knock on the door. She groaned and let her head knock against the table in annoyance. After a few moments though, she brushed aside the paper that had stuck itself to her forehead and got to her feet.

"Come in!"

The door flung itself open, and she blinked in surprise. It was always impressive to see how much weight he had lost over the winter. He would likely put some of it back on as the year went on, but she imagined that some of his weight loss was related to what had happened on Dragon Island. Having a dragon of his own, even if it was not one of the more energetic ones, also meant that he had to be somewhat more active than simply sitting around and reading books all day. Especially so since Gronkles were not the strongest fliers, and he had to keep off some of the weight to be able to fly with it.

"Hello Fishlegs."

"Hi Astrid, enjoying your papers I see."

She rolled her eyes and groaned.

"I don't know if enjoy is the right word. I don't know how Stoick does it, leadership and all. I am sure glad that I know how to write."

"Well, actually, I might be able to help a bit with it. I recently went back and read the Book of Dragons. Do you know what it says about Gronkles?"

She was a bit confused at where Fishlegs was going with this, so she shrugged indifferently.

Fishlegs continued, "It says, among other things, and I quote, 'Gronkles are most vulnerable at their wings. Hack off their wings and they are bulky, slow, and clumsy on the ground. Still extremely dangerous. Kill on sight.'"

Both of them shared a knowing, solemn look.

"It is the same for all of them; Nightmares, Nadders, even the little Terrors. All that this book tells anyone what to do is how to find and use dragons' weaknesses against them. To kill them. What do you think this does to the children, to those who want to learn about dragons and be friendly? We don't have anything good for them for right now."

"What are you suggesting, Fish?"

"The dragon manual we have is useless unless what we want to do is teach everyone how to kill them. We… we need to write a new Book of Dragons. One that actually teaches people what dragons are like."

She sat back down, deep in thought. Everything that Fishlegs had said was certainly true. And he was certainly passionate about the subject and also knew how to read and write.

"Well, Fishlegs, I agree with you. And I think you should be the one to write it."

He was stunned and balled his fists in excitement.

"Really Astrid! You think I should?"

She gave him an encouraging smile.

"Definitely, you should be the one to do it. Who else has the interest or the time to do it? Or can write well enough to do it? It should be you."

He could barely contain his excitement as a childish grin lit his face.

"Good, because I've already started on it… gotta go. Bye!"

Fishlegs was practically bouncing on his feet as he turned and ran out the door.

Astrid just smiled and shook her head.

 _He is really right. We do need a new dragon manual._

She spent a few more minutes in her office before hearing the sounds of activity outside. A couple people were yelling at each other about something concerning a dragon of one of theirs.

Her grin faded in exasperation.

 _Oh great, what now?_

* * *

Almost no one seemed to fear walking in the forest anymore. The adults were consciously aware that they do not need to fear any of the dragons that they may meet in the forest. The children were generally eager to explore the forest now that it was safer to do so, even though their parents always forbid it with warnings about what they might find in there. Regardless, most people were either still at home or at the Hall at this time of the morning.

Had anyone been in the forest, specifically near Raven Point, they might have come across a rather curious sight. Two small black shapes were darting between trees and leaping over rocks as they chased after each other.

Hiccup fixed his eyes on the whiplike tail thrashing behind Toothless. Toothless had said something about how small Hiccup was even after the winter had finally passed. Hiccup really did not like that comment and had let Toothless know his displeasure by trying to pounce on him. Toothless had just stuck his tongue out, where had he possibly learned that from, and darted away from him.

Plus, it wasn't fair to say that they were truly tiny anymore. Apparently, a diet of plentiful fish combined with lots of sleeping was conducive to a hatchling growing very fast. They had both grown several times their initial size. His tail was strong enough to hang upside-down from, as odd as that feeling was. Most noticeable to him though, was how his wings felt both much stronger than before but still very light. He could fully extend them and hold them in place without tiring for a very long time. He quickly learned from watching Toothless that he could flap them simultaneously with every bound or jump and this would let him run faster and jump higher than he could otherwise. This discovery inevitably brought with it a very strange realization.

He would eventually be able to fly.

It was such a wonderful and strange thought. Wonderful, because his moments on Toothless's back had been the most awe-inspiring, liberating, and glorious moments of his life. Strange because it was not something that a human could ever experience firsthand, and because he knew that he would one day have to give that up when he turned back into a human.

If that ever happened, anyway.

Not many things could keep such melancholy thoughts out of his overactive mind. The pure, raw fun of playing dragon-tag in the forest with his best friend was one of those few things. Plus, it was also an act of slight rebellion since they had snuck out of the house early in the morning without being seen.

He saw Toothless's tail vanish over a fallen tree trunk. Toothless was still the slightly larger of the two and was definitely much better at jumping and... being a dragon. He could clear obstacles on the first attempt when it took Hiccup a couple tries.

"Toothless! You…"

"Grr, slow Hiccup!"

"I not slow!"

He leapt and extended his claws. They dug into the soft side of the fallen log and let him get a grip as he clambered up its side. His tail was also surprisingly helpful at climbing since he could wrap it around branches or knots in the trunk. In only a couple seconds, he pulled himself up on top of the log and craned his neck to look around.

Toothless was nowhere in sight. Hiccup extended his wings, preparing to jump down and use them to help him glide, when he noticed something familiar. There was something about the way that this tree was uprooted that seemed familiar somehow.

 _How do I know this place?_

He looked to his left and froze with a jolt of recognition.

There was a rivet running down the hill, and it had clearly been caused by something very big crashing into the ground. That something had also knocked over several smaller trees before seeming to vanish over a small rise.

This was the place where he had shot down Toothless long ago. The place where all of this had begun.

Did Toothless know about this place?

Where was Toothless?

"Toothless, where you?"

There was no reply.

He stalked forward a couple feet onto the edge of the log and peered over. There seemed to be nothing there as well.

 _Great, now we are playing hide-and-seek too. Wonderful._

He extended his wings, braced himself, and jumped. It had to be only four feet down to the ground. He gave his wings one flap and easily touched down with his hind legs. He was only on the ground for a couple seconds when he heard a growl behind him at the same moment as a weight crashed into him.

They rolled forward into the valley cut into the hillside. Hiccup crashed onto the ground, belly down with Toothless sitting on top of him and his paws on Hiccup's head.

"Hiccup, what did you want to say?"

"Toothless, you silly."

Toothless huffed at him.

"I wonder where I get that from?"

Hiccup growled back at him.

"Let me up."

Toothless didn't move. So Hiccup put his plan into action. He pushed off the ground as hard as he could with this right-side limbs and rolled to the left. He slipped out from under Toothless and began running down the hill.

A soft roar echoed out from behind him. Toothless was in pursuit. The hunted had become the hunter.

Hiccup broke through a small bush and ran out into a clearing. About halfway into the clearing, he turned his head to look back at his pursuer. In doing so though his gaze was drawn to a very familiar rock formation.

'The strange Night Fury, whom he had just freed instead of killing, had pounced on him and was partly standing on his chest with its hissing jaws open in a snarl. It paused, glaring at him with what seemed to be clear hate. He was completely terrified. He was sure that the dragon was going to bend down, tear off his head, and feast.'

Toothless dove under the branches of the shrub and leapt out into the clearing. He pulled up short in surprise. Hiccup was just standing there, his shoulders slumped, ears lowered, tail completely still, and wings drooping at his side. For a moment, he was alarmed at the possibility that Hiccup saw danger. But he could not smell anything, and Hiccup did not look really afraid.

He glanced over in the direction where Hiccup was looking. And he distinctly remembered what had happened against that rock and in this very clearing.

'He felt his life-fire go cold and struggled against the not-vines encircling him. The two-leg male was standing over him with one of its sharp not-claws poised to plunge directly into his chest. There was no success struggling against what trapped him. He was sure that the two-leg was about to pierce his chest and cut out his life-organ as he had seen happen to other kin before him.'

Both of them stood still, lost in their memories of that terrifying encounter.

Hiccup finally lifted his head and looked to the other side of the clearing before bounding over there himself.

"Toothless! Look!"

There on the ground, as if they had not been disturbed since that fateful day, was a pile of moldy, weather-worn ropes. Ropes with clear slices where they had been cut with a sharp knife.

A strange suspicion came over Toothless. He could clearly remember the fall through the trees and the long and thin-clawed tree that he had crashed through when he felt the lightning-hot pain at the end of his tail. He looked up and saw the same tree on the hill they had both run down.

Hiccup just kept staring at the ropes. That decision he had made, to cut loose a captive dragon when he was alone in the woods, had been one of the stupidest things he had ever done. He wasn't even really sure why he had done it. Of course, he had thought that there was something… more… to the creature before him back then. Something about the way that it had looked at him had suggested fear and intelligence. Those were two things that he had been assured that dragons could not possibly have. Neither of which in any way gave him any assurance that it wouldn't kill him when he freed it, and he did so anyway.

He tore his gaze from the ropes and looked around for Toothless. There were many things that he needed to ask him but had not yet done so. Only, Toothless seemed to be missing.

 _Now where are you?_

He walked away from the ropes and to where Toothless had been. He found the odd smell that seemed to follow Toothless around and noticed that it seemed to lead back up the hill.

That was another thing that he had gradually come to accept, but still found strange. Everything smelled sharper, more intense, and smells that he had never before noticed were now overwhelming.

He began lightly jogging after Toothless while wondering what he would say to him when they found each other.

 _Toothless, why didn't you kill me back then? Thanks for not killing me by the way. What a strange question to ask…_

A couple more bounds brought him within sight of Toothless sitting at the base of a pine tree. It had clearly taken a massive impact sometime in the past and lost several large limbs. Toothless was standing near one of the larger branches that had broken away.

"Toothless, what…?"

He looked down and felt his breath catch in his throat. A nail of ice seemed to pierce his chest.

Tangled in the branches, dry, wrinkled, and torn halfway, was a leathery, black fin just slightly smaller across than he was long and heavily bleached by the sun and elements.

Toothless's lost tail-fin.

 _I did this..._

He did this to his best friend, to another person.

Cautiously, fearfully, he glanced over at Toothless. His friend had his head bowed and his eyes closed. Neither of them said anything. Hiccup had no idea what to say or what apology would possibly be enough to make amends for what he had taken from Toothless.

He collapsed on the ground and moaned in shame and regret.

"Hiccup..." Toothless whispered.

"No," Hiccup only shook his head and repeatedly whispered.

"Hiccup, stop."

"I hurt you. I broke tail!" Hiccup shut his eyes and growled at himself.

Toothless lowered his head and growled softly into Hiccup's face.

"Stop!"

Hiccup went still and silent. Toothless shuffled over and lay down before him.

"I hurt you bad…" Hiccup opened his eyes and blinked softly.

"You were fighting like all two-legs. You did not kill me."

Toothless tipped his head to the side in curiosity.

"Why did you not kill me?"

Hiccup looked up and stared off into the woods.

"I told kin very bad. You not very bad. Told kin not have fear. You afraid. You alone. Like me. Toothless, why you not kill me?"

It was a question Toothless had asked himself many times. Any other kin would have killed the two-leg. It was they did to each other. But he didn't.

"You let me live. You were different from all other two-legs. I thought it good to let you live."

Toothless nodded at the old fin.

"Stop thinking about that. If you had not grounded me, we would not be..."

Toothless hummed in thought. What exactly were they? They had come from the same egg, but that was not because they had the same sire and dam. There probably was no word for what they were.

"Egg-mates."

Hiccup finally looked up, evidently confused by Toothless' last word since he had never heard that one before and it did not sound similar to anything else he had heard.

"What does word mean?"

"Means we from same egg. You should not be sad. My tail is good now and this," he huffed at the old fin, "is not now."

Hiccup knew that about them; that they would probably never have met if he had not invented the rope thrower and shot down Toothless. The past. Why was he hanging onto the past? Especially when that past was one of regret. Toothless was not angry about the old injury which he did not even have anymore.

So why was it so hard to let go?

"I sad I hurt you."

"Would you be happy if you never hurt me? Never touched my nose with your paw. Never flew with me. Never downed the fire-nest, kin-eating monster."

Hiccup paused before replying. He would indeed have been less disturbed if he had not hurt Toothless. Being ignorant of the amazing friendship that he would have lacked, he might indeed have considered himself happy in some way if he could have found some place in his own community. Maybe by building weapons to make up for his formerly weak stature.

Knowing what he knew now and having experienced everything he had experienced, would he rather that he never knew Toothless?

Impossible. Even considering what had happened to him and the strange life he was now relegated to.

"No, Toothless, I not happy if you gone."

Toothless crooned deeply and bumped against Hiccup's head with his own.

They waited in silence, simply enjoying each other's presence. The quiet was finally broken by a growling from Hiccup's belly. They each craned their heads around to face each other.

Hiccup grinned sheepishly, and they laughed heartily. That simple sound broke all the tension.

Toothless finally stopped rolling on the ground and spoke up.

"We go get… fish."

"I am hungry," Hiccup agreed.

They got to their feet and began walking back to the village. Hiccup looked up at the sky to guess at the time; it had to be well past noon by now. His dad would probably be upset if he was back at home and noticed that he wasn't there.

He and his father had spoken several times in the last few months. His dad had been quite impressed to see how he had figured out how to write. There was now a lot of paper with strange scribbles in the house.

He had asked for details regarding what had happened after the Monster was destroyed. It was very relieving to learn that no one from his class had died. After that, he had asked about what happened in the village. Specifically, he wanted to know how dragons were thought of and treated in the village. What his dad had told his was both encouraging and frustrating.

There was apparently a sizable contingent of villagers who remained absolutely adamant against the inclusion of dragons in the village. On the other hand, many of the children were friendly to dragons. It was progress on the whole though, so he could not complain much.

The main issue in his life was that there seemed to be a distance, an ever-present separation between himself and his father. His dad never volunteered information and seemed to avoid looking at him whenever possible. The horrible suspicion had crossed his mind that nothing had really changed and that his dad was still disappointed with him. A bit of reflection reminded him that the real reason almost certainly had to do with the fact that he had become a dragon.

How could he expect his dad to be comfortable with what had happened to his son? Even he wasn't at all comfortable with it, though it was not horrifying as he had first thought it would be. He definitely missed having the same fingers, fish was, despite being delicious, rather repetitive to have for every meal, communicating through writing on paper or on the ground was very tedious, and there was his whole Astrid problem.

They were still walking together when a question found its way into Hiccup's mind. It was something that he had desperately wanted to ask Toothless ever since he learned that Toothless was as much a person as he was.

"Toothless, where you kin?"

"What?"

"You not kin-fire-scale, not kin-spike-tail-like-bird, not kin-rock-belly. What kin you?"

Toothless rumbled at the question, surprised that he had never asked this himself. What was his kind called?

He did not know. There were no others like him. Plus, he lived apart from all the rest, wanting to keep as much distance from the Monster as possible. The others, who had probably never known anything else, had kept going back to the mountain where the Monster nested. He could not understand why. Maybe it had to do with the whispering and good, but dangerous, sounds and feelings that he heard and felt whenever he flew near the nest of fire.

"No name. What name do two-legs use?"

Hiccup looked up at the sky and pointed a paw at the sun.

"That no, small circle light yes. Time name?"

Toothless thought for a moment, trying to decipher what Hiccup was saying. When was the big sky-light hidden and the small sky-light flying high in the sky?

"Night."

"More, Toothless."

Hiccup bared his teeth and growled very convincingly. Then he relaxed and looked back at Toothless.

"Angry."

Hiccup thought about that and eventually shook his head.

"No, more angry."

More than angry? What other words were there?

Toothless offered a new word. Hiccup repeated the new word several times and asked for some examples and context before deciding that it worked.

"Night Fury name of us kin by two-legs."

"Night Fury," Toothless repeated.

It actually sounded rather nice. His kind was very hard to see at night because of their dark color. And as for the fury part, it was certainly good to be considered dangerous and powerful. Both were definitely true. The name warmed his liver.

"Night Fury, I like name."

Hiccup chuckled briefly before continuing.

"Toothless, where other Night Fury?"

Toothless almost responded when a long-buried memory forced its way to the surface. He stopped walking, his entire body going still. He clearly remembered it as if it had just happened.

* * *

He woke up against his dam's side, the warmth from her belly seeping into his scales. The cave was silent except for the breathing of his dam and fellow new-hatched small-kin under her other wing. It was hard to make himself move from his place. It was very comfortable. But he did like to arise earlier than the others. Being awake was always better than being asleep since he could do stuff and explore! This time though, he thought heard something else calling to him. Something whispering to him. He roused himself, stretching his jaws wide, slithered out from under his dam's wing, and stalked toward the cave entrance.

Dark. And rain. It was raining. Rain was always fun because it liked to make the sky-lights and sky-growls. As if there was a great sky-kin where no one could see.

He rumbled to himself, wondering where sire was. Had he imagined hearing sire whispering to him to rise?

Great, strong sire. Sire who told him stories, admired how strong his wings were and how strong a flier he would be, how smart he was, how many eggs he would one day be sire of himself, and who protected the cave from dangers.

Where is sire?

He walked to the cave entrance, stretched his neck toward the skies, and looked out. There were lights in the dark. They were slowly moving closer to the cave. He was very curious about these little lights. He wanted to know what they were.

Slowly, he walked outside the cave and climbed onto the rocks alongside the path to get a better view. Strange, upright, two-leg creatures holding long sticks in one paw and the lights, little fires, in the other paw came into view. They walked up to the path that led into the cave. He quickly noticed the four-footed, fur-covered predators that they brought with them.

Sire had told them about these creatures; had told his kin to run or fly away if they ever saw these predators. The danger they brought was not only from their teeth and claws, but mainly from the false teeth and false claws of the two-legs that the predators brought with them.

And he understood what was going to happen.

His insides twisted in fear. He roused himself after his mind went numb for a few moments, determined to charge back into the cave, warn his dam, and rouse his small-kin. He jumped up onto a boulder and spread his wings at the same time as the two-legs roared as one and charged into the cave.

He froze.

The next thing he knew was that several of the four-leg predators were growling up at him and climbing up the rocks toward him. Flashes of light and screams illuminated and echoed from his home cave. The largest predator was only a couple boulders away. He had to choose, and he was not strong enough to fight these monsters.

He turned his tail and began to run, pure fear driving him on. The panicked sounds of his dam ceased, and he felt something snap in his chest only to be replaced by an emptiness, an aloneness. But he ran on, his only thought being to escape the pursuing beasts, their snarling and yowling growing closer by the moment.

He approached the cliff. All his previous flights had been short, mere practice for when he would truly fly. Now he had no choice. It was do or die. Any moment, one of the pursuers was likely to sink its teeth into his tail and begin tearing him apart.

His life-organ was sure to burst from his chest with how hard it was throbbing. Body-lengths passed underfoot with every leap. The bounding and howls of the pursuers were terrifyingly close behind him. He planted his feet on the cliff edge and jumped. The ground fell away below him as his wings struggled to find hold in the air. Every angle at which he tried to beat his wings seemed to lose some grasp on the air. The crashing of the waves roared up at him from far below, ready to welcome him to an everlasting sleep underwater.

Every movement hurt his wing muscles. But...

He. Was. Flying.

The lament of the beasts behind him was slowly replaced by the peaceful lapping of the sea. Every flap was fueled by his grief and worry. He knew that he was alone. Sire would not have left them willingly. He had heard dam's death-scream. And his little-kin would have no chance of surviving. Going back would be to his death.

Where would he go?

Anywhere but here.

And he swore to himself that he would live. He would grow strong. He would be fast. Hopefully, he would find a like-himself-she-kin and be a good sire to many hatchlings.

Wherever possible, he would protect all kin from the two-leg Monsters.

* * *

"Toothless?" Hiccup asked again.

Toothless shook his head, breaking himself from the memory. He could not look up at Hiccup.

"No other Night Fury," he finally rumbled softly.

"What? Why?"

A hint of fire showed itself in Toothless's slightly-slitted eyes as he whipped around to face Hiccup.

"Two-legs killed them!"

He blinked and relaxed when he realized that he was snarling at Hiccup and Hiccup had stepped back from him in alarm.

Hiccup was heartbroken by what he had just heard Toothless say. Humans had killed Toothless's kind. Probably even his family. The humans had probably cheered at their deed and congratulated each other for their bravery.

He had no idea what he could say to that.

"Hiccup, I am sorry. I am not angry at you."

"Two-legs kill your kind. I hope not all. Very, very bad."

Toothless sighed.

"I never saw others. You are the only other one now."

Hiccup reflected on this sad news. There had only ever been one Night Fury in all the raids that he knew of. People had even once told stories that there was only one such dragon, sent as a special torment by Loki. The lack of other Night Furies made sense in a morbid way since because Night Furies were such powerful and mysterious dragons they would be especially hunted and prized as trophies. He really hoped that Toothless was wrong and that there were more Night Furies somewhere in the world.

"Toothless, that sad. I sorry."

"What? What bad did you do?"

Hiccup shrugged his shoulders.

"It two-leg saying. Means… I feel your sadness."

"I lost them many season-cycles ago. I am happy now."

Without saying anything else, they both resumed walking again in the same direction. There was a nearby place that they were both interested in seeing again. Shortly, they walked out onto a small ledge in a cliff wall. The gap opened out into a view of an idyllic cavity in the ground, a place seemingly completely isolated from the surrounding island. It looked no different from how it had all the months ago when they first met each other in this same place.

Their cove.

A soft purr came from Toothless as he reminisced about everything that had happened in the cove.

"Hiccup, we should come back here. This is a good place."

"Good, Toothless, I like here. Hungry now."

Toothless chuckled at him.

"You are the hungry one now!"

"And you Toothless!"

They began gently galloping back to town in search of their next meal. The only eventful part of the return journey was that Hiccup spotted what seemed to be an old net trap off the main path.

 _I guess they got rid of the traps in the forest. That is good._

The Berkian houses came into view at the same time as they both spotted several dragons soaring peacefully on the winds. Toothless looked up at them with an evident look of longing. Hiccup looked up with a more appraising eye. He noticed that one of the dragons seemed to be the Nadder that he had introduced to Astrid. The others did not look like any of the village's dragons.

He really wished that he got more time out to himself and Toothless. For some reason, his dad did not approve of him going outside much. He didn't understand why since he had already said that he would not try to let anyone else know who he was.

Suddenly, he was looking at red. Everywhere.

And there was a musky scent combined with the breathing of a full set of bellows behind it. He looked up into the grinning, toothy face of a Monstrous Nightmare.

Of course, he knew that dragons were not bad creatures. He knew that he should not be afraid of it, but he was. After all, one of his last encounters with one of them had not ended especially well.

There was also the primal fear that came from the fact that this creature could easily swallow him whole if it so wanted.

However, it just sniffed at him and huffed its fishy breath in his face before losing interest and hopping away from them both. He looked over at Toothless just in time to see Toothless relaxing. Apparently even Toothless was a bit uneasy with being so tiny compared to the other dragons on the island.

They resumed walking toward town. People came into view everywhere around them. Hiccup noticed that the farmers were plowing fields, sowing seeds, milking cows, and tending to other farmyard animals. That was something else that he had noticed tended to cause problems between the humans and the dragons. The farm animals always went crazy whenever they saw dragons nearby. Perhaps they remembered the raids of the past. It might also be mere instinct.

They were even aggressive toward hatchlings, as both he and Toothless had quickly found out. They had been forced to run at full speed to escape charging goats, and they gave the farm plenty of space since then. It didn't stop the farmers from yelling at them and chasing them away with pitchforks.

"There you are!"

Gobber was stomping toward both of them, an expression of amusement and worry on his face.

"I've been looking for you two all morning!"

He crossed his arms, real and prosthetic, and frowned down at the two hatchlings that were innocently grinning up at him. Gobber held his frown for a few more seconds before smiling as well and reaching down to pet the little dragons.

"Well, I'm glad you are safe. Come on, get up here."

Hiccup knew what was coming.

 _Oh great…_

Gobber reached down with his good arm, picked up Toothless, and tucked him under an armpit. Toothless did not protest much this because this two-leg, whose name he could not understand, was always nice to him and brought him an extra fish. Hiccup was more exasperated and gave a soft chirp of annoyance when he saw Gobber's massive hand reaching down at him.

A few seconds later and Gobber was happily wobbling back towards Stoick's house, a pair of Night Furies in hand.

"You two are way too adventurous and curious you know."

Hiccup just groaned at him and flicked his tail against Gobber's side. Gobber hummed in thought while lifting an eyebrow.

"There is something about you two. Almost like you know what I'm saying."

"Hiccup, what is he saying?" Toothless asked.

"He say us smart," Hiccup answered.

"Astrid! I found them!" Gobber roared.

Hiccup's eyes went wide and he forgot to breathe for a moment. There was Astrid, walking toward him after just landing with her Nadder. Her hair was unbraided and slightly swept back from flying. She had a bit of a relieved smile on her face. Still, she looked rather different compared to how he remembered her. A bit older and more careworn. Despite this, he imagined a warm feeling in his belly as he looked at her. But the feeling was also tinged with sadness that she still did not know that he was alive.

"Where were they?"

Her voice seemed mellower, less high-pitched than he recalled it. Perhaps it was just because of his different ears.

"I think they were in the forest. I just saw them walking back to town. Good thing too, he's been worried sick about them."

She looked at the two little dragons in his arms and marveled at how quickly they seemed to be growing. She reached out and took from Gobber the one named Hiccup.

"Hiccup, be careful or she might hit you!" Toothless teased.

Hiccup squirmed in indignation and turned to glare at him.

"Toothless, you stop!"

Toothless laughed back at him.

Both Astrid and Gobber looked back and forth between the hatchlings and each other.

"Astrid, I swear sometimes I think these two are yapping at each other. Like they are actually talking."

She thought about the idea for a while.

"I've never seen anything like this. Of course dragons don't talk, that would be silly. I mean, Stormfly is rather smart and normally figures out what I want her to do, but talking, no."

"Maybe they can only talk to each other?"

"Gobber, you do realize what you are saying, don't you? If dragons can talk to each other like we can, then what does that make them?"

"Huh?"

"That would make them… almost like people."

Hiccup wanted to interrupt them right then and tell them the truth. But he didn't. He couldn't do so right now.

"I don't know about that Astrid. Also," he lowered his voice to a whisper, "be careful who ya suggest such things to. It could make people very uncomfortable."

"So? Why should I care what they think?"

"I'm just saying Astrid, if you go around telling people that their whole way of life was built on killing creatures that are actually people, they will get very angry at you. They don't like being shown that they were wrong."

She sighed.

"But we already have shown them that. And they are changing, slowly. What would it take for them to accept such a strange idea, if it is true of course?"

"I don't know if they ever will Astrid. Some things like pride are too deep in people to be able to change. Shall we head up to Stoick's?"

"Sure, let's go."

They made their way together up to Stoick's house and knocked on the door. Unsurprisingly, no one answered. They assumed that he must be out or otherwise occupied, especially since one of the first trading vessels of the year had pulled into port this morning, so they let themselves in. They dropped their respective dragons on their bed in Hiccup's room.

Astrid held out an accusatory finger in their direction though her smile remained kind.

"Now don't you two go wandering off now!"

Hiccup just nodded once before plaintively opening his mouth and chomping several times, miming the act of eating.

"Oh, you are hungry. We can fix that. Stay here."

She left to go fetch some fish for the hungry hatchlings without the thought crossing her mind that anything odd had just happened. Gobber followed her on his way back to the forge, his assigned task of finding the wayward little ones completed. He was humming some strange song about an axe, a mace, and a wife with an ugly face.

Toothless sprawled himself out on the bed as he did quite frequently. Hiccup was still wondering about something though. Neither he nor Toothless had interacted much with other dragons since the incident on Dragon Island. In fact, being just recently sniffed at by the Nightmare had been the closest that either of them had gotten to other dragons. Since he knew that Toothless could talk, he could not help but wonder about the other dragons.

"Toothless, you smart. You talk. Other kin talk?"

"No. Other kin are not smart enough, or I do not hear them."

"I not understand."

"Other kin show their ideas by doing, not talking."

Hiccup's tail swished back and forth while he pondered this new information. So not all dragons had language like Toothless did. What exactly did Toothless mean when he said that other dragons were 'not smart enough'?

They both heard the door open and shut softly a little bit later. That it shut softly told them both exactly who it was not. Sure enough, Astrid came back into the room a little bit later. A fishy smell followed.

They both hopped down from the bed and ran into the kitchen.

"Hey, wait up!" she shouted.

By the time she got to the kitchen, she found both of them pacing back and forth next to the table on which there was a giant cod.

"Well, I'll cut it up for you," she sighed in resignation to an unexpected messy task.

She had hoped that Stoick would be back by now, but he was not. She grabbed a knife and began filleting the fish.

Hiccup was fidgeting in nervousness. The tabletop also had a pad of paper and his pencil from the last time he and his dad had communicated.

It would be easy for him to show her the truth as long as his dad did not show up. Was he ready to risk it? He had no idea what her reaction would be. She might reject him in shock. He could get caught by his father after he had essentially said that he would not let anyone know what had happened.

He glanced up at her, seeing her happily humming away while carving the fish. Her hair hung down to her shoulders as she had foregone her traditional braid.

He made up his mind.

A quick leap onto the chair and from there onto the table left him standing right next to the paper and pencil.

She looked in his direction with a frown.

"Hiccup, you need to wait."

He deliberately looked up at her and stared directly into her eyes. Blue into green.

* * *

Astrid felt a strange tingling, a suspicion that something was very amiss here.

The dragon shook its head all while continuing to stare at her.

She dropped the knife and froze as she felt a notion beginning to creep over her. This tiny dragon was being too aware, too deliberate. Too intelligent. Almost as if it…

Very slowly, she reached out with a hand palm-up, and the Night Fury walked toward her. It lay its head on her palm, keeping its eyes on her the whole time. She was almost afraid to ask the question that had the potential to change her entire world.

"Do… you know… what I'm saying?" she whispered.

He inhaled once and then nodded sharply.

Astrid gasped and began to shake in excitement and shock. This baby dragon somehow understood her! It understood Norse!

Just when she thought that the situation could not possibly become any stranger, the dragon did something completely unbelievable. It walked a couple of feet away from her, reached down with a paw, and somehow managed to pick up a pencil. Then it looked at the paper.

Her mouth completely fell open, and she completely forgot to breathe, so great was her surprise. She watched in complete amazement as the hatchling held the pencil in a paw and proceeded to set it to paper.

Little Hiccup began to write.

It was incomprehensible! Impossible! Crazy!

It was happening right before her eyes.

The dragon stepped back from the paper, and she finally read what it had written.

 **Hi Astrid**

She held her head with both her hands as she stared numbly at the paper. She could almost hear what remained of the old world crashing around her. The world of pride, training, spears, axes, and glory had all been founded on this one idea; that dragons were dumb creatures and monsters. At worst, they were true fiends sent by the gods to punish people for displeasing the gods in some way. At best, they were mere beasts whose simple lives and instincts necessarily caused death and destruction. Now they were kindly creatures, good pets that were useful to have around when well-trained.

But this proved all such thoughts to be woefully mistaken.

Dragons could be intelligent and could communicate even as hatchlings!

Might they be, as she had just recently wondered, people too?

Her voice trembled as she whispered her question.

"How… do you know… my name?"

The hatchling purred sadly and turned back to the paper.

 **I am Hiccup**

"Yes… that is… your name."

He shook his head vigorously.

 **I did not die**

She stared at the words without really seeing. It was too much for her to grasp. The giant inferno into which Hiccup and Toothless seemed to vanish blazed in her memory. The singular bolt of lightning reached up to the heavens through the fire. She had cried for the first time in what had been years that day. She had been present to give Hiccup as much of a warrior's send-off to Valhalla as was possible without a body.

And now this mysterious Night Fury hatchling, which understood human speech and knew how to write, was claiming to be Hiccup.

Impossible though it seemed, it just felt right.

 _Unholy offspring of lightning and death itself..._

She started to feel very dizzy and light-headed.

* * *

Hiccup watched as Astrid steadied herself against the edge of the table. She looked over at him one more time before fainting dead away.

He winced as he heard her make contact with the wooden floor with a thump.

 _Ouch! Hopefully that doesn't leave a scar._ _Well, there were worse things she could have done._

"Hiccup, what did you do to her?"

Toothless dashed into the room and hopped up onto the table with him after looking down at the unconscious Astrid.

"I tell her I Hiccup."

But Toothless was already not listening. He had immediately noticed the half-filleted fish and had already begun stalking towards it.

Hiccup looked at the paper that he had written on; he couldn't let his dad see this. This would give it away for sure.

He grabbed the paper and began to crumple it up as best he could. Then he took it in his mouth and dashed off to his room. There was a whole heap of old, crumpled papers under the bed where his dad would never think or bother to look.

After depositing the traitorous paper under the bed, he ran back into the kitchen to hopefully get some of the carved fish before Toothless ate it all.

"Toothless, no eat all fish! I want fish!"

Toothless huffed down at him from on top of the table, his mouth filled with a giant slice of delicious-looking cod. He mumbled something completely incoherent and then slurped down his portion.

Hiccup rolled his eyes at this silly exchange. He then hopped back up onto the table and attacked what remained of the fish.

Between the exhaustion brought on from their play earlier in the day and the lethargy that was always induced after meals, they both collapsed right there on top of the table for a nap. Hiccup positioned himself so that he could keep an eye on Astrid in case she woke up.

Perhaps thirty minutes later, Astrid stirred again. She groaned and rubbed her head, wondering why she was on the floor. She looked up and saw Hiccup's tiny head resting on the edge of the table.

And she remembered everything that had just recently happened. It was impossible to tear her eyes from the tiny dragon on the table.

It was impossible.

Hiccup died.

People do not get reborn as dragons.

And yet…

Slowly, she got to her feet and inched closer to the table. She reached out to the little dragon and cautiously cupped its head in her hand. It immediately opened its eyes and stared directly at her. It blinked and closed its eyes while leaning into her palm.

She knew it had to be true.

"Hiccup?" her whisper was barely audible.

Hiccup blinked and looked at her.

"What happened to you?"

Hiccup got to his feet and shrugged his shoulders and wings in a motion that was completely Hiccup. It was his way of saying he did not know.

He walked back over to the remaining paper.

 **Don't let dad know I told you**

"Why not, does he know?"

Hiccup nodded sadly.

 **He not want others to know**

He paused for a moment before continuing.

 **I missed you Astrid**

"I… this is… so strange… Hiccup. I don't know what to think."

 **We talk later, hide paper**

She nodded vaguely and crumpled up the paper before shoving it into a pocket. She took several deep breaths to calm herself.

"Ok, I'll finish this fish for you two… wait, is Toothless actually… your Toothless?"

Hiccup smiled a gummy grin and nodded.

"Wow, you both lived. Now you are a dragon. And you have no idea how?"

Hiccup shook his head. Then he looked over at Toothless and began chattering away at him.

A suspicion came over Astrid as she looked at Hiccup apparently miming talking.

"Hiccup, can you actually talk to him?"

Hiccup nodded happily.

"And he talks to you? You know what he says?"

Yes.

She was right. Dragons can talk. Have ideas worth sharing.

Are people.

Could her Stormfly talk too?

"Wow, this... this changes everything. Can you talk to all dragons?"

Hiccup shook his head slowly and tipped his head to the side, as if to say he wasn't sure.

"Alright, I won't tell anyone else. What about Gobber though? He really misses you."

Hiccup pointed with a paw toward the crumpled up paper in her pocket. They would talk later.

She nodded once in understanding and returned to carving the rest of the fish. The next few minutes passed in relative silence as she focused on the repetitive task and contemplated the revelations of the past hour.

Toothless eventually woke up from his food-induced nap and noticed that Hiccup's preferred female was still in the cave-den. She was sitting with Hiccup on the ground at her side. Neither of them were doing or saying anything. He really ought to figure out what her name was. Hiccup had made some sounds that seemed to indicate her that first, unfortunate time that they met.

Hiccup had told her who he really was and this is the reaction she gave him. Confusion, a strange need to fall onto the ground and sleep, and extreme nervousness. It made some sense, considering how different Hiccup was now.

He hopped down from the table and walked over to Hiccup.

"Hiccup, what is her name?"

"No name kin talk."

"Make new name?"

Hiccup hummed in thought, trying to think of names that could be similar to Astrid. No words that he knew sounded even remotely similar. By combining portions of other words, he was able to say something that sounded somewhat close to how he figured Astrid would sound in dragon speech.

It was quite a bizarre experience for Astrid to see the two hatchlings, one of whom she knew was Hiccup, chirping and rumbling at each other and to know that this was a method of talking. It was so inhuman. She looked between the two dragons and could not see any physical differences other than that Hiccup was slightly smaller.

"Toothless," she whispered.

Toothless whipped his head around to look at her.

So it was really him!

"Do you remember me?"

Toothless just huffed at her and rolled his eyes while grumbling, as if to say 'obviously' or 'not interested.' Actually, what he did was very Hiccup-like.

 _They must be rubbing off on each other._

Their relatively peaceful interactions were broken by the sound of very heavy footfalls in front of the house door. The door flew open violently and Stoick marched in.

"Hiccup! Where are…"

Stoick saw Astrid sitting in the living room chair with both hatchlings at her feet. His mind immediately conjured up certain fears. Why was she here in his house? What did she know? Did she know who Hiccup really was? Had they been… talking? She was trespassing on his privacy!

"Chief, Gobber found them outside, and we brought them back here."

"I can see that! Why are you still here?"

"They were hungry, so I went and got a fish for them. Then they started getting sleepy so I thought I should stay here until you get back. Don't want them running off again."

He glared in her direction for a moment longer before relaxing. He gave a sigh of relief, convinced that she did not know the secret.

He was completely oblivious to the fact that Astrid relaxed as well.

"That's good. Astrid, why do you have a spot on your head?"

She raised a hand to feel her forehead and winced at feeling the throbbing lump next to her temple.

"I bumped my head today."

"Are you sure you are ok? That is a big bump."

She chuckled.

"I have had far worse in training. This won't even leave a scar. I guess I'll get going now that you are here."

"Right, thanks for, you know, watching over them."

She nodded curtly and walked from the house without looking back. She was supposed to go back to the arena to prepare for the day's training. In the past, she had run to Stormfly whenever she wanted to escape and be alone with her thoughts. However, this time she ran did not want to be anywhere near the dragon. She had to be away from everyone in order to think in peace.

* * *

Stoick watched until Astrid had closed the door behind her and then turned back to Hiccup. He was completely exasperated and a bit angry. What couldn't Hiccup just stay inside! He pointed a finger in Hiccup's direction and…

Hiccup was sprawled out on the ground, eyes closed and breathing peacefully.

Stoick sighed softly. Astrid did say that the two dragons had eaten and been playing. He would give Hiccup a talking-to as soon as he woke back up. He grabbed a mug, filled it, and went to his bedroom for an afternoon nap.

* * *

Hiccup opened his eyes the moment he heard the door shut. He groaned in frustration.

 _What is his problem? Why is he so angry all the time? I don't understand._

Toothless got to his feet as well, glad that Hiccup's angry sire was not there anymore.

"Hiccup, we sleep now?"

"Yes, Toothless. Sleep good."

 _And I'll think about why dad is being so difficult._

Together, they tiptoed into their room and crashed in the bed-nest which Toothless had since formed by dragging blankets into the right shape.

Hiccup reached a conclusion about ten minutes later. His father's continued anxiousness must be because of fear that people would learn who the baby Night Fury actually was. Thinking that he understood the reason behind his father's behavior helped him to let go some of his frustration with him.

 _It must be hard for him knowing what I am, at least until I can be…_

That was still a strange thought. He had a strange suspicion that his father would find some way to do what he promised. His dad promised it and so it would be. He would be human again, as he was supposed to be. He and Astrid could work something out, and his father would truly have his son back again.

But it would also mean giving up much that he had gained. At worst, it would mean giving up the ability to talk to Toothless. He strongly suspected that only dragons could hear all the aspects of dragon speech. It just sounded far too different from anything he could remember hearing from back when he was human.

 _I'll have to think about that problem. There has to be a solution._


	9. I - Persona Non Grata

" _Madness is something rare in individuals - but in groups, parties, peoples, ages, it is the rule." – Friedrich Nietzsche – Beyond Good and Evil_

* * *

Persona Non Grata

* * *

Astrid sat on a rock in the forest with her hands on her cheeks, completely alone with only her thoughts for company.

She used to train in these woods. Many afternoons were spent on complex patterns of manipulating an axe in her hands, stretching to improve flexibility, and, of course, hurling axes.

She could even distinctly recall hopping onto this very rock to try to see a cheeky, suspicious-looking, and thoroughly vexing boy run off into the woods for no good reason with an odd bundle in his arms.

And now what was she supposed to make of the situation?

Hiccup was not dead after all. He had been re-born, re-hatched, as a Night Fury. She had no idea how such a thing was even possible.

There was no reason to suspect that it was not him or that he could not remember everything. The part about him being able to talk to Toothless, she wasn't sure what to make of it. It had to be true based on how intently and purposefully Hiccup and Toothless had been yapping at each other.

Dragons could talk. That made them intelligent. That made them people in a way.

What did that make Stormfly to her? Was Stormfly the same as Hiccup or Toothless?

She had been very fond of her dragon for almost a year now. She had trained the dragon to do tasks, such as how to fly with her, how to help catch fish, and how to fetch things like sticks for fun. Stormfly had never seemed to try to talk to her. On the other hand though, Stormfly was a very fast learner and seemed to pick up some things intuitively in the way a simple beast should not be able.

Worse than all this though was the realization that everything she had trained for in the past, killing dragons, might not have been simply killing beasts. Did they have families that had been torn apart? There was no way for her to know. Her memories of how excited she used to get at the idea of beheading a dragon, carving out its heart, or winning dragon training made her feel disgusted with herself.

 _I can't change the past... but I can change the future._

One thing that she definitely had to do was to talk further with Hiccup sometime when his father was not around. There was certainly a lot that he could share with her. It was likely going to be awkward to do so though. After all, they had definitely liked each other before the terrible accident happened. Where did that leave them now? Was there any possibility of him becoming human again?

 _Is that even possible?_

Eventually having decided that she had thought enough about such matters for the moment, she began to walk back to the village.

The first person she saw was the one person whose appearance always soured even the most cheerful day. No one really knew what his proper name was but at some point the name that he responded to had started being used, likely in reference to either his clothing or his farm produce, and he had bizarrely accepted it.

Mildew.

That old, decrepit, and filthy excuse for a man. He was truly ugly, what hair he had remaining was always oily and unwashed, he was pencil thin and completely lacking muscle even to the point of needed a cane to walk with, and had a personality that made Outcasts seem positively charming by comparison. She had heard of him telling stories in the Hall about all the dragons that he had ravaged in his youth and also him giving graphic descriptions of his conquering many women. In fact, it was so extreme that even hardened Nord warriors tended to shy away from his company and his boasting after he had a few drinks in him.

The one thing that he was good at was that he knew how to speak well. He could twist the meaning of words and make weaker arguments appear stronger than they actually were. He knew how to play on fears and convince the people of things that they would never think naturally. They would be listening to him speaking and then find themselves nodding in agreement and feeling privileged that he shared his knowledge with them before anyone else. The content of his speeches tended to be lost in a mental haze.

And he hated dragons on principle.

His being in the village could not be a good thing, especially when he had a small crowd as he did now, and she resolved to walk past him without acknowledging his presence unless necessary.

"There she is. The clever girl who thinks that the beasts are just misunderstood!"

 _Gods! He saw me…_

"What do you want?" she groaned.

"You watch your tone around your elders! No respect from these free-thinking youth these days. Should have used the whip a bit more I say. Anyway, you know what I want."

"Not going to happen! The dragons are not bad, and they are here to stay."

"Not bad you say? How many of our homes have been burned down since they moved in? How many dead have we sent to Valhalla over the years?"

She shook her head; this had been said in many variations before.

"That is the past. If you would just look around, you could see that we are better off with them than against them. What about for them? What must it have been like for them to see their kin get killed either by us or by the Monster?"

He made a lewd gesture in her direction, which she ignored.

"They are just dumb beasts that know nothing but hunger and hate! Right men?"

His gathering mumbled in agreement.

"These ones we suffer to have in the village, they only pretend to be nice to us since we can give them food. All it would take is one bad day of fishing and then we would find ourselves getting eaten instead!"

She was really starting to lose her patience with him.

"You know nothing of what they are really like! How could you when you hide yourself away in your rotting hut with no company but a sheep?"

"I've been keeping myself free of their allure. I'm the one who thinks clearly. I tell you all, they are devils and probably have magic too!"

 _Magic…_

For a moment, she lost her voice because of her surprise and could not help but wonder. Had magic been involved in what happened to Hiccup? She had asked herself whether the gods might have been involved, but Gothi's display months ago had kept haunting her since it made her question what one could actually know of the gods.

"Mildew, you are hopeless. I'm done with you."

She turned her back on him.

"Yes, be insolent to your superiors. I tell you, dragons will be gone from Berk, one way or another!"

She ran to leave him behind. His slippery voice thankfully fell away behind her, and she approached her home. Of course, Stormfly had found her way home and was keeping lookout from the rooftop. The Nadder raised her head and chittered happily at her approach before jumping down and gliding to her.

She slowly raised a hand and scratched under Stormfly's chin.

"Hi girl, how are you?"

Chirp.

"I wish I knew what you were saying girl. I hope you think I am good to you."

Stormfly squawked and retook her place on top of the house.

Vídarr was washing dishes when Astrid walked inside. She turned to greet her daughter.

"Astrid, where have you been today?"

"Fending off Mildew, that old sack of dragon dung. No, I take it back, the dung is still useful for the farm."

"Don't worry too much about him dear. No one listens to him."

The fact that he had had a small gathering nodding in agreement spoke otherwise though.

"There is something else, my dear. Something your father and I have been meaning to talk to you about for a while now."

She sat down at the table to listen to whatever it was that her mother wanted to say.

"You have been doing a very good job as the leader of the Academy. We are both very proud of you."

She smiled at her mother's praise.

"You are as old as I was when I got married, and we were wondering when would be good for you to be married."

She froze and again found that she couldn't speak.

"Of course, we don't have any arrangements yet, but we have a few ideas for who would be good matches."

"Mom, I really don't think I'm ready for that."

"No one really is, my dear. I barely even knew your father before we wed. Plus, we've never been able to have any other children so it is up to you."

Her, have children? Sit inside, unable to act valorously? Not be able to teach, train, or fly because she had to attend to a crying baby? It was unthinkable!

"We have been thinking about talking to Mr. Jorgenson…"

Astrid stopped listening after she heard the name of Snotlout's father brought up. She knew what her mother was going to suggest, and it was completely horrifying.

Be married to Snotlout? True, he had seemed to become more responsible since Dragon Island, but she could still remember him doing so, him staring at her chest, and his making crude jokes. His attitude was still a bit brash and arrogant since he had taken on more responsibility, not nearly as bad as it had once been but still definitely a part of his personality.

And she was in no way attracted to him in the slightest.

"Mom, no! Not him. Definitely not him."

Her mother was quite surprised by her opposition to the idea.

"Why not?"

"I don't like him, he is arrogant, he is not…"

 _Hiccup…_

"He is part of the line to be Chief now. And," her mother gathered her close in a conspiratorial whisper, "the men think that they rule, but the real power behind the Chief is whoever he is married to. That could be you."

Astrid sighed.

"Mom, I don't want to get married to anyone now. I just want to lead the Academy. I can do good there and show people how to live with dragons. I couldn't do that if I were married."

"Well, it is not something that you can put off forever."

"I know. And I will let you know if I find someone I want."

"Is there really no one on the island who catches your eye, my dear?"

 _Well, this is complicated…_

She took her mother's hands in her own.

"When I find him, I will let you know."

"Ok, dear daughter."

With that, Vidarr went back to the dishes, and Astrid left the house to go back to the Academy and seek some solace from everything.

"What a day..."

* * *

The Great Hall was ablaze with activity later that afternoon.

The roof was on fire.

Astrid quickly organized the riders who were available and handed out buckets with instructions to fill them in the ocean and combat the fire.

In some ways, it was eerily similar to the raids of the past. People were running around, screaming, and yelling at nearby dragons. Try as she might, she could not help but conclude that one of the dragons must have done it even if it was, as was likely, accidental.

However, it was not the first time that something like this had happened.

"Ruff, Tuff don't just stand there!" she screamed from Stormfly's back as she passed the idle twins.

"Do we have to? It looks totally awesome!" Tuff lamented, unable to tear his eyes from the flames.

"I guess we probably should…" Ruff sadly admitted.

It was a rather simple affair to combat the blaze since it was confined to one side of the roof. All the flames were extinguished in minutes. Afterwards, she stood with the other riders, most of whom were soaked and smelled heavily of ash, and congratulated them on their fast response time.

Mildew approached them along with his small band.

"Well, what happened here? Congratulating each other on how destructive your beasts are? How they are going to burn us out of hearth and home!"

A murmur of agreement went around the assembly.

"It was probably an accident, Mildew. And you saw how they were helping us put out the fire!"

"What in Thor's name is going on?" Stoick roared as he stomped into the square. She noticed that he had a recently-opened scroll in hand.

"Just explaining to little Astrid here that we cannot have dragons burning down our village!" he said while pointing with a shriveled hand at the Hall.

Stoick turned to her.

"Astrid, what happened here?"

"I don't know sir, we just saw the roof of the Hall on fire and we got buckets as fast as we could to put it out."

"So a dragon did do this?"

"Well, probably, sir."

He nodded, obviously deep in thought.

"Was anyone hurt?"

"No, no one was hurt."

"Good, everything is well here then."

Mildew was quite incensed at hearing this and flailed his crutch around wildly.

"How do you mean that? The dragons are going to burn down our village!"

"I'm sure it was an accident, Mildew."

"Accident or not, it still happened. We are so… lucky that no one got hurt. This time. If she cannot keep them in line…"

There was a disheartening amount of cheering and nods of agreement.

"It isn't my job to 'keep them in line!' I show you all how to treat them right so that stuff like this doesn't happen!" she shouted.

"And how is that working for you, little girl?"

"Because you all won't listen to me!"

"Ok, ok everyone. We can talk about this later in the Hall," Stoick interjected into the heated argument.

"Assuming that there is still a Hall," Mildew mumbled.

The crowd, Mildew included, dispersed at the Chief's command. He glared in Mildew's direction and then followed them into the Hall.

Astrid waited a moment before following her Chief into the Hall where dinner was being prepared. She saw Stoick holding his head in his hands and cautiously sat down at his table.

"Chief, why is he so bitter?"

He paused a moment before answering her.

"He used to be a good soldier, a great dragon killer. His whole life was about training and fighting for glory. He liked the recognition and attention that it got him. Then he got shamed in battle by a dragon and hurt so that he couldn't fight anymore. He lost all his strength and speed. The only thing that he seemed interested in after that was being a nuisance since he still got attention that way. It is also why he boasts so much about his… exploits, both real and imagined."

"He really doesn't care about the village then."

"No, he does not and has not for a long time. Only his own bloated importance matters to him."

He sighed deeply.

"I don't know what to do."

"About what sir?"

"The dragons, Astrid. You have done a good job with some things, but they are still getting into more trouble. The Hall today, they always spook the livestock, the wild ones scare people who don't want to be near them, and the storehouses have been broken into many times. I don't want to banish them because things are much better now, but many other people don't understand that."

"What do you want me to do?"

"I don't know Astrid, I don't know."

He didn't say anything for a while longer. There was something else on his mind. Something that he really did not like, especially considering the recent problems, but had no real choice in the matter.

"Astrid, I am leaving for a few weeks. A trading vessel came with a message for me. I've been summoned to a council of Chiefs. I'm not sure what it is about, but I have my suspicions. You will have to take care of things with the dragons as well as you can while I am gone. I'd also like you to… take care of my dragons since they are so small. They shouldn't be much of a bother. Just make sure they have food… and take them to the outhouse, I have them trained you see."

If she was supposed to find these instructions bizarre, she did her best to hide it. Because she of course understood what was really going on here.

 _Perfect, I'll have a chance to talk to Hiccup._

"Yes sir, I will. When are you leaving?"

"In the morning. You can go ahead and leave the Hall, unless you want to stay here while I put up with Mildew's usual ranting."

She nodded thankfully and departed before Mildew and company could gather around.

* * *

"Hiccup!"

He lifted his head from the bed and looked over at his father who had just walked into the room.

 _Wait? Does he actually want to talk to me? Amazing…_

His father towered over him and looked down. Hiccup felt quite like shrinking and hiding under the covers.

"Hiccup, I have to leave Berk for a while."

His eyes went wide and he cocked his head to the side to show his surprise.

"I'll be gone a few weeks. I have to go to a meeting of Chiefs. I had to ask Astrid to watch after you and Toothless."

He pointed a finger at Hiccup.

"Remember what I said! Don't let her know what happened to you!"

Hiccup nodded once before closing his eyes and sadly laying back down on the bed. His dad did not actually want to talk after all. As usual.

Stoick saw his son-turned-baby-dragon lay his head back down on the bed. Hiccup looked very pitiable and sad. For a moment, he wanted to just turn and leave the house, having said everything he needed to say.

But…

Hiccup did not expect his father to do anything other than leave the room. His dad never showed affection to anyone.

Which is why he went stiff with surprise when he felt his father's palm on his tiny head. His dad was sitting down on the bed, right next to him.

He could not remember the last time his dad had done something like this for him.

The next thing he knew, he had crawled over to his father and laid his head and his front paws on his father's lap. For a few moments, he was able to forget about how strange his life had become. He forgot about the wings sprouting from his back and the snake-like tail behind him. He forgot that his hands were more truly paws and did not have the same type of fingers as they used to. Or that he could only communicate through writing on the ground or on paper.

"Oh son, don't worry. I haven't given up on you."

 _Dad, it's not that…_

Then his dad began patting his head very gently. More softly than he would have thought possible for a man of his size.

"You know… no one really thought that you would survive after you were born. You were very sick and small."

Humph.

"Yes, you were born early. Even your mother was afraid that you would not make it. But… I knew you would make it. Somehow, I know that you will make it out of this. We'll set you right again."

A moment passed in silence.

"I promise."

Hiccup nodded softly. He then stepped back and pointed at his belly with a paw.

"Ok, that's a problem I can do something about."

Stoick left the room for the kitchen, and Hiccup purred softly to himself. It was not exactly the deep father-son interaction that Hiccup hoped to enjoy, but it was a start.

* * *

Perhaps half the tribe turned out to see their Chief off on his journey to the gathering. He made a public display of handing off his dragons to Astrid before stepping on the ship. That made an impression on the rest of the members of the tribe who did not already know about the existence of the two little Furies.

That the tiny dragons were Night Furies was alternatively either disturbing or fascinating. Everyone could clearly remember the terrifying shriek from high above and the blinding flash of purple light that always followed. Many of them had dreamed of being the one to down the terror of the night and hang its head up on their wall. Mildew and his gathering were especially incensed at this, in their mind, travesty against the memory of many fallen comrades.

The other riders and those who were kind to dragons were amazed that Stoick had somehow managed to find two baby Night Furies and couldn't help but keep gawking at them. Fishlegs especially made a fool of himself while begging Astrid for a chance to hold one of the two little ones.

The sails unfurled on Stoick's ship and caught the wind to carry the vessel to the southeast. It would be a few days of sailing and then a mess of politics for another couple days before sailing back home. He faced the shore, his gaze never leaving the two dragons standing next to Astrid. From this distance, he could not tell which one was his son. His people were cheering and calling out for his safe return. Then Hiccup subtly raised a paw and waved once, the gesture completely lost in the commotion.

Stoick quickly brushed a tear from his cheeks before anyone could see. He returned to captaining the boat and bellowing orders to keep the deckhands in line. The shoreline of Berk gradually fell away behind him until there was nothing but a sliver of land. Then that was gone too.

* * *

"Ok, now can I hold them?" Fishlegs begged.

"Sorry Fishlegs, Chief's orders."

He sighed before taking out his notebook and beginning to draw their falcon-like appearance as best as he could.

"What are their names?" Gustav piped up.

"Well, the Chief wanted to honor Hiccup, so he named this one," she glanced to her right, "Hiccup and the other one after Hiccup's dragon, Toothless."

"Oh look! Hiccup looks so cuddly!" Ruffnut sighed.

"Never thought I'd hear that one," Tuffnut whispered to Fishlegs.

Hiccup couldn't help but chuckle a bit in return. He immediately regretted his decision as he saw Ruffnut's hands reaching out for him. He shied away from her with a whimper.

"Ruff, they are my responsibility!"

 _Yes! Astrid to the rescue!_

"Oh, are they now?" she heard a much-despised voice from nearby and turned to face the speaker.

"Just leave us alone."

He pointed his free hand directly at her.

"Oh, I will. You better be careful though with those beasts."

He leaned in closer to her and whispered.

"It would be… a shame if something were to happen to them while you are responsible for them."

Something about the way Mildew was glaring told Hiccup exactly what the man was thinking.

Toothless bared his teeth and growled at the two-leg. He did not need much experience with two-legs know that this one had very bad intentions. The sight of a hatchling growling must not have been very impressive because Mildew didn't even blink an eye at him.

Astrid raised a hand to scratch Toothless's neck and calm him, but he shook her hand away and kept glaring at Mildew.

She turned away from Mildew, ignoring his protests at her insolence, and walked across town to her house, leaving behind the other riders, where her dragon was waiting for her return. Stormfly perked up at seeing her approach, but quickly froze seeing the little dragons following her around. The Nadder leaned forward, eyes narrowed, to sniff at them.

"Stormfly, be nice to them."

 _Stormfly, nice name._

"Hi storm-flier" Hiccup said.

She chirped happily and gurgled at him. But he could not make out any clear words.

"Toothless, storm-flier kin-spike-tail talk?"

"Not words that I hear. Maybe other words."

So Stormfly might have words that they could not hear or understand. Or maybe she couldn't talk.

 _It makes sense that not all dragons would talk the same way._

"Hiccup, do you think we should fly?" Astrid suddenly asked.

Fly? Them? Now?

"Toothless, we fly on storm-flier with Astrid?"

Toothless blinked in surprise. Him fly on another kin? It was not right. He was a Night Fury, as the two-legs called his kind of kin! He shouldn't need help with flying, except for what Hiccup had done for him of course.

Though, his own sire and dam used to take their hatchlings into the sky to help them learn how to fly. He certainly did not need help with that, it was only a matter of time before his wings were strong enough for him to fly. He would also be able to teach Hiccup how to fly.

He did miss flying. After all, he had not flown at all in seasons. But not being able to fly on his own and Hiccup clearly not knowing what to do made it far more dangerous. What if one of them fell off?

"Much danger."

Hiccup looked up at Astrid and shook his head. It did sound a bit too dangerous. But another idea came to mind. There was a perfect place to go to avoid prying eyes. He spied a patch of bare ground.

 **Walk to cove**

She nodded, knowing exactly where he wanted them to go, and wiped out the words from the dirt.

The walk was thankfully quiet and uneventful. She made sure to check behind them to make sure that they were not being followed.

"Hiccup, where are we going?" Toothless asked.

Hiccup thought for a moment.

"Place I bring you fish."

Toothless picked up the pace after hearing that and recognizing the place.

It was still very difficult for Astrid to reconcile the knowledge that the young dragon walking next to her was actually the great Night Fury that Hiccup had befriended and flown upon. But, Hiccup said he was, and, based on the sounds she had heard them making at each other, she was sure that they could indeed talk to each other.

And then there was Hiccup himself. What was she going to ask him? What was he going to tell her? How much stranger was the world than she had thought?

They finally arrived at the entrance to the cove. Hiccup bounded forward into the narrow entrance, followed closely by Toothless.

Hiccup chuckled at seeing that the shield that he had clumsily gotten stuck in the entrance was still there over a year later.

Their cove was as glorious as ever. The lake was clear and deep, the rocks were shiny or covered in mosses and lichen, most of the valley was green with the radiance of spring, and it showed no signs of being occupied or frequented.

Toothless began humming in happiness at being back in this much-liked place. He dashed off to a very familiar pile of rocks on which he had once stalked toward a very strange and daring two-leg. Hiccup and Astrid walked toward the lake, toward the bare batch of dirt and then sat down.

She turned to Hiccup and wondered.

 _Where do I start this?_

"What happened to you?"

Hiccup extended one small claw over the dirt and began to write.

 **We ripped the monster's wings so it fell**

 **But we hit its tail and I got a spike in my chest**

 **Then I was trapped in a dark place**

 **Then I got out and found out about… all this**

He finished with a vague gesture toward himself with a front paw.

"And you have no idea how this happened? I mean, people don't just turn into dragons. Does Toothless know how?"

 **I asked him but he didn't say**

"He didn't say? Strange. Uhm... you can talk to Toothless, can you talk to other dragons."

 **Toothless says most don't talk**

"Oh, what about Stormfly?"

He gave a quick shake of his head.

"No, ok. Different question then, what are those like? Your wings I mean?"

He gave them an experimental flap.

 **Strange, almost like a hand**

 **Don't ask about the tail**

 **That is stranger**

He sighed and lay down on the ground. It was very peaceful in the cove. The birds were chirping, and the sun was high in the sky. The warmth seeping into his scales made him very sleepy.

 **Tell me about the village**

 **About what has happened**

"Well, almost everyone lived. You know that we have dragons in the village now. I named mine Stormfly. Fishlegs named the Gronkle Meatlug after it carried back a deer from the forest. The twins named the Zippleback heads Barf and Belch, go figure on that one. Snotlout named the Nightmare Hookedfang. Oh, you will like this one... Gustav found a small Nightmare and named it Flame. They are good friends. There are a few others who are friendly to dragons, but most of the tribe still don't really trust dragons. They still give them the fish that they are supposed to, but they are not really different. They tolerate the dragons as long as things are peaceful."

She paused a moment before considering what else to say.

"I have been leading the Berk training Academy. We try to show people how to treat their dragons and other dragons well. It has helped to keep the peace, but it is very tiring and frustrating because of people like Mildew."

He nodded in agreement. He had not known much about the man before the Dragon Island incident, but the way Mildew had reacted to seeing him and Toothless was quite frightening. Especially since he himself was so small and defenseless against an adult.

 **Would he try to hurt me and Toothless?**

"With your father here, no he would not. But now, he just might."

 _Ok, point taken. Stay away from Mildew._

"Hiccup…"

He looked up and over to where Toothless was perched on a rock, his wings held slightly outstretched at his sides and his eyes narrowed as he glared in Hiccup's direction.

Then Toothless relaxed and hopped down from the rock while chuckling heartily. Toothless clearly remembered the last time that he had been perched on that rock.

Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"You silly Toothless."

"Silly? This silly?"

Toothless roared and charged. Hiccup got to his feet and tucked his wings safely away.

"No!"

Toothless blinked and pulled up in surprise.

"Hiccup, why you not want play?"

"I want talk with Astrid."

Toothless's ears drooped slightly, and he turned away to continue exploring the cove alone.

"Hiccup, what was that about?" Astrid asked.

 **He wanted to play**

"Ah, I see."

There was another, very important question on her mind.

"What are you going to do? Is there any way that you can be… changed back?"

That certainly got Hiccup glum in a hurry.

 **Dad says he will find a way**

 **I hope so**

 **I don't know how though**

She certainly had no idea as well. There were a few stories of people who had been changed into dragons because of their own wickedness or as a punishment of some kind. That certainly did not seem like the proper explanation for Hiccup's situation. Plus, no one really thought those stories were true. It was more likely they were instead just warnings against bad behavior.

Hiccup shook his writing paw and relaxed on the ground. Astrid noticed.

 _It must hurt him to write so much._

"Take a break from writing, Hiccup. I'm going to… explore the cove and think."

He nodded in agreement.

* * *

Toothless huffed in frustration.

It just wasn't the same this way. Having the Astrid with them completely ruined the setting. Not that he did not think she was a good two-leg. She was. She had stood up for them and tried to protect Hiccup in the two-legs' death trap-valley. But Hiccup was giving her all his time now.

It would be understandable if this was part of two-leg mating-ceremonies. But that could not be the case here.

There was nothing fun to do in the valley without Hiccup to play with. This was their valley. The place where they came to know each other completely away from any other two-legs and kin. Or at least it should be their valley.

He kicked at a small stick in boredom, and an idea came to mind. Hiccup liked making strange shapes on the ground, and the shapes were a way of talking to two-legs. He should try to make the shapes too!

He grasped the stick roughly the same way that he remembered seeing Hiccup do it and began carving a picture in the dirt. A picture of himself and Hiccup.

 _Wings, tails, arms, legs, heads, this is hard. How does he do it?_

He finally finished minutes later and looked at his creation.

"Hiccup, look at this."

Hiccup lazily walked over to him.

"What?"

Toothless held up his stick in a paw and looked down.

Hiccup looked at the dirt and saw a mess of lines and curls. It was barely recognizable as being anything. Perhaps, being very generous, he could see a head and wings in the drawing.

"Good, Toothless, what is it?"

Toothless blinked in surprise and hurt that Hiccup did not recognize the picture.

"I made us in the dirt."

"It… good."

Toothless bristled in response. He could hear the pause in Hiccup's response, which showed that he was either confused or not impressed. He angrily brushed away the picture before stalking off, ignoring Hiccup's calling out after him.

He walked over to the pond and took a long drink. There was a fish under the surface just a couple body-lengths away. He really wanted to leap at it and catch it since a raw and wriggling fish was much more satisfying than one that was dead.

But it was only slightly smaller than he was. He had no chance of catching it.

 _Just you stay there fish. I will be back next season-cycle..._

He settled for snoozing there at the bank of the lake to pass his frustration.

When he woke up, it was nearly midday. Hiccup and Astrid were still lounging on the dirt, Hiccup slowly writing to her about who knows what.

It was such a waste that they were spending their time here, just sitting on the ground when it was so glorious. The sun was bright on his back and the treetops outside of their valley were softly waving in the wind. He stretched his wings out as far as he could, letting the warm sun soak into his scales. And he realized what he should be doing.

He began running over to the tallest rocks near the pond. It would be the perfect place for what he was going to do since the pond would make failure less painful. He scrambled up on top of the rock and stood on the edge.

 _Strange how new this seems._

He spread his wings and fins and gave them a practice flap.

 _I am going to do this._

He jumped and flapped eagerly. For a moment, he could feel that pressure against his wings which held him in the air. But his wings were either not quite as strong as he thought they would be or he was just out of practice and he lost the necessary angle moments into the flight.

He fell with a shriek into the water.

Hiccup swung around and looked toward the pond in alarm. He saw the ripples spreading outward from the pond and no Toothless.

"Toothless!"

He got up and ran to the water, fearing for Toothless's life. Did Toothless know how to swim? What if there was some other creature in the lake?

He pulled up at the edge of the water just in time to see Toothless break the surface and swim snake-like to the shore. Now that he was sure that Toothless was not in danger, he wondered what had happened.

"Toothless, why you in water?"

Toothless climbed out and shook himself off, sending water droplets everywhere.

"Trying to fly. Hiccup, let me show you how to fly!"

 _Me? Fly?_

"No. Not fly."

Toothless froze in confusion. Hiccup did not want to fly? It made no sense, all sky-kin want to fly.

"Why not fly?"

"Because… not fly."

Hiccup stammered and then turned away and walked back over to Astrid. He actually wasn't sure why he was so opposed to the idea. It just didn't seem right for him.

"Hiccup, what are you two saying," Astrid asked.

 **He wants to show me how to fly**

She could easily hear the unwritten but.

"Do you want to?"

He paused for quite a while before answering.

 **I don't want to be a dragon forever**

So that was what was really bothering him. It made a lot of sense too. Hiccup thought that accepting the need to learn how to fly somehow meant accepting that he was stuck like this.

"Of course not, but you are for now. Learning how to fly might help if you ever need to get away from Mildew, you know."

 _True, that would help a lot._

 **So you think I should learn?**

"I think it would be a good idea."

He sighed audibly.

 **Ok, I will learn**

 **I am hungry**

He added the last bit sheepishly.

"Oh, well, how about we head back into town and get some food for you."

He nodded eagerly and began walking alongside Astrid toward the entrance to the cove. He had to jog to keep up with her since it took several of his steps to match each of hers. Astrid kept talking about various goings-on in the village such as the state of the twins destructiveness and Fishlegs' progress toward making a new Book of Dragons. He was more than happy to listen to her voice and the news she had to share.

They both completely forgot that they left Toothless behind.

* * *

Toothless had been sulking on his own and wondering what was the matter with Hiccup. He hadn't seemed so discouraged or been so frustrating before Astrid started talking to him. He almost wished that he knew two-leg language so that he could understand what Astrid had been saying to him.

Then he realized that he was alone. Both Astrid and Hiccup were missing.

They must have gone back to the home cave without him. Sadly, he got to his feet and began walking toward the entrance of the cove. He knew the way back of course, but it still hurt a bit that they had left without telling him.

He walked out of the valley and turned toward the two-leg nest. It was a bit strange to remember that the last time he had left the valley he had been running as fast as he could in the same direction to save Hiccup. He couldn't remember if it had been because he had heard Hiccup's distress or if he had some inside-feeling of danger.

How different things were now.

Glumly, he continued on though the bushes and between the trees until he heard voices just up ahead. And one of them sounded like the bad two-leg.

He slowly crept closer, being careful to not make a sound. His size certainly allowed him to go unnoticed as long as he was careful.

There were several two-leg males gathered together and making loud noises at each other. Most disturbing was how the old, bad one was brooding over the gathering like an Alpha. He would interrupt the discussion every so often and the others would go silent to listen to him.

 _I really wish I knew what they were saying._

After a few more moments of listening and watching the creatures wave their arms around, he decided he had seen enough and slowly backed away from his hiding place under the bushes. He was so distracted by trying to understand what had been going on that he stepped on a branch which snapped loudly.

Even though two-legs seemed to have terrible hearing, he still ran as fast as he could, only arriving back on the edge of the nest when he was very out of breath. He was on his way to Hiccup's cave when a familiar, plump two-leg male caught sight of him and ran up to him. The smell of kin-rock-belly following the boy reassured him that this male was kin-friendly.

It was twisting how different two-legs react to kin. The adults seemed anxious around him, but the younger ones like this one seemed to like him. But it should be the reverse, the young should feel more afraid since they cannot defend themselves as easily as an adult.

Even though this one was being friendly, he did not especially want to play. He just wanted to get back to the cave-den.

The two-leg mumbled something very softly and then reached out with its paws and scooped him up as he weakly protested. It was rather humiliating that he was reduced to this. It seemed so recent that he had been able to soar the skies and had caused two-leg warriors to cower in fear at the mere sight of his shadow.

But the petting was nice, though not nearly as satisfying as Hiccup's had been. Further, he was big enough that it was not easy for the two-leg to carry him.

* * *

Knock. Knock.

Astrid started in surprise and quickly gathered the papers that Hiccup had been writing on before hiding them under a cloth. Hiccup also hopped down from the table and did his best to look absolutely innocent. Astrid then got up from the table and took a breath before opening the door.

Thankfully, it was only Fishlegs. Well, not exactly only Fishlegs. He also had a young Night Fury in his arms.

"Fishlegs, where did you find Toothless?"

"Oh, I found him on the edge of the village. I know you must have been wondering where he was."

She almost blushed, realizing that they must have forgotten him back in the cove.

"So I thought I should bring him to you since the Chief wants you to look after them. Plus, they are very cuddly," he finished while stroking Toothless's back.

"Thanks Fish."

She took Toothless from Fishlegs and set the Fury on the ground, where he ran directly over to Hiccup.

"Hiccup, you left me."

Hiccup knew it too. He had completely forgotten about Toothless in his eagerness to finally talk to Astrid and learn everything about what had been happening in the village.

"I…"

.

"I sorry. I not forget again. I was much happy to talk with Astrid."

Toothless still felt a bit sullen that Hiccup had so easily forgotten him, but he had already apologized. He still wanted to punish Hiccup in some way, so as he walked past Hiccup he flicked his tail directly into Hiccup's face.

Fishlegs followed this interaction in confusion. It almost seemed to him like the hatchlings were talking to each other. Then the one that he brought, Toothless it seemed, slapped the other in the face with its tail while seeming to laugh.

"What?" he wondered out loud at the bizarre interaction.

"They are something else, aren't they Astrid?" he added.

"They are very special. How is the book coming?"

She was eager to get his mind on something else since he was one of the sharper and more inquisitive of the youths. They sat down at the table, and Astrid handed him a mug of amber drink.

"Well, it is slow going but I'm making progress. So far, I have written the chapters for Gronkles, Zipplebacks, Nadders, and Nightmares. It makes sense because those are the ones we have, the big four so to say. I have the original back in my room, and I copied everything that is worth keeping. It hasn't been easy keeping this a secret since people have asked where the original is."

He paused with a frown and several swigs before continuing.

"What do you think about Mildew? I mean… he hasn't done anything yet, but he might now that the Chief has left."

"I've wondered about that myself. One of us should probably keep an eye on him. Perhaps you might suggest that the twins do it. It sounds like something they might enjoy."

"Hmn, that is a good idea. I'll tell them. Thanks Astrid."

He got ready to leave and couldn't help but smirk slightly at what had just recently happened to him. He knew very distinctly the next set of pictures that he was going to be able to add to the new Book of Dragons. And it was the chapter that until recently had always been completely blank.

Astrid gave a soft grin as well at seeing Fishlegs's gaze follow Hiccup and Toothless. She did her best to hide her own confusion. How easy it must be to think that they were a pair of cute and friendly little dragon hatchlings. But she knew better.


	10. I - Political Maneuvering

" _Upon this a question arises: whether it be better to be loved than feared or feared than loved? It may be answered that one should wish to be both, but, because it is difficult to unite them in one person, is much safer to be feared than loved, when, of the two, either must be dispensed with." – Niccolo Machiavelli - The Prince_

* * *

Political Maneuvering

* * *

A full week of sailing passed before the desired land was spotted. He identified several landmarks on the cliffs and immediately understood exactly where they were. They were not very far off course, despite the storm they had sailed through. He gave the instructions to the man at the helm and then went back below decks to his quarters where he collapsed on the bed.

He rubbed his eyes in exhaustion. He had not been sleeping well thus far on their voyage. What was occupying his mind had nothing to do with the pitch and rocking of the boat or the hardtack they had for every meal.

The summons he had received had been to a full council of Chiefs. That had not happened in many years. In fact, the last time it had happened had been to discuss the matter of a man who promised to help rid them of the dragon problem. By making him their king. What had happened after they laughed him out of the assembly hall had been one of the most terrifying things he had ever seen. He was the only one that he knew of who had survived that day. And now he was going to have to return to that terrible place.

A full council was rarely called since the tribes were not always at peace with each other and there were rarely reasons to do so. He was almost sure about why he had been summoned.

It had to be about the dragons on Berk. Word must have somehow gotten out that Berk was now home to dragons and that they were Berk's pets.

As a Chief himself, he could understand the concerns that his fellow Chieftains must feel at this news. They all knew how much damage and destruction dragons could cause. What if the Berkians discovered how to get their dragons to attack specific tribes? What if he himself had some secret grudge against one of the tribes? There was too much that was unknown to the other Chiefs.

There would be several days to reaffirm treaties, reassure other Chiefs, and maybe change some minds.

He closed his eyes and did his best to catch a bit of rest before his ship docked and the real work could begin.

Hopefully, nothing too disruptive was going to happen back on Berk in the meantime.

* * *

A knocking on his door woke him up slightly later. He groaned his frustration as Spitelout pushed open the door to his cabin.

"Chief, we are docking now."

Sure enough, the boat jerked to a halt moments later.

"Ok, I'll be right up."

The door closed, leaving him in peace. For the moment at least.

 _Alright, time to do this._

Stoick stood up and put on his boots and his Chieftain's cape. He walked outside his cabin and up the stairs to the deck where he stood against the railing and observed the surroundings.

There were several other ships docked as well, each bearing the banners and insignia of their respective tribes.

 _Ah, there's Osvald's ship._

The Chief of the Berserker tribe was well-known for his amicable nature and eagerness to come to agreement. It was quite odd considering the name of his tribe, but none of the other tribes were inclined to complain about his quirks. As long as he kept the peace and saw that his normally aggressive tribe did not turn on neighboring peoples, the Chiefs would gladly indulge his quirks.

 _There are the Cenhelm, Volsung, and Vaina_ ,

It had been a long time since any of these tribes had made contact with his own. From what he could recall, the Cenhelm and Volsung, being heavily sea-bearing tribes focused on raiding the mainland, were more impacted by pirates than by dragons. The Vaina were mostly fishermen and had suffered heavily over the years from the dragon scourge. It should be very difficult to win them over to his own side.

 _Looks like that is everyone. Alright, I should go and make introductions._

"Spitelout, have the supplies taken off ship and get the camp set up. And remember, no one talks about our dragons back home."

Spitelout nodded in understanding and began to organize the rest of the men below decks.

Stoick the Vast, Chief of Berk, disembarked the vessel with his shoulders squared and chin held high. This was not a time that he could afford to show any weakness.

Being the Chief of Berk, it was only proper that he should be the first one to disembark and set foot on the Isle of Eirene. It was so named because it was a neutral territory where the Chieftains of yore had agreed to resolve inter-tribal disputes, arrange for treaties, and ensure the well-being of their tribes against the rest of the world.

But because of the need for safety when disagreements necessarily became heated, no one who entered the inner sanctum was permitted to carry weapons. All knives, daggers, swords, clubs, axes, and whatever else one carried had to be checked at the entrance to the innermost sanctum where the negotiations took place. The only permitted weapons were ones own fists.

He looked around at the sprawling village that had certainly appeared in the last few days alone. The island was itself mostly barren of any resources of value such as trees or game to hunt. Hence no one lived on the island permanently. Tents and other makeshift dwellings, each flying their respective tribal colors, were spread out a decent distance from the one grounded structure on the island. This stone building in the center of the island on the only hill on the otherwise flat island had stood for as long as anyone could remember.

It was also through the roof of this building that Drago's dragon army had burst through at his command. He could still see it from here; the rear exit that he had fled through and the rocks that he had taken shelter among. The fires. The burning bodies.

He left behind Spitelout and the rest of the men had brought with him so that he could walk with the ghosts of the past. All the good Chiefs and men who had died because of a single madman. The confusion that the slaughter had caused as tribes went through the expected turmoil of succession and changes of power. The loss of communication between tribes and gradual mistrust that built between them.

He hauled himself up the hill and went to stand next to the rocks that had saved his life nearly two decades ago.

The tribes had become very insular after that day. They stopped raiding the mainland as a group and became focused on their own internal issues. Trade had effectively ceased between the tribes until only recently.

He braced himself against the rocks with a palm and stood there for several minutes.

"This will all change soon."

He turned away from the place and strode back into camp.

* * *

Messengers from each of the tribes carried news back and forth that evening. The first night now that everyone had arrived on the island was to be spent in feasting and drinking. It was in the morning that the Chiefs would gather and get to business.

By the time that the sun was setting across the sea, the torches had been lit in the Hall. Pots of stew were cooking over fires, barrels of mead brought by each tribe were hauled into place, and the laughter was already starting to intensify. And that was before the mead had a chance to take effect.

As for himself, Stoick was living up to his name by sitting quietly at his table while chewing on some bread and drinking mead. This was such a different atmosphere to what he was accustomed to back on Berk. Everyone was jovial. Even though these were tribes that had fought each other in the past, they were still delighting in each other's company. Telling stories. Challenging each other to arm wrestling competitions and others of the like.

Finally, he saw someone who he recognized and was glad to see.

"Osvald, my friend."

Osvald came over and the two grasped forearms. Stoick couldn't help but reminisce about the last time they had done so. That had been when they signed the last Berserker-Berk treaty in dragon blood and had feasted afterward.

Osvald was an odd man for a Berserker. Where most Berserkers were tall, broad, and proud, he was shorter, heavier, and had a kind countenance. His face was still worn with the cares and trials of being a Chief and leading people.

"Just the man I wanted to see," Osvald muttered.

They sat down together and clanged their mugs together. They tipped their mugs back and downed each of their respective mugs before tipping them over and slamming them on the tabletop.

"And how have you been these last few years, Stoick?"

Unlike other Vikings, Osvald's voice was soft and reserved instead of brash and boasting.

"Not too bad. How is your son Dagur?"

Osvald grimaced at the mention of Dagur's name.

"He has gotten even wilder than I remember. It all started after his mother was killed five years ago. He likes throwing knives and has gotten quite good at it."

"So he is practicing to be a warrior. How is that bad?"

"He practices on birds, cats, and our cattle."

Stoick agreed that such behavior was unacceptable.

"Well, he was practicing on them. I gave him a good talking-to afterwards and I haven't caught him doing it since then."

Something about the way he said that suggested that he doubted that Dagur's behavior was truly improved.

"Is he here with you?"

"He is somewhere on the island, I'm not sure exactly where. How about your boy Hiccup?"

His thoughts immediately went back to Berk where, gods-willing, Hiccup was keeping himself out of trouble and keeping the secret. The only real danger would be if Astrid were to somehow figure out the truth. But Hiccup was very smart and surely would be able to keep anyone from figuring it out.

Osvald must have sensed that something was amiss from his expression. He signaled one of his men over.

"Bring us some more mead," he instructed the man who immediately complied.

"Hiccup is in Valhalla," Stoick then muttered.

"Oh, I'm glad to hear it. You know what I mean. How did it happen?"

"A battle against a dragon."

At the mention of the word dragon, Osvald visibly flinched before trying to pass it off as an itch.

"I'm not surprised. The boy was always very brave and headstrong but not the strongest lad as I recall. Did you kill the dragon that did it?"

"No, Hiccup did."

The Berserker man returned with two mugs filled to the brim. Osvald inclined his head while raising his mug in a salute.

"Well, then his was a death to be envied."

"If any are to be envied," he added in a whisper that only Stoick could hear.

Stoick knew that Osvald was a clever Chief and had to play the game while in the company of his men. Still, they both had to stay since it wouldn't be appropriate for either of them to leave the feast.

"What kind of dragon was it?"

"I don't think there is a name for it. I had never seen one of its kind before then and I hope no one ever does again."

He paused for a minute before continuing.

"Osvald, we go way back, you and I. Do you know why we have been called to this Council?"

Osvald paused and regarded him for a moment.

"You remember why the Chiefs were summoned the last time, right?"

"How could I not?"

"What exactly was that reason Stoick?"

"There were rumors that a man was building a dragon army."

"Yes, that was the reason back then. This time, however… let's just say that there have been some similar whispers."

"Drago?"

Osvald looked at him levelly while seeming to debate something with himself.

"Perhaps. I'm really interested to find out what the truth is instead of what is rumor."

He bent down to whisper in Stoick's ear.

"Be careful, people can do bad things when they are scared."

With that, Osvald was helped to his feet by one of his men since he was rather unsteady on his feet.

"Until tomorrow, Stoick."

He nodded back to Osvald while mulling over what he had just been told. What had Osvald meant to imply with what he had whispered?

 _I guess I'll find out tomorrow._

He downed the remainder of the mug as the revelry continued around him.

* * *

Stoick stood before the entrance to the Sanctum. The men standing in front of the entrance represented all the tribes gathered on the island.

Just like the other Chiefs gathered inside, he had to publicly present his weapons to show that he was not planning any subterfuge. It was just another part of the ceremony.

He unhooked the axe he had clipped to his vest and laid it to rest outside the council chambers. The men being satisfied that he had no other weapons on his person, he was permitted to enter.

It was rather eerie how similar it looked to the last time there had been a council meeting. The other four Chiefs were already seated in their chairs around the central fire pit.

"Chief Stoick the Vast, we've been expecting you," announced a man whom Stoick did not recognize.

"Who are you?"

"I am Edgaras the Swift, Chief of the Volsung."

He nodded back at his fellow Chieftain and briefly acknowledged the other two whom he recognized, Svana of the Vaina, a massive and broad-shouldered woman, and Esmond of the Cenhelm, a tall man adorned with necklaces of dragon scales and teeth and who had an assortment of scars on his face.

"Well, we are all gathered now. Let's get this over with. I'll give the invocation," Osvald interjected.

"Odin All-Father, you watch over us and lend us your strength. Thor, your power adorns the skies. Protect us against Loki's snares, give us power against the dragons, and see us to the Table of Kings in Valhalla that we may feast and fight at your side at the end of all things."

 _Odd, I don't remember that part about the dragons._

"I hope that all of your peoples survived the last few winters as well as mine did," Edgaras opened with a boast.

"That we did. Especially this last winter. The dragons didn't bother us as much as they did in the past," Osvald answered.

"Anyone know why that might be?" Edgaras followed.

"Some of my men encountered dragon trappers in the southern waters," Svana answered.

"Same here," Esmond added.

"But it is impossible. It cannot be him. He hasn't been seen in over twenty years!" Stoick objected.

"So maybe it is not him. Maybe it is someone else," Esmond stated.

"Who then?" Stoick asked.

No one answered him for the longest time. Their silence was deafening.

 _I know where this is going._

"Well, Stoick, we have heard some incredible rumors. We wanted to find out what is actually happening before we decide to take action," Osvald finally answered.

"What rumors?"

"That you are building a dragon army."

Absolute silence reigned. Stoick crossed his arms and looked out at them as they avoided catching his eye.

"And what is the basis of these rumors?"

"Traders and vessels passing by Berk have seen that your island has lots of dragons. And even more incredible, there are reportedly dragons living in your village like horses or cattle. Now this seemed impossible, but several boats carried the same rumor."

More silence.

"Do you deny these rumors, Stoick?" Esmond asked heatedly.

"I do deny them! I am not building a dragon army!" Stoick slammed his fist on his chair for emphasis.

"So how do you explain the sightings then?" Esmond countered.

"They… they saw the truth. Berk has made peace with the dragons."

"Impossible!" Esmond scoffed.

"What do you mean you made peace with the beasts?" Osvald asked.

"They are not the monsters that we always thought they were. They…"

"I've heard enough! You are either crazy or you are building a dragon army, just like Drago!" Esmond declared while rising to his feet.

Stoick flew to his feet as well in anger. It was quite typical of Nord negotiations. They were very blunt.

"Don't you dare compare me to that monster!"

The two stared off a while longer before slowly taking their seats again. Stoick then continued.

"Yes, we have dragons living with us back on Berk. They are… our pets and are useful to have around. Some of them help us catch fish and others hunt in the forest. Some of my people especially like flying with them."

"And you do not plan on turning them into an army?" Osvald asked.

"Of course not. Why would I?"

"To conquer us of course."

"And why would I want that? When have I ever suggested that I wanted to conquer any of you?"

Edgaras spoke up.

"It is not so much whether you actually want to or not. It is that you could if you wanted to. In the past, all of our tribes were roughly equal. With dragons on your side, well, we all remember how bad the raids were in the past. None of us would have a chance against your tribe."

He begrudgingly admitted to himself that it was a fair point. Having dragons on his side would be an almost insurmountable challenge for another tribe if it ever came to war.

"What do you want me to say? My tribe is at peace with the dragons, and we are going to keep it that way."

"How did that happen by the way? You haven't actually told us," Osvald pointed out.

"My son Hiccup... actually found it out. The dragons were obeying a very large dragon that made them hunt for it. Now that it is dead, the rest of the dragons don't need to hunt like they used to."

"And how did it die exactly?"

"A dragon helped us. My son, Hiccup, had a dragon of his own, and they somehow made the other one crash into Dragon Island. He saved my entire tribe and he… died."

He saw no reason to tell them what kind of dragon Hiccup had as a pet. The knowledge that his son's dragon had been a Night Fury, the most feared and profane of all dragons, could not have garnered him any more favor than the none that he currently had.

"Let's pretend this story of yours is true. What do you expect us to think about what you have done?" Edgaras asked of him.

"Frankly, I don't really care what you think. My island has peace now, and there is no reason to break it."

Esmond grasped his heaviest necklace and held it out for everyone to clearly see.

"I took these as prizes from the dragons I killed. It was empty when I became Chief."

"I do not doubt your bravery. We are both accomplished dragon killers."

"So why have you gone so weak? I remember hearing stories about Stoick the Vast, the bane of all dragons. Why have you forgotten our traditions, our warrior way?"

Stoick sighed deeply.

"I have not forgotten. Why do you think we have traditions anyway?"

Esmond looked confused for a moment.

"What kind of question is that? Why do we have traditions, indeed! We have them because they are right!"

Stoick shook his head.

"No, we have them because they have worked. That does not mean they will always work. Killing dragons was right when they were stealing our food and trying to kill us. Now that they are not trying to kill us, it would not be right to keep fighting them."

He turned to Svana. It was difficult to figure her position since she had kept quiet over the last few minutes.

"Wouldn't it be better for you if dragons helped you catch fish than if they attacked your tribe and ate your fish? Berk is easily catching three times what we used to catch now that our dragons help us."

She seemed visibly moved by the idea.

"I think we are getting a bit distracted, we should get back to the reason we called this meeting," Esmond interjected to gather attention again.

"You admit that you are amassing a large number of wild dragons and that you are making them your 'pets'. The way I see it, there are only two options for you: banish the dragons from your island and return to disposing of them like proper Nords, or keep them and make yourself the enemy of this council, just like Alvin and the Outcasts."

Banish the dragons and return to killing them. There was no possibility that he could agree to that proposal. Who knew how the dragons would react to being cast out or if they could understand anything concerning their fate. And then there was his own, private reason for not wanting to banish dragons. It would mean banishing someone he had a duty to save.

But the alternative, having Berk be cast out and considered just another Outcast tribe, was itself a terrible fate. It would mean having true enemies all around the borders and it would also mean that none of their tribes would be willing to do trade with his tribe. Some solitary traders like Johann might still pass by, but none of the tribal interactions would occur. None of the tribes this far north were completely self-sufficient. It would be a very slow death sentence for his tribe if such a condition lasted indefinitely. They all knew how destitute the Outcasts had seemingly become.

 _Unless we did start using dragons to conquer…_

 _No, there must be another way._

He looked around, trying to gauge their reactions.

"Actually, there is another option," he finally replied.

"Which is?" Osvald asked.

"What would you think about getting dragons of your own just as my people have?"

The other Chieftains visibly froze in surprise at the idea.

"You know it is not impossible, so why not just get dragons of your own to train?"

Osvald was the one to answer him.

"No one has ever thought of doing it. And none of us have ever had peaceful interactions with them. We wouldn't have an idea where to start."

"Well, we do. In fact, we have a way of teaching people back on Berk. I could… show your tribes what we know about dragons."

"Wait," Edgaras interjected, "you would show us your secret to controlling dragons?"

He knew that it wasn't entirely correct to say that they controlled the dragons in the same way that they did with livestock. Dragons were far more 'willful' and not exactly the kind of creature that could be easily broken like a horse. These Chieftains were unlikely to appreciate the difference right now.

"I would show you what we know and, if you learn, you might get some dragons of your own."

"How do you propose to show us?" Osvald asked.

"You could come to Berk and learn just like my people do."

"Forgive my skepticism Stoick, but going to your island would leave us completely in your power and our tribes vulnerable," Esmond objected as he stood again.

The man was starting to get on Stoick's nerves.

"Well, since you seem to think that I plan on conquering you, you have nothing to lose. You have my offer and that is all!"

The two remained facing each other, neither willing to back down. They had finally directly challenged each other and their manly pride would not permit them to relent.

Osvald rose and said in a placating voice, "Now now, I'm sure that we can make an agreement here."

"No!" Esmond growled, "He demands too much! Dragons are not good creatures! I have seen too many good people die because of them."

Esmond looked around at the other Chiefs. Their expressions indicated to him that he was completely alone.

"Come on, agree with me! Edgaras, this is not what we talked about earlier!"

"That was before Stoick offered to show us what he knows. This is too good of an opportunity to pass up," Edgaras admitted.

Esmond looked around at the other two Chiefs, realized that he would find no support there, and turned to leave the Chamber. He paused at the door and turned to face Stoick.

"I won't forget the old ways unlike you all!"

Esmond fumed and stormed from the Chamber, leaving the doors swinging behind him. Stoick relaxed and sank back into his chair while breathing a deep sigh of relief.

"He will not forget that, you know," Osvald casually mentioned.

"I know, I'm just not worried about him."

Edgaras then raised an objection.

"He did have one good point. It would be hard and dangerous for us to leave our tribes to come to yours and there learn what you propose to show us. Would you consider sending some of your people to show us on our own lands?"

It was not an unreasonable proposal. It would certainly be more convenient for him to not have to travel to all the islands in turn, especially when he was no expert himself on how to gain a dragon's trust. And he happened to know a few dragon-riders who would certainly do this for the tribe.

 _Astrid has proven herself to be very dependable. She will do this for Berk._

"Yes, I will send my best dragon rider. There is only one problem."

"What is that?" Edgaras asked.

"Berk's best rider is a woman."

At this, both Edgaras and Osvald laughed uproariously until they had to hold their sides. Svana gave a subtle grin that went unnoticed by the two men.

"Nord warriors…" Edgaras began.

"And Berserkers," Osvald interrupted.

"… and Berserkers being taught about dragons by a girl. That will be a sight to see. I'll try to make sure my men don't take… liberties with her," Edgaras finished his thought with an amused chuckle.

Stoick did not laugh.

"Well, she will be flying to each of your tribes on her Deadly Nadder. One thing we have learned about dragons is that they are very protective. And I would say that Astrid is herself the equal of most men at using an axe."

Edgaras shrugged, saying, "Some men like the challenge. It makes the conquering all the more satisfying."

Osvald took the opportunity to rub his hands together, saying, "Well, this has been very successful. I'm glad it worked out this way. Shall we draw up the treaty? I'm eager to get off this rock."

They each nodded in turn. A scribe was sent for, and he brought four scrolls and a stylus with ink. They spent the better part of the next hour deciding on the exact terms of the treaty and then dictated them to be recorded by the scribe. After doing so, they recessed for midday mead and a meal while the scribe made four copies of the treaty.

None of the remaining Chiefs were surprised that Esmond and the rest of the Cenhelm had already departed the island. The tips of the sails of their ships were barely visible on the southern horizon if one was shown exactly where to look.

 _Well, they certainly made good time. Good riddance to them._

He sat down on his ship's bow with Spitelout and gnawed on some freshly butchered and roasted chicken.

"How did it go in there Chief?" Spitelout asked.

"It looks like we have a treaty. Even better, we might be headed back home today."

"That was very fast. I hope we do too. You don't mind if I ask, but is this the same place that Drago attacked over twenty years ago?" Spitelout asked.

A pained expression came over Stoick's face for a moment.

"Yes, it is. All the more reason why I want to leave as soon as possible."

Spitelout nodded without saying anything else. Stoick finished his chicken, hard bread, and mead and went to walk around the miniature village that remained after the Cenhelm departed. He bumped into Osvald while doing so. Only this time Osvald was not alone.

"Stoick, glad to see you again. I'm glad that we were able to work out this treaty. Do you recognize my boy Dagur here?"

Dagur had certainly grown a lot since the last time he saw him. Dagur was as tall as his father and rather skinnier. But he had an air of quickness about him, a sort of nervous energy which hinted at the instability which Osvald had warned him about. Even the way Dagur held himself with his head just slightly lowered and his unblinking gaze fixed in front of him seemed slightly malevolent.

Or maybe Osvald was just having problems relating to a son who was on the cusp of reaching manhood.

"I do indeed Osvald. You have grown very fast Dagur. Your father must be proud of you."

When Dagur spoke, it was with a bit of a higher pitched voice than Stoick expected. Dagur, it seemed, was just outgrowing his boyhood voice.

"He will be proud of me when I skin my first dragon and sit in the Berserker Hall as the Chief. And do you know what kind of dragon it will be? I will be the first to ever kill a Night Fury! And I will wear its skin as my cloak. But enough about me, where is your boy Hiccup? I remember how much fun we had…"

Stoick completely missed everything else Dagur said. Hearing how vehemently Dagur wanted to kill a Night Fury and then hearing Hiccup's name spoken within the same breath touched a deep chord in him. Hiccup was so vulnerable now since almost all Nords would consider him the ultimate prize. It reminded him of his secret mission which he as of yet had made absolutely no progress on.

Osvald completely misunderstood Stoick's absentminded look and assumed that it had something to do with experiencing Dagur's eccentricity firsthand or at being reminded of Hiccup's death.

"Stoick, may I speak to you alone? Chiefly business," Osvald asked.

"Ugh, it's always business with you," Dagur complained at the obvious dismissal.

"Make sure your stuff is packed son, we should be heading back home soon."

Osvald and Stoick were left alone and Stoick briefly grumbled his thanks at escaping that encounter. He was also able to ask a specific question now that they were alone.

"Osvald, ever since dragons started living on Berk, there have been strange rumors going around even among my people. Some people have said that they have seen other people get turned into dragons. Have you ever heard any of these stories?"

"No, can't say that I have. At least, not outside of the very old tales."

"Ok, I was just curious if you knew how the people were supposed to be changed back in these stories. That way," here he raised his eyebrows and gave Osvald a knowing look, "I can know what to look for when my people start… disappearing."

They looked at each other in all seriousness for a few more moments before grinning and chuckling.

"Well, in that case," Osvald answered him, "I'd say that the only options would be to accept that they are gone forever or to use black sorcery."

Osvald clapped Stoick on the shoulder good-naturedly, completely missing the pained look on Stoick's face before his Chieftain's mask hid his inner pain.

"Aye, that sounds about right," Stoick muttered.

"Well, Stoick, I must go back to my people for now. It looks like some of them are about to duel. I will see you later for the treaty signing."

They grasped forearms and went their separate ways. None of the other Chiefs were likely to know any more about magic, and he did not trust them as much as he did Osvald.

 _I'll have to find some other way then..._

* * *

All four Chiefs were gathered in the Sanctum in the late afternoon, reviewing the four copies of the treaty to make sure the terms were properly recorded and copied onto each scroll.

"Everything seems to be in order here," Osvald remarked after reading his scroll.

"Alright, let's do this, bring it in!" Edgaras shouted to a servant near the entrance.

 _What does he mean 'bring it in?'_

The servant reappeared a minute later with a bundle in his arms. The man dropped the bundle on the table, and the bundle gave a squeak as it shifted slightly.

It was a Terrible Terror. It was muzzled, its wings, faded a dirty blue, were held against its side by a length of rope, and its feet were tied together. This tiny dragon was very underfed and had probably been starved on the entire voyage to this island.

He knew exactly why it had been brought. The signing of a major treaty between multiple tribes was a special occurrence and had to be recognized as such. Tradition was that the parties to the treaties always made their mark using dragon blood as ink. They were going to kill the Terror.

The servant reappeared with the ceremonial knife and a pencil.

"Do we really need to do this?" he asked of the other Chiefs.

"What is the matter?" Edgaras asked.

"Doesn't it seem wrong to kill a dragon for its blood just so that we can sign a treaty? A treaty that will let you get dragons of your own?"

Edgaras thought for a moment.

"Ironic maybe. But why do you care? It is just a Terror, and this is how we have signed treaties for generations."

"True, but it is necessary to keep doing it this way? As I said before, some traditions do not need to be kept."

"Stoick, what we are agreeing to here is incredible enough, and we will have difficulty convincing our peoples that it is real. Our Elders will need to see the signatures to know that it is a valid treaty."

There was no getting around that point. The Elders of the other three tribes would want to know that the treaty was properly signed. It had to be done with dragon's blood.

And it was just a Terrible Terror. A sickly and likely dying one too.

Elder Gothi had adopted a small flock of Terrors that seemed to roost at her dwelling.

The tiny Terror did not look dangerous at all. There was no way that it could hurt him.

" _He's not dangerous! He won't hurt you!"_

One dragon's life for a treaty that would benefit Berk and, eventually, other dragons.

" _Dad, No!"_

What would Valka have said? What about Hiccup?.

They were not here.

"Make it quick," he muttered.

Edgaras picked up the knife and stood next to the table where the Terror was laid. The Terror froze when it saw the figure towering over it.

One piercing shriek echoed through the hall despite the muzzle and then there was silence.

Each of the other three Chiefs took the pencil and coated the tip in the blood dripping from the hole in the Terror's chest.

They each signed the treaty in their own fashions. Then it was his turn.

He haltingly took the bloodstained pencil in hand, dipped it in the crimson pool, and signed his name at the bottom of each scroll.

Every symbol felt like it took something from him. He was marking himself forever as one who sanctioned the killing of a dragon for no reason other than tradition when he was the leader of a people that had accepted dragons into daily life.

He was announcing that he was a hypocrite. A necessary one, but a hypocrite nonetheless.

 _I can't let him know. He would never forgive me. I had to let this happen._

What would Valka have said?

The final stroke went into his last signature, and he quickly set aside the pencil. The other Chiefs waited a couple minutes to let the signatures dry, wished each other safe travels, and departed the building with their copies of the treaty. They were not ones to waste time with lengthy farewell speeches.

He waited a moment longer despite his wish to get away from this place. This terrible place that had now seen death for two straight councils. He looked back at the table where the documents were signed.

The body of the Terror still lay on the table. Still and lifeless with unseeing eyes. An attendant would likely arrive soon to dispose of the body, likely by tossing it on the ground with no ceremony.

It wasn't obvious what moved him to do something. Maybe it was a sense of justice or guilt.

He wrapped the bloodstained corpse back up in the rags and carried the bundle out of the building, his copy of the treaty tucked away in a pocket. He walked into the village which was in the process of being disassembled. Everyone was carrying supplies to the boats and no one would think anything of the bundle he carried.

He found an abandoned fire pit and placed his bundle in the pit. He gathered some firewood and piled it around the rags. It was while doing so that he realized that some of the blood had seeped through the rags and stained his forearm and cuffs.

Finally, he set fire to the improvised pyre. As soon as the wood caught, he turned and left for the shore. Spitelout had had been left with instructions to have the ship ready to depart when he got back.

The shape of the Council building once again caught his eye from up on the hill.

"I hope I never see this place again."

He paused at the docks and looked back the way he came while washing his hands in the ocean water. Smoke was rising from over the hill.

"Spitelout!"

"Ready to disembark, Chief," Spitelout appeared on deck.

"Set sail for home!" Stoick roared.

The gathered crew cheered in relief. They had been expecting to be on the seas for several more weeks and several of them had been able to make good trades during their two days among the other tribes.

Stoick hauled himself up onto the vessel. Just as he was the first from his tribe on the island, so he was the last.

"What is the word?" Spitelout asked.

"We have a peace treaty with the Berserkers, Vaina, and Volsung. I'll talk about it when we get back home. You have the deck."

Without further ado, Stoick went below deck to his cabin and left the basic duties to Spitelout. He himself was completely drained from the day of negotiating, stress, and hard choices that had to be made. All he wanted to do was sleep.

He tossed the treaty scroll to the foot of the bed. The dark spot on his sleeve caught his eye even through the dimmer light in his cabin.

"Out spot! Out!" he muttered in frustration as he rubbed at the fabric, knowing full well that it would not remove the stain.

He gave up moments later and collapsed in his bed with his eyes closed.

The sounds of the shore began to fall away behind the ship as it made its way out into the open ocean.

 _I'll be home soon, son. I sure hope nothing bad has happened back there._


	11. I - Conflagration

_**Author's Note - This is the first of the rather lengthy chapters. There are a few throughout volume I that are well over the 10,000 wordcount.**_

* * *

" _I can calculate the motion of heavenly bodies but not the madness of people." - Isaac Newton_

* * *

Conflagration

* * *

They could both be very sneaky when they needed to be. Years of mischief-making had given them the skills to avoid being seen and to find exactly where the action was. There was also a simple pleasure of spying on someone which gave them enough of an excuse to actually work together on something. That something was a gathering at Mildew's hovel just after sundown.

That was not to say that they did not nag each other when they had the chance.

"Ugh, do you even bathe?" Ruff whispered while shoving Tuff aside to get a better look through the window.

"Yeah, of course."

"Since when?"

"Last month. Hey, why didn't you wash after cleaning the stables, you smell like dragon sh…"

"Shut it! Listen."

They went silent and focused more closely on the discussion occurring inside the hut. It was not easy to discern the individual voices since there seemed to be disagreement about something. They heard several indistinct words, such as 'fish', 'traps', and 'Chief.'

"So, they plan to do what?" Tuff whispered.

"Enough," Mildew slammed the floor with his staff and got the attention of all gathered. His raspy voice easily carried over the other noise.

"We cannot wait longer. This is too good of an opportunity. We start tomorrow."

At this, his entire gathering gave a cheer and clanged together their mugs to some unknown purpose.

Ruff and Tuff huddled together for a few moments below the windowsill.

"Say, sis, do you think we should tell Astrid that Mildew is planning something?"

"I guess. I kinda wish we knew what he was going to do."

"Well, we could sneak in after they finish their drinks."

She thought about it and certainly appreciated the danger in breaking into Mildew's house.

"Nah, let's just tell her. She can figure it out."

They tiptoed away from the window and the sinister laughter and dashed into the trees across from Mildew's field. Two pairs of faintly glowing eyes snaked up through the darkness to greet them.

"Hi Barf," Ruff greeted her half of the dragon as her brother did the same for his.

"Well Belch, we should probably go. Wouldn't want Mildew to make you into a rug."

* * *

Hiccup and Toothless were both tired from the day of activity in the cove and were taking naps in Hiccup's room. It gave her more time alone with her thoughts. It had been almost two weeks since Stoick left to go do something chiefly. With Stoick gone for the moment, she was not quite sure how she would be able to handle any serious 'incidents.'

Hopefully, that would not be an issue.

The first two weeks had passed relatively uneventfully. She brought a fish for Hiccup and Toothless in the morning, embarrassingly walked both of them to the outhouse around noon, and brought them another fish for dinner. The rest of her time was spent either with her Academy duties, flying with Stormfly, and talking with Hiccup, the last of which took a long time since Hiccup had to write out everything. But it was nice to not need to worry about Stoick walking in and finding out that she knew everything.

After checking on Hiccup one more time, she left the house and found her Stormfly patiently waiting outside the door in the darkness.

"Hi girl, do you want to go flying," she asked while gently rubbing Stormfly's muzzle. Night flights were rather relaxing since no one else could interrupt the peace.

Stormfly chittered and licked her lips.

"I guess that means you are hungry. Let's get you some fish."

They set off for the nearest feeding station and had only walked a few steps before they heard the unmistakable sound of wing-beats. It sounded like a Zippleback from her experience.

"Astrid, are you there?"

"Ruff, Tuff, what are you doing out there?"

"Well, right now we are definitely not spying on Mildew and trying to figure out what insidious plan he and his gang are cooking up in his hut. But we are sure that, whatever it is, it… will not taste good," Tuff replied while sticking his tongue out for emphasis.

"Huh? Norse Tuff, speak Norse," Astrid said in exasperation.

"Mildew is planning to do something tomorrow," Ruff answered while dismounting.

 _Great…_

"Any idea at all what his plan is?"

"I don't know, but he has a lot of friends on his side."

She grimly nodded at Ruff's warning and began running through various scenarios in her mind. What might Mildew be planning? How brazen might he dare be? How many followers did he actually have?

Stormfly nuzzled her out of her thoughts.

"What are we going to do?" Tuff asked.

"We are going to keep our dragons close by tomorrow," she answered.

* * *

The day started normally for all of them. Astrid worked in the arena, introducing a couple of kids to some of the Terrors. Snotlout spent the morning herding fish for the fishermen. Fishlegs worked in the smithy assisting Gobber in building and repairing saddles and other leather works. The twins, per Astrid's request, were keeping watch on the village from above.

Around noon they all took the usual lunch break and gathered in the Hall after leaving their dragons outside at the nearest fish station.

"Hey, any of you think it is very quiet?" Ruff finally ventured.

"Yeah, too quiet…" Tuff followed-up most cryptically while wildly looking around the Hall.

 _Gods, they are so absurd. But he does have a point._

The Hall was rather empty for lunchtime. Several tables were completely empty.

"Where do you think everyone is?"

They looked around before Fishlegs noticed something.

"Uh guys, it's Mildew's group that is missing."

It was true. The tables that were empty were the ones at which Mildew and his company always sat.

"We should go," Astrid quickly spoke up as she stood from the table.

Not even the twins cared to fool around about this matter. The safety of their dragons was no laughing matter. Surprisingly though, nothing was amiss outside. All their dragons were clearly visible either munching on fish or just lounging about.

"What is he up to?" Astrid wondered out loud.

"If only one of them would just tell us what they are planning," Tuff added.

"Don't be stupid…er than normal, of course they won't tell us. We are like their worst enemies," Ruff rebuked him.

"I have a plan everyone," Astrid announced.

"Tomorrow we will follow them around without dragons. Ruff, Tuff, you two follow Mildew, Fish, you follow Ignis, Snotlout, you see if a group of them leave from the Hall together. Just try not to be noticed."

"What are you going to be doing?" Fishlegs asked.

"That is a secret."

She headed out from the Hall, leaving the rest of the riders wondering what exactly she had planned.

* * *

Sweat poured down his brow in the heat flowing from the furnace's fire. His hammer rose and fell rhythmically, beating the malleable iron into form. He grabbed his pliers with his good arm and held down one end of the thin bar with his prosthetic arm. He twisted the bar into a loop until there was less than a finger's depth between the ends. It had been a long time since he last complained about how long it now took him to forge even a single chain loop and he was not about to start now.

It was good hard work and was a very good way to pass the time.

Knock. Knock.

"Who is it?" he shouted back.

"Astrid."

 _Well, I could do with a break._

He set aside his equipment, cooled the fires, and left the inner forge. Sure enough, Astrid was waiting for him.

"Astrid, how are you lass?"

"We need to talk Gobber. In private."

"Spoken like a true Nord, right to the point. I like it. What is the matter?"

They walked over to his table where he dropped stuff he was working on, and they pulled up a pair of chairs.

"I'm worried about Mildew and his group. I think he is planning to do something."

"What do you mean, do something?"

"I don't know. Something to do with the dragons. I do know that he and his followers have been sneaking out together."

"That's hardly enough to accuse someone, Astrid."

"I know, that's why I'm talking to you. Something just doesn't feel right about the recent accidents the dragons have been having. For example, the Hall just happening to catch on fire even though no dragons were actually on the roof. The missing sheep but no one saw dragons around the field when they went missing. Even the storehouses being broken into, no one actually saw a dragon do it. They only found a couple footprints and a bit of dung. Those could be faked."

"Are you saying that he is responsible for all these things? Why would he? Just to cause trouble…"

"He promised that he would get rid of the dragons, one way or another. And no Gobber, I don't think he was just being boastful. I think he really means to do it. Why, I don't know, but what better time would there be for him to do something than now with Stoick gone?"

He rubbed his chin in thought. It was a fair point. If anyone was going to make a move against the peace, it would be now with the Chief away for a few weeks.

"Astrid, I see your point. Why are you telling me about this though?"

She grinned cunningly.

"Well, you are very respected in the tribe. Everyone remembers how well you fought in the past. If anyone would have a reason to hate dragons, you would certainly be one of them, what with your missing arm and leg. You might be able to get some information that we dragon friends could not get."

"So, you want me to spy for you."

"Yes Gobber, I do."

He leaned back in his chair, obviously deep in thought.

Beyond simply wanting the information, she was also testing Gobber to see whether he could be entrusted with the greatest secret she carried.

"Well, I must say that I have grown a bit fond of the beasties myself. I wouldn't want them thrown off the island or for things to return to the way they were. I think it's time I paid old Mildew and company a friendly visit."

He found it a bit surprising that she did not smile at his agreeing to help her cause. Instead, her eyes took on a far-away, strange look. But he did not say anything about it.

"Gobber, follow me. There is something I need to show you."

"You can go ahead and tell me now."

She stood up and turned to walk to the door.

"You need to see this for yourself or you will never believe me."

He rose as well with a pronounced shrug of his shoulders.

"I've seen some rather crazy things in my day. Remind me to tell you the story of my adventures with the Boneknapper."

"You have never seen anything like this Gobber," she replied softly.

Together, they walked the short distance to Stoick's house. Astrid put her hand on the door, but paused before entering.

"Gobber, do you promise to not tell anyone what you are about to see?"

That finally raised his suspicions. What could she be trying to hide?

"That depends on what it is."

She went ahead and entered with him right behind her. He looked around nervously, not knowing what to expect to be amiss. Nothing at all happened except that the two resident Night Fury fledglings tiptoed around the corner to investigate the stranger.

The sight of the two little dragons always brought a smile to his face and gave him a fuzzy feeling quite unbecoming a Nord warrior. This occasion was no exception.

"Hi there little guys."

One of the two huffed and turned away, but the other just stood there and stared at him. It did not look like it was begging for food or attention, instead it was just looking at him very intently.

It was suddenly rather unsettling.

The same questions that he had pondered before came back to him. The fledgling was behaving very oddly.

 _Just how smart are they?_

"Hiccup," Astrid whispered.

Gobber was hardly surprised when the dragon's head instantly craned over to look at her. He was very confused though when he saw that she was placing a piece of paper and pencil on the table before her.

"Show him."

The dragon's posture immediately went from mostly relaxed to alert and nervous. Its tail began twitching as it looked back up at him with narrowed eyes. Then it looked down and exhaled deeply, as if it made its mind up about something.

He felt a tingling in his spine as the dragon walked across the floor while refusing to meet his gaze and hopped up onto the table.

 _No, surely it cannot…_

But it did.

It picked up the pencil and sloppily wrote a name on the paper.

 **Gobber**

He stared almost without seeing. A dragon that can write! It was impossible and went against everything he knew of the beasts, even now with the peace with them.

He closed his mouth which he only just realized had been hanging open in shock.

"He taught it to write? But how does it know my name?"

"Ask him."

He looked over at her in further amazement.

"You mean he understands us?"

Hiccup chirped once to get his attention and nodded while keeping his eyes fixed on him. Gobber rested his good hand against his own forehead while looking at the tabletop dragon.

"How do you know my name?"

 **I am Hiccup Haddock III**

Gobber stared at the paper as a thousand thoughts swirled through his mind. And at the pencil clutched in the little dragon's left paw.

Hiccup had been left-handed.

Astrid's nervousness, Stoick's strange behavior since winter, and the dragon's inexplicable ability to write and understand humans all made impossible sense.

Hiccup died on Dragon Island.

But there was no body, and Stoick found the egg under unnatural circumstances to say the least.

 _Offspring of lightning and death..._

"Hic…cup, you are alive?"

Hiccup rolled his eyes and sighed deeply while nodding.

 **Still a fishbone too**

"Thor almighty! You still have your old humor too. But why are you a dragon?"

Hiccup bunched up his shoulders in a shrug.

 **Toothless might know**

"Toothless, wait… is the other one your dragon? The one that rescued you and that you were flying with?"

Yes.

"And if he knows, how can you find out?"

Hiccup smiled happily again.

 **We can talk**

"Talk, you mean talk like with words?"

 **I can talk with him**

Gobber said nothing for the longest time. He just stood there, bracing himself against the table.

"I don't know what to think," Gobber gasped.

"Maybe be happy that he is actually alive?" Astrid offered.

"I am. I just don't…"

Gobber paused again. His eyes were glistening in a show of emotion that neither Astrid nor Hiccup had ever seen out of their old trainer. Then Gobber picked up Hiccup and hugged him. Hiccup did not especially like how he was being handled, but this was Gobber and he let him give him the hug.

"Hiccup! You are alive!"

He nodded from against Gobber's chest. Gobber sobbed once more and then put him back down on the table.

"Well, I've never heard of anything like this. Why did you say you are a dragon?"

Hiccup shrugged again.

"Right, need to ask the other dragon. Can they really talk?"

 **He can**

He could remember many occasions when he had noticed the dragons in the arena rumbling and growling at each other. He had dismissed them as being simply the actions of dumb beasts. Now he had reason to question that assumption.

Had the dragons been lamenting to each other how poorly they were being treated? Talking about how close they had come to dying that day?

"You understand why Mildew needs to be stopped now, right?" Astrid said.

Gobber looked over at her.

"Because he would get rid of all the dragons. Maybe even hurt some of them," she said while nodding in Hiccup's direction.

It took a lot to get Gobber truly riled up, unlike many other villagers. The thought of Hiccup being hurt, or worse, was definitely one of them. He clenched his remaining good hand.

"I'll find out what he is doing, I promise."

Hiccup nodded happily.

"Oh and Gobber, don't let anyone know that you know."

"I won't Astrid. It's not like anyone would believe me if I told them. Just wait until Stoick hears…"

Astrid shook her head, and Gobber's expression fell very quickly as he understood.

"He already knows, right?"

"Yes, he didn't want Hiccup to tell anyone. Hiccup told me, and I wanted you to know. Don't tell Stoick or let him know that you know, or I will be in big trouble."

Gobber frowned. So Stoick knew that Hiccup was actually alive but hadn't told him about it. Hadn't told anyone for that matter. The strange expressions that Stoick had shown over the last few months made more sense. He had assumed that they were the result of the pain of losing his only son. How hard must it have been for Stoick to know that his dead son was actually alive as a dragon and to keep this secret from the entire village?

It deeply hurt that his old friend hadn't entrusted him with this strange but also amazing news.

 _Why didn't he tell me at least?_

"I understand Astrid. I won't tell anyone."

He knelt down on his knees so that he could look at Hiccup from the same level.

"Hiccup, we all looked for you after what happened on Dragon Island. We found a very strange place where it looked like the rock itself was melted. Your father had me take care of a dragon egg he found on this island. I had no idea…"

Hiccup somehow managed to look sheepish in response to this new information. Astrid was also interested to learn this since no one really talked about what had happened inside the mist on that island.

 **Thank you Gobber**

Gobber got to his feet and waved his hand dismissively.

"Oh, don't mention it. Well, I'm going to go to the Hall and get something to eat. Maybe I could bring something back for you Hiccup."

He paused and rubbed his chin in confusion.

"Uh Hiccup, what do you eat?"

"Basically only fish and fish stews," Astrid responded, and Hiccup nodded in agreement.

 **Chicken or bread**

 **Would be good**

"Well, I will see what I can do. And Astrid," his expression became slightly grimmer as he turned to face her, "I'll find out what they are up to."

He turned and left for the Hall not a moment later.

"I hope so," Astrid whispered to herself.

* * *

Gobber entered the Hall and filled his plate with chicken, whatever the stew was that was being served, and half a loaf of bread. He then wandered the Hall, looking for someone who he recognized from Mildew's company.

Seeing no one, he sat down anyway and began to slowly munch on the food. He had plenty of time to think about what had just happened.

Not in the wildest stories he had ever heard had someone been reborn as a dragon. Something very strange had happened on Dragon Island.

 _Magic? Maybe the gods did this. Thor because of lightning? Loki?_

"Oh well, it happened anyway, just have to live with it. Better than the alternative I guess," he finally broke his silence.

The door to the Hall opened and a small crowd of hungry men shoved their way inside. Included in the crowd, he recognized Edric Fenrisbane, a simple farmer whom he recognized from the crowd that seemed to assemble around Mildew. Edric was a simple man, and it should not be too difficult to get him to spill some secrets. He went over and greeted the man.

"Edric, my friend. We haven't spoken in… forever. How have you been?"

"Gobber, good to see you too. Quite a meal you have there," he said gesturing at the plate.

"Ah, long day in the Smithy so far. Working hard you know. What have you been doing?"

Gobber gestured toward his place and grabbed a couple mugs of mead. Edric seemed a bit more uncertain how to respond when he got back and handed over one of the mugs.

"Well, I'm not really supposed to say since you aren't one of us."

Gobber had no problem guessing who the 'us' was supposed to be.

"What if I actually wanted to be one of you?"

"Huh?"

"Look at me Edric, I'm missing an arm and a leg because of the dragons. I remember what the raids were like. And," he lowered his voice further in a conspiratorial whisper, "I only want what is best for Berk."

Edric seemed somewhat reassured by this.

"And you really want to join us?"

"Of course I do. But first, I want to see that you really mean it. How about you show me what you all are doing."

"Well ok, I should probably check with the boss first."

"Oh, there is no need for that. Think about it, you can go to your boss and tell him that you managed to get Gobber to join. I might be able to help change the Chief's mind eventually. But I need to see what you all are actually up to before I want to join."

Edric thought about this for a moment, weighing his options.

"Ok Gobber, deal. I'll show you right after this," he said while gesturing at his plate.

They clasped forearms to seal the deal and returned to their meals.

Gobber would have felt guilty about taking advantage of this simple man so, but his discovery of Hiccup's situation gave him more than enough reason to do exactly that.

They both ate the rest of their meals very quickly though Gobber subtly saved a bit of chicken and bread.

"Let's go."

They both exited the Hall together and without any other company.

"Alright Edric, where are we headed?"

"The forest."

"The forest, really? Not up to Mildew's hut?"

"Oh, nothing is up there. The dragon-loving brats would probably break in and check there. We have everything in the forest."

"Fascinating," Gobber mumbled to himself.

"Where is the rest of the group today?" he continued a moment later.

"Taking a day off since the Thorston twins and the Hoffer girl are watching us."

"Hmn, good idea. Very convenient."

They passed the final farm and walked into the forest. They started on trails which he recognized and eventually passed from old game trails to ones which were obviously newly formed.

Edric stopped him for no apparent reason at a small clearing.

"Alright Gobber, what do you see?"

He looked around and noticed nothing abnormal.

"Uh, nothing."

"Exactly what a dumb dragon would see too. Look there," he said while pointing toward the low-hanging branches of a pine tree.

Gobber looked more closely and saw a small platform hanging upside down with metal spikes protruding from the device. A small rope went from the branches to back behind a dense patch of bushes.

"You all built a trap. How many do you have?"

Edric held up each of his fingers on both his hands in an attempt to count before grumbling and simply saying, "Many."

"Just imagine if there is a fish right there," he pointed to the side of the clearing underneath the branches, "and someone was waiting behind those bushes over there to trigger the trap. And this is nothing. Follow me."

Edric set out along another path, and Gobber followed after a backward glance at the seemingly-innocuous clearing.

He said nothing aloud of course, but he was very disturbed that these people had actually rebuilt the dragon traps. All the traps had been removed in the weeks after the return to Berk and the bringing of dragons into daily life on Berk. But, now that he thought about it, none of the traps were actually destroyed, only removed. It would have been too easy for one of the domesticated dragons or one of the wild ones which chose to avoid the village to stumble onto one of the traps.

Very few of the old traps had been designed to capture their victims alive.

They walked for about ten minutes when they came to a small campsite. The main tent contained an assortment of weapons, axes, and swords, as well as many different construction supplies. No doubt used to build the trap or traps that they had devised. There was also a fire pit around which it seemed that people frequently gathered.

"This is your main campsite, right?"

"Aye, this is where we keep our stuff. This was one of the best ideas Mildew had," he mentioned while pointing at a corner.

There was a very bizarre object sitting in the corner of the tent. It was like a prosthetic leg only with a dragon claw attached to the end.

"What is that for?"

"Footprints."

His eyes widened in understanding.

 _The storehouses weren't actually broken into! How dare they!_

"Very clever, I see that you all really believe in this cause."

"Of course, the purpose of Pure Berk is favored by the gods. Mildew told us so. Come Gobber, there is something else you should see."

Gobber followed only because he wanted to get as much information as possible for when he would report to Stoick. What these men were doing under Mildew's command was blatant treason! They were preparing to undo everything that Stoick and Astrid had worked for this last year.

They walked deeper into the forest, slightly up the hill that eventually led to the central mountain of Berk.

Edric then surprised him by covering his nose with his shirt cloth and gesturing for him to do the same. They passed through more underbrush and came upon another clearing. A foul smell overcame them as soon as they did so. A smell of decay and rot. Of death.

Gobber gagged and only barely managed to keep his lunch down as he stared at the source of the smell.

The corpse of a dragon, a Nadder to be specific, lay on the ground in front of him. Many of its green scales had clearly been pried off. Its wings were ripped and hung out behind it in impossible directions. Its birdlike mouth was open and there were flies and maggots crawling around both the skull and the massive hole in its breast.

A hole that opened right onto where its heart used to be.

The sight of a dead dragon was hardly new to him, but it had never been so horrifying before. For one, his people had always disposed of the corpses before they could start to stink. Was it the fact that this dragon may have eaten from the feeding stations that the village provided and then been killed by people of the same village? Was it the pointless cruelty that had been inflicted on the creature?

"How did you… get it?"

"It just came right up to us like it expected food. It was too easy."

Gobber looked on in complete disgust at Edric's apparent fascination with Pure Berk's apparent first kill. It was all he could do to prevent himself from strangling Edric right then and there. He managed to restrain himself in part because he knew that Mildew was the one responsible for everything that was happening. But everyone else had obeyed him, making them complicit in the action even if they were just following orders.

They turned away and walked back down the hill and toward the campsite.

"So Gobber, what do you think?"

"I think," he finally replied as they both set off for the village again, "that you are certainly more committed than I thought you were. How about you come over to my house for some mead as a way of showing my appreciation. I've got a new barrel."

Edric agreed wholeheartedly.

 _With any luck, after the sixth or seventh mug he will not remember anything about the entire tour._

When Edric and Gobber raised their first mug together in honor of 'Berk's Future', they had very different visions in mind.

Edric left over an hour later, not quite knowing exactly where he was, what he was doing, or who he was for that matter. Gobber saw him to the door and pointed in the general direction where he thought Edric lived.

Only when he was gone and the door shut did Gobber finally feel free to drop the mask he had been wearing. He slammed his fist down on the table so hard that he heard cracks in the legs of the table.

"Damn that old man! Damn Mildew."

Try as he might, Gobber couldn't shake off the feeling that the Nadder's empty eye sockets had been staring at him in accusation. That he should have seen the signs sooner and realized that Mildew was planning mutiny and a slaughter. A slaughter that was sure to extend to Hiccup as well if Mildew got his way.

He would sooner die than let that happen.

Astrid had to be told about this as soon as possible.

 _Where is she?_ _Probably at Stoick's with Hiccup._ _Plus, I could give Hiccup the food I brought for him._

He set out for Stoick's house at once.

"Astrid, are you there?" he knocked on the door.

A faint shuffling came from inside, but no reply. He pushed open the door and saw only one of the Night Furies on the floor. It stared up at him in clear recognition.

"Hiccup?"

Hiccup nodded up at him.

"I wasn't sure if it was you. You look just like Toothless."

Hiccup hopped up onto the table.

 **I am smaller**

"Oh, ok. I brought you some chicken and bread," he said as he took the food wrapped in a cloth.

Hiccup's eyes went wide and his tongue drooped out of his mouth as he stared at the cold chicken and bread on the plate.

"It's a bit cold but now…"

He stopped talking when Hiccup attacked the chunks of chicken, tearing off pieces and swallowing them whole. The strangest thing to him was seeing Hiccup's teeth.

Even though they were quite small, they looked very sharp. Like curved spears.

But he could have sworn they hadn't been there earlier.

"Hiccup?"

Hiccup paused and looked up at him.

"I could have sworn you didn't have teeth."

Hiccup looked puzzled for a moment and then rolled his eyes. He opened his mouth again, clearly showing all his sharp teeth.

Gobber blinked in amazement when Hiccup worked his jaw and his teeth slid back into his gums. Hiccup then looked at him very sheepishly.

"By Loki, I've seen everything now. A dragon with retractable teeth who used to be my apprentice."

Toothless chose that moment to stroll into the kitchen. He sniffed and perked up at what he smelled.

Gobber stood completely speechless as Hiccup tiptoed over to the edge of the table and began rumbling at Toothless. And Toothless responded by doing the same.

 _Well, I guess they can talk after all._

After 'talking' for a few moments, Toothless hopped up on the table as well and began gobbling down the remaining chicken as well after eyeing it for a moment.

"Hiccup, do you know where Astrid went?"

Hiccup shook his head.

"Ok, I'll go find her."

He turned to leave, then stopped at the door and turned around.

"And Hiccup, don't leave the house."

* * *

Hiccup was beyond frustrated by this point and huffed his frustration after Gobber left.

Everyone was telling him that he had to stay inside and hidden. What could really be happening out there?

There was absolutely nothing to do in the house. He had already practiced writing so much that he could already write as well as any of the villagers. He had already inspected the few scrolls his dad had left lying around before he left. Sleeping was unnecessary. He had slept a lot over the winter, but didn't feel as much need to do so now in the summer.

He wanted to be exploring, to be active even if Gobber said not to.

"Toothless, we do thing."

"What?" Toothless looked up at him with a chunk of chicken hanging from his mouth.

He bounced around on his feet before replying.

"We do thing. Not sleep. Not do no thing!"

Toothless thought about what to do while gulping down the last of the ground-bird. There was one thing that he could do with Hiccup, but Hiccup had already said he wasn't interested in learning flight. He couldn't understand Hiccup's reasons.

Maybe it was just being in the home cave that was the problem. He remembered how restless he had gotten the new-warmth-life-season after he had first hatched. He had wanted to roam outside, hunt fish in the stream, and stretch his wings.

Maybe it would do Hiccup some good to be out of the cave-den now too. They had both enjoyed their few excursions outside the den already.

"We walk out of cave, play."

Hiccup thought a bit more and then gave a mischievous grin.

"Yes, we go out and play."

Toothless hopped around in excitement. Hiccup actually wanted to play with him! Both of them jumped down to the ground, ran to the door, and were defeated by the door.

Gobber had shut the door behind him when he left. Hiccup growled in frustration.

 _Great, we are trapped in here. Unless…_

There had to be a way out.

He looked around the house, trying to figure out how he could get them out of the house since he was not able to open the door.

 _Maybe my window._

He ran down the hall to his room and nudged the door open. He hopped up on the bed and stood on the windowsill. The window opened from the inside and all he had to do was lift the latch to unlock the window.

He wiggled a claw under the latch while Toothless watched in curiosity.

The latch clicked, and he was able to push the window open. The afternoon sunlight was glorious, and he was able to look out over the entire village. Dozens of people, many of whom Hiccup recognized, were visible going about their daily chores. The only problem was that it was a bit of a distance from the window to the ground. He used to be able to climb down.

But now he physically couldn't do it.

 _Ok, how am I going to do this?_

He was still wondering this when Toothless jumped from the window, spread his wings, and glided down to the ground. Actually, it was more that he flapped once and fell with style, but it was effective enough.

 _Oh, right. Dragons have wings._

Standing there on the ledge, Hiccup began to feel very unsure of himself. He had never tried to fly or even glide before. He had no idea how to do it.

He held his wings out as well as he could and took a deep breath before jumping and immediately flapping down as hard as he could. It only sent him tumbling end over end as he fell.

He screamed in fear, sure that he was about to die.

Something leathery and bulky crashed into him just as he was about to hit the ground. He rolled on the ground down the slight hill that his house was built on until he flopped down on his back and stared up at the sky.

Hiccup took several deep breaths and then noticed that Toothless was collapsed at the ground at his side, his chest heaving as well. Toothless had caught him, or at least had braced his fall.

Toothless turned to look at him after they both righted themselves.

"Use your wings, Hiccup."

Hiccup stretched his wings and sighed.

"Yes, Toothless, I need learn. You help me."

Toothless smirked and turned around, whacking Hiccup in the head with his tail before running off toward the woods.

Hiccup gave his best attempt at a roar and charged after Toothless, determined to get his revenge and thankful to be out of his confinement.

* * *

Gobber managed to track Astrid down outside the training ring. He had gone straight to her and told her everything that he had seen. She had blanched when he mentioned the rotting corpse in the woods, likely because of how close to home it hit her. She thanked Gobber and immediately had the rest of the youths gather together in the ring.

"Why are we here again?" Tuffnut wondered.

"Because Astrid is going to tell us what she knows about Mildew's sinister plan," Ruffnut answered.

"Oh, right…"

Fishlegs finally arrived after being excused from his duties and seeing that his dragon was occupied.

"Hi everyone," he greeted them.

"So Astrid," Snotlout interjected, "what is the problem?"

"Gobber found out what Mildew and his group has been up to. They have been rebuilding the dragon traps in the woods."

Fishlegs gasped.

"But… Astrid, those traps were lethal."

"Yes Fish, Gobber said they have already killed a dragon, and he thinks they would do it again."

She paused to let that sink in and the effect was immediate. The twins' carefree smirking ceased and even Snotlout's natural haughtiness was subdued.

"What are we going to do about it?" Fishlegs asked.

"I have an idea, but it will be dangerous and it won't be pleasant for us."

"If it helps the dragons, I am in," Fishlegs firmly stated.

"Snotlout, Ruff, Tuff?"

They nodded their assent.

"Ok, here is what we are going to do. We are going to sneak out at night and destroy their traps. And make sure that everyone who is a dragon-friend knows what is happening. If one of our dragons were to be caught in a trap…"

She did not need to finish the thought for the rest of the group to envision how terrible that would be. She finished giving instructions to each of them and then they dispersed to back to the normal duties of the day, at least until night when their real work would begin.

As soon as they were gone, she sought out Stormfly. Hearing about the murdered Nadder made her feel very protective of her dragon. Plus, she had a break before she was expected back in the Academy.

"Hi girl, did you miss me?" she asked while rubbing Stormfly's jaw, much to the dragon's satisfaction. Still, Stormfly nudged her in the shoulder in the way that always indicated wanting attention.

"What do you want girl?"

Stormfly chittered and flapped her wings.

"Oh, I know what you want. Let's go."

She hopped on Stormfly's back and they were aloft moments later. Astrid wanted a moment to herself and her dragon, some time away from the frustrations of the village below. As she looked down at the forest of Berk, she could not help but feel that something major was going to happen soon.

 _We just have to wait until Stoick gets back. Then we can show him, and he will have to do something._

What would that something be? Would it be enough to talk to Mildew? Nords being what they were, that was very unlikely.

"Don't worry girl, I'll keep you safe," she murmured while scratching Stormfly's neck. They flew peacefully for nearly an hour.

Then she saw smoke rising from the village.

 _Oh gods, what now?_

She guided Stormfly back into the village just as flames began rising in earnest from one of the storerooms. The entire building was burning from the inside.

"Alright girl, you know what to do," she pointed at the fire. Stormfly evidently remembered that bit of training and immediately flew toward the docks where she picked up a bucket in her claws, dipped it in the ocean, and flew back to the fire.

There was total mayhem by the time she got back. People were screaming at each other and waving their weapons around. Dragons were growling at people and crowding around their respective humans. None of the other fire response teams seemed to be in the air.

It was far too late to save the building, the small amount of water that Stormfly dropped on the fire did nothing to quench the flames. Some of the villagers were running in and out of the structure to save some supplies, but there was not much that could be saved.

She landed outside the gathering and was immediately approached by Snotlout. He looked absolutely livid about something.

"What happened?" she asked him.

"They," he roared while pointing at a group in the yelling crowd, "are saying that Hookedfang burned down the storehouse!"

 _Oh great…_

"Stay here with Hookedfang."

Snotlout moved over to calm his dragon.

She squared her shoulders and pushed her way to the fore of the crowd.

"What is going on here!"

Her voice carried over the din and got everyone's immediate attention. There was a moment of quiet before several of them started talking at once.

"His beast burned down the building!"

"Hookedfang wouldn't do that," she replied to them.

"I saw it with my own eyes!"

She recognized most of the group that was complaining as being Mildew's people. And she also clearly saw that they all had weapons drawn.

Stormfly, Hookedfang, and Blueback, Finnbjorn and Katrina's Nadder, were shifting anxiously next to their humans; the sight of drawn weapons clearly was something they remembered.

"I don't believe it. There is no reason why Hookedfang would burn down one of our buildings," Katrina spoke up.

Astrid was very happy that someone else was willing to speak out against the crowd. Even if that left the dragon defenders still in the minority.

"What is happening?" a silky voice called out from behind the crowd.

 _Of course…_

Mildew pushed his way through the crowd and looked around the gathering. He seemed to be the only calm and collected person present.

 _He is planning something here, I know it._

"Well now, here I was just tending the sheep when I heard a terrible noise. I came down here to see what was happening and I see all of you shouting at each other. What is going on here, Astrid?"

She scowled and crossed her arms.

"I think we both know what is happening, Mildew. These men here are saying that Hookedfang burned down the storehouse."

Mildew pointedly stared at the smoldering ruins and looked oddly thoughtful.

"We wouldn't want to wrongly accuse one of our beasties, now would we men?"

They looked around at each other, apparently in confusion, before mumbling that of course they wouldn't want to do that.

Astrid didn't believe it for a moment.

"Well, let's go take a look and see what really happened."

Mildew and the rest of the group walked over to the ruins and looked at the ground. She knew exactly what they were looking at because of what Gobber had told her.

"Nightmare footprints. That answers that," Mildew proudly declared, "the beast did do it."

Astrid snapped. She had been bearing with Mildew's frivolous accusations and fearmongering for far too long. But now he had framed one of their own dragons.

"Mildew, we know that you did this! You put those footprints in the ground! You are a liar!"

Mildew glared at her with pure venom. No one had ever directly called him a liar in front of the entire village.

The two camps stood opposed to each other; Mildew and his company on one side and the dragon-friends and their dragons on the other. While Mildew's group was larger, they did not particularly want to fight the dragons on the other side.

Mildew eventually dropped his scowl and walked right up to Astrid with an obviously false smile. He dropped his voice to a whisper.

"Watch your back, little girl. You might find a knife in it."

He then turned around and left the square. His crowd dispersed as well, though with many backward glances.

Astrid looked around the town at the ruins of the storehouse and the nervous assembly of humans and dragons.

 _You better get back soon, Chief._

* * *

They had to have chased each other across half of Berk by now.

 _Where are you Toothless?_

Hiccup stalked along the path Toothless had taken. It was not hard to follow because Toothless had a very distinct smell. That smell ran directly along this small game trail and up the slope of the mountain.

Then it just stopped as if Toothless had vanished. Every one of Hiccup's senses were tingling with excitement and anticipation.

 _Ok, think like Toothless. Think like a dragon. Where would I hide?_

A branch snapped directly behind him.

 _Oh great…_

Toothless pounced from behind and clamped his jaws over Hiccup's tail, refusing to let go no matter how much Hiccup thrashed about. Hiccup finally collapsed limp. Yet another defeat at Toothless's jaws.

"You win Toothless."

Toothless let him go.

"How you so quiet?"

"Much time and hunting."

Toothless grinned and rumbled happily.

"Come Hiccup, I will show you something."

Toothless bounded off further up the mountainside and Hiccup followed. He was so glad to finally be outside for a long time. They bounded from rock to rock and continued higher until Hiccup started feeling very sore.

Toothless finally stopped next to a ledge and Hiccup panted heavily in exhaustion.

"Toothless… why here?"

Toothless bounded over to an outcropping and sat down to look out over the ledge. Hiccup joined him and was absolutely stunned.

The entire vista of Berk was spread out before him. The deep green forest they had run through. Raven Point. The tiny stream that flowed down the slopes of Mount Thor. The village of Berk and its port with all the sloops. The ocean which stretched from horizon to horizon.

A soft, warm breeze ruffled his wings, bringing him back to reality. He looked over at Toothless and saw that Toothless was perched right on the edge, his eyes closed and wings spread falcon-like.

Was he going to jump?

"Toothless?"

Toothless opened his eyes and looked at him.

"You fly now?"

"No Hiccup, not now. But I want to."

They stayed there a while longer before Hiccup suggest that they go back into town for food. They slowly started back down the hillside.

"Toothless, where you live before?"

"Before when?"

"Before I found you. When kin and two-legs fight. You live on bad Monster place?"

"No, I have cave-nest here."

"We go there?"

"Not walk to place. Need to fly."

They continued on through the forest. Hiccup kept thinking about the need to fly. He knew that he was just hindering himself by not learning. Being ground-bound limited where he could go and what he could do.

It just seemed so strange to him. Flying with Toothless had given him some of the best moments of his life. Actually being the one doing the flying under his own power was an entirely different matter and seemed a line that he didn't want to cross.

He was so distracted by his thoughts that he didn't notice Toothless suddenly stop and look around in suspicion.

Something felt wrong to Toothless. It was only a moment later that he realized what the problem was.

 _It is too quiet…_

Everything was being quiet out of fear. Then he caught the scent of two-legs.

"Hiccup," he softly hissed.

Hiccup stopped and turned to look at him, but by then it was too late.

A weighted net fell from the above the path directly on top of Hiccup at the same time as several men hopped out of hiding with battle cries.

Toothless quickly hopped backwards into the bush where he was completely hidden.

Hiccup stood motionless, as if in shock or surprise at having a net thrown on him. He began to thrash about, trying to get out of the net but only succeeded in getting more tangled.

"Look at it, it's one of the Chief's beasts," one of the men spoke up.

"Yeah, what do we do? Kill it like that Nadder?"

Hiccup froze and he felt a twist in his gut.

 _They killed a dragon! No, they couldn't have!_

"Bag it, we'll take it to the boss and see what he wants to do."

One of the men pulled out a bag and a couple of them began to untangle their catch from the net.

Toothless bristled as he saw the creatures roughly grab Hiccup and dangle him upside down before shoving him into the bag. They then turned away and began to walk into the forest.

There was nothing that he could do to help Hiccup. He was too small. If he had been his full grown size, these bad two-legs would not be alive right now.

He slowly crept from his bush and followed the men, creeping from bush to bush. Not that he was especially worried about the two-legs finding him. They were being very loud and two-legs had terrible awareness of their surroundings.

He was going to find where they were keeping Hiccup and then…

Toothless grumbled at realizing that he still wouldn't be able to do anything alone.

* * *

Hiccup wasn't sure how long he was in the bag with all his limbs in a crumpled mess. It could have been a couple minutes or as much as an hour. Despite all the strange things that had happened to him and all the poor treatment he had once endured, being shoved face-first into a bag was not one of them.

There was no telling where he was. Some places on the island had very distinctive smells which were easy to recognize, but he could not smell anything at all past the foul smell of old small game like rabbit.

The man finally stopped, and Hiccup could hear some indistinct muttering around him.

"Boss."

"What Gregor?"

His bag was lifted high.

"We caught one of the Chief's," he spat on the ground, "black beasts."

The bag was dropped on the rocky ground.

Hiccup hit the ground with a forearm pinned underneath him at an awkward angle. A flash of fire shot up his arm and made him yelp in pain. He pushed himself off his injured arm as well as he could and gritted his teeth against the throbbing.

The top of the bag was undone and a hand reached in. And Hiccup felt a deep, fierce desire to bite the hand, to draw blood, to cause real pain to this man who hurt him. Suddenly, the hand disappeared. The man must have thought the better of it.

That was when, even though the pain he was feeling, Hiccup realized that he had been growling. He hadn't consciously planned it, but he had done so instinctively.

Someone picked up the bag again and tipped it upside down while shaking it. He fell onto the ground.

Several men were staring down at him, most of their expressions being of loathing. He wanted nothing more than to run away and hide, but he was immediately picked up and held by the neck. At least the man wasn't trying to choke him.

Mildew was standing right next to him and looking disturbingly thoughtful.

"This will be useful. It will be easy to play Astrid now. And when she is gone…"

"So we need this thing alive?" Gregor asked.

"Yes," Mildew replied.

Gregor used his free hand to pull out one of Hiccup's wings and grasped it firmly. Hiccup somehow knew what Gregor was thinking and it absolutely terrified him. He whimpered in the man's grip.

"And I shouldn't…"

"No Gregor, not this time. Just put it back in the bag and make sure it can't get out."

Hiccup was roughly shoved back in the bag a moment later and left alone as the gathering began to disperse.

 _He… wanted to break my wings…_

It was one of the most horrifying things he could imagine. A dragon that could not fly was not a true dragon.

 _Why? Why would someone want to be so cruel?_

It made no sense to him. Even for someone who did not especially like dragons, it would be better to just leave them alone. He curled up into a tight ball, still cradling his sore arm, and tucked his head under a wing, very grateful that his wing was still in one piece. It was a small comfort. All he could do now was wait and hope for a chance to escape.

* * *

Things seemed to have generally settled down since the heated dispute earlier in the day. She had spent a couple of relaxing hours in the training arena with Stormfly and some of the children. The young ones were terribly eager to get their own dragon one day, but frequently needed to be reminded to be respectful of the creatures. It was normal to have them start out with a Terror to show how responsible they were. Stormfly was very patient with them, for which she was very thankful.

Finally, her day began to draw to a close. There was one more duty she had though and she set off for Stoick's house, a fish in hand, after leaving Stormfly with the other dragons.

"Hiccup, I brought dinner."

She continued on into the kitchen and got ready to begin filleting the fish, as was the routine she had fallen into over the last couple weeks.

Neither Hiccup nor Toothless came bounding down the hall to greet her.

 _Are they napping?_

She walked into Hiccup's bedroom and noticed that there were no napping dragonets in the nest-like blankets.

"Hmn, odd. Where are..."

Then she noticed the opened window.

"Oh no!"

Leave it to Hiccup to figure out how to open the window even as a small dragon.

"Why would you go out there?"

She was going to have to find the two little Furies or wait for them to come back. She was not especially eager to go back to the Great Hall for dinner because of who she might encounter there.

Astrid left and set off for her home where there would be some soup waiting for her. She was halfway home when she saw one of the Night Furies wandering in her direction.

 _Well, where there is one there is the other. Are you Hiccup or Toothless?_

As long as the two were next to each other, she had no trouble telling them apart since Hiccup was slightly smaller.

The dragon saw her and immediately started running toward her. It stopped in front of her, panting heavily, and looked up at her.

Astrid could tell that he was terrified and exhausted. He also wasn't trying to write.

"Toothless?"

Toothless blinked in recognition. He turned and began growling at the village, then he turned back to her and rumbled pitifully.

She realized that Toothless was trying to tell her something. A real dragon was trying to talk to her in his own way.

"Get Hiccup."

Toothless whimpered as soon as she said Hiccup's name. Astrid felt a tingling feeling down her spine. Something felt very wrong.

"Toothless, where is Hiccup?"

Toothless swung around and growled at the village again. Then he turned and stared at the forest.

She could only remember Toothless growling at one person, at least little Toothless. Mildew's camp was in the forest. The terrible realization hit her.

"Mildew has Hiccup!"

Toothless realized that he had gotten his point across and turned back to the forest. He gave a sad warble and bounded toward the trees. Then he stopped and turned to stare at her upon seeing that she hadn't followed.

"You want me to come… wait, you know where Hiccup is?"

Toothless just barked at the forest again.

It would not be safe for her to go alone. Mildew's group would not take kindly to her finding them alone.

 _I can't go in there alone… I can get Gobber to help me._

"Come Toothless."

Toothless grumbled and reluctantly followed her.

Astrid couldn't help but wonder as she walked through the village. How many times had Hiccup walked through this village and been teased? At least no one had tried to kill him back then.

She walked into the forge without knocking.

"Gobber!"

He walked around the corner, covered in sweat and looking quite confused.

"Astrid, why are you here?"

"We have a problem, Gobber."

"Eh, great. We certainly need more of those. What is it?"

"I think Mildew's group has Hiccup."

Gobber's mouth fell open and he stared dumbly.

"Why do you think that?"

"Toothless sort of told me."

"What?"

"And both of them got out of the house through a window. I only found Toothless."

Gobber briefly glanced at the obviously-impatient Fury at her feet. Then he groaned.

"Why didn't he listen to me! I told him to stay inside!"

"We have to help him."

"Yes, we do. If they see me helping you, they won't let me know anything else."

"I don't think it will matter. We already know what they have done. They are escalating. We just need to wait until Stoick gets back. When he finds out what Mildew has been doing, what do you think Stoick will do?"

Gobber's expression turned quite dark.

"It will not be good for Mildew. Let's go. Just us."

They turned to leave the forge. Gobber paused before leaving the building and grabbed something. He, Astrid, and a restless Night Fury set out for the forest, the two humans closely following the young dragon. The motley gathering garnered more than a few strange looks as it passed.

* * *

It was not hard to find the trail. He simply had to find the smell of two-legs and follow it. None of the good two-legs would have a reason to be in this part of the forest.

Astrid and the one-arm fake-paw male were following behind him. That was good since they would certainly help him rescue Hiccup. And they could do the things that he couldn't do since he didn't have the fingers of a two-leg.

The sound of footsteps ahead was clearly audible to him.

He softly warbled to get his two-legs' attention and then hopped off the path. They understood his message and hid behind some bushes as the bad ones walked past. The two-legs were too busy yapping away at each other to notice that they were there.

He finally hopped out from hiding and continued on after making sure the path was clear. Eventually, he was back at the clearing where the two-legs had gathered. It looked like it was empty, but he kept close to the ground and crept along silently. He looked every which way for the trap-thing Hiccup was put in without seeing it.

 _Where is it?_

He cautiously tiptoed into the clearing, every sense alert for a sign of danger. The two good two-legs followed behind him, wisely not calling out or making any noise.

There was no visible sign of Hiccup, but there was his distinctive smell.

 _He is here somewhere._

He hadn't yet looked inside the fur-cave where the two-legs probably kept more of their stuff. He walked over and poked his head through the entrance to the not-cave.

The bag was sitting on the ground right in front of his nose!

"Hiccup?" he hissed.

The bag stirred.

"Toothless?" he vaguely heard from inside.

"Wait, I get help."

He looked outside at his two-legs and barked to get their attention. They immediately ran over to him. Somehow the bag was stuck closed, and he couldn't get the entrance opened by gnawing on it.

He watched as Astrid began to work at the top of the bag.

* * *

Astrid was dumbfounded at the extent of the campsite. It especially looked like it had seen a lot of activity over the last few days. There were nets, ropes, and, most ominously, sharpened weapons everywhere. There was even a whole Gronkle skull impaled on a spear stuck in the ground.

She did not want to know where the skull had come from. Hopefully an old token of the past.

A chirp of noise got her attention and she looked toward the center of the campsite. Toothless was sticking his nose out the entrance of the main tent, obviously trying to get their attention.

"He found something."

She and Gobber wasted no time in running after him and entering the tent. Toothless began gnawing at a leather bag.

A wiggling leather bag.

"Hiccup!"

The bag went still, and she heard a plaintive whimper from within the bag. She immediately began untying the knot.

All the while, her anger at Mildew began building. He trapped a baby dragon and stuffed it into a small bag to do who knows what with. He killed an innocent dragon, according to Gobber. His group was stockpiling weapons and trapping gear out here in the forest where no one would think to look.

She undid the last knot and opened the bag. A Night Fury hatchling looked up her and blinked sadly.

"Oh Hiccup, I'm sorry," she whispered.

She slowly tipped the bag on its side so that he could right himself and walk out. He did, but very slowly. In fact, he was holding his left forearm completely off the ground and doing his best to walk on his other limbs.

"Hiccup, did they hurt you?" Gobber growled.

Hiccup hesitated for a moment before barely nodding without looking up to meet their eyes.

Pure anger poured through her veins.

 _I will hurt Mildew the next time I see him!_

Without pausing to think about whether he wanted it, she reached down and picked up Hiccup as one would with an infant. She held him against her bosom while being mindful of his hurt arm.

"It's ok. You are safe now. We have you."

The moment she said this, she gasped as she felt a knife press into her back between her shoulder blades.

"And I have you!"

"Gregor, what in Thor's name are you thinking!" Gobber exclaimed in disbelief as he turned around and looked at the assailant.

"Either of you move and I kill her right now!"

"Ok, we won't move. What is happening here?" Gobber asked.

"I think we know what happened here. You broke into our camp to steal our catch."

"He is not 'your catch!'" Astrid protested.

"Oh yes, it is. You and your filthy dragon-lovers," he spat on her neck, "are talking about them as if they aren't just beasts!"

"Well, they aren't terrorizing children for sport. Unlike you," she snapped back.

Gregor ran his free hand along her neck while fingering the knife. She shivered in disgust and a hint of fear.

"Mildew just wanted to frame you and get you banished. With enough disasters being blamed on the dragons, the people would eventually demand that the Chief get rid of dragons. He never actually wanted anyone to get hurt. I don't think that I can let you go now, either of you."

"You are crazy, absolutely mad," Gobber growled with anger that neither Astrid, nor Hiccup had ever seen from him.

"Says one who consorts with devils and defiles what it means to be a Nord!"

"You heard what the Chief said, what it means to be a Nord can change," she countered.

"About that, we have been thinking that Berk might be needing a new Chief soon. Our current one has gone soft in his grief over his disgraceful bastard of a son."

"Treason," Gobber muttered.

"Call it what you will. I think our game ends now."

"Gregor, don't you dare!" Gobber warned.

"Don't worry Astrid, I'll be quick about it."

He kicked Astrid behind the knee, forcing her to the ground in pain. She still held Hiccup in her arms.

"And," he lowered his voice to whisper in her ear, "it would be a shame for such a fine body to go to waste. I think after you are dead I will…"

Toothless pounced from behind with a roar, sinking his tiny teeth deeply into the man's ankles. While nowhere near as impressive as when he was his full-size, his teeth were still very sharp and easily cut through to the bone.

The man yelled in pain and tried kicking to get his attacker off. Astrid slipped away from his clutches and backed away toward the tent entrance as well as she could. With one of Gregor's kicks, Toothless was sent flying through the air with a screech and crashed into the cloth side of the tent.

Gregor screamed in true agony as a hunk of flesh and muscle had been torn from his leg when he had kicked the dragon away. He rounded on Astrid and somehow managed a mad shuffle toward her, knife in hand.

Gobber moved to intercept him, they collided with a heavy grunt, and…

Gregor's eyes widened in shock as he looked down at the knife protruding from his chest. The same knife which Gobber pulled out a moment later before kicking the gasping man to the ground.

"You…"

Astrid had heard many terrible things in her life during the raids and training. Hearing a man choke on his own blood while trying futilely to take in a breath of air was easily the most disturbing thing she had ever heard.

He tried grabbing at her and at his chest. His struggle lasted a few more moments before the man's breaths completely ceased and the body went still.

"Astrid, we should get back," Gobber finally said.

"Gobber, what did we just… we just killed him!"

"I did what I had to do and I'd do it again!"

"Do we leave the… body here?" she finally asked.

"Good point. There is no real hiding this mess," he waved a hand at the steadily-growing pool of blood on the ground.

"Can you walk back home?"

She gingerly tried out her leg.

"Yes, I can."

"Ok, you take Hiccup back, and I'll figure something out here."

A small noise from the side of the tent startled them before they realized that it was just Toothless. He was coughing out the man's blood from the fight.

"Toothless?"

Toothless looked up at her.

"Thank you."

He grumbled up at her, but perhaps with a bit more patience than he usually did.

"Astrid."

"Gobber?"

"You should bar the door when you get home. Mildew will at least find out that Hiccup is gone and will probably try to do something while Stoick is still gone."

"I will. Will you let the other riders and dragon-friends know?"

"Yes, now get a move on."

She did and Toothless moved to flank her as she walked back into town right around dusk. The walk back was unbelievably quiet after what had just happened. Even Hiccup and Toothless, who were normally chatting away with each other, were completely silent. She went straight to Stoick's house and dropped Hiccup in the nest-bed. Toothless gladly joined him a moment later.

She mumbled to Hiccup that she was going to quickly carve some fish for him and Toothless, which she did, and she brought the chopped up fish on a plate which she left on the bed for them.

"Hiccup, I know you probably don't want to talk about it, but please don't go outside until I get back. You heard what Gobber said might happen."

Hiccup nodded sullenly and collapsed back on the bed, apparently about to go to sleep. Astrid left the house a moment later.

* * *

It was now just him and Toothless.

Toothless could tell that Hiccup was very troubled. It made sense for someone who had just been caught in a trap, shoved into a trap, had one of his arms hurt, and had been present when a killing happened.

"Hiccup, are you good?"

"No Toothless, I am sad. Hurt arm. Hurt inside."

"Let me see your arm."

Hiccup carefully repositioned himself so he could show his hurting arm. Toothless inspected it. It didn't look broken to him. There was no outside hurt, though it did look a bit swollen to him.

He stuck out his tongue and licked Hiccup's arm. Hiccup flinched and grumbled in annoyance.

"Toothless, why?"

"Lick hurts. Mouth-water helps hurts."

Hiccup thought about that, for a moment forgetting his pain. He hadn't actually seen any dragons licking their wounds before, and he imagined that it probably would only help with external wounds.

But that Toothless had tried to help him did make him feel better.

"And hurt deep inside?"

Toothless rumbled, knowing there was almost nothing he could do to help with that. Nothing except curl up at Hiccup's side and drape a wing over his back. Hiccup gave a very brief hum of thanks before eventually nodding off to sleep.

Toothless remained awake, listening for any sign of danger. Even though he felt safe in this nest cave, he still kept his eyes open for a long time, listening for any sign of the bad two-legs who had dared to hurt Hiccup or would try to hurt him.

* * *

The next day started out normally enough with Terrible Terrors singing on the rooftops and people emerging from their homes and tents to get about their tasks.

Except for Astrid. She was not in the mood to wake up because she had not slept at all during the night. Every time she had closed her eyes, she had seen Gregor's empty eyes staring up at her or imagined his breath on her neck.

 _How could someone from the same tribe be so…Vile. Horrible. Cruel._

There was no one word which was sufficient. He seemed like a normal man, and she remembered seeing him many times in the Hall or going about his business.

 _How could a normal person be so bad?_

She lay in bed underneath the warm blankets long past her normal time to get up. Her mother finally came in to check on her.

"Astrid dear, are you well?"

"Yes mom, I'm fine."

"You aren't normally so slow in the morning. Are you hungry?"

 _Leave it to mom to mention food, I haven't eaten since lunch yesterday._

"Yes, I am."

"Good, you can see to Stormfly too while you are at it. She has been sitting just outside all morning. I think she is waiting for you. I don't get why she doesn't just go to the feeding stations like the other dragons."

"I think that our dragons like our attention. She wants me to feed her."

"Well, there is soup and bread on the table for you and one fish left in the basket, do with it what you want."

"Thanks mom."

She got out of bed after her mother left, dressed, and walked to the kitchen where she began devouring the food left for her.

 _She doesn't know what is happening in the village. Should I tell her?_

 _Yes, she needs to know._

"Mom, can we talk?"

"Sure dear, what do you want to talk about?"

"Do you remember what I said about Mildew?"

"Oh, that old nuisance?"

"He's not just a nuisance mom. He has had dragons killed! He has been plotting against the Chief!"

Her mom put her hands on her hips and frowned.

"Astrid, stop this! Do you hear yourself?"

"Gobber was there mom! He saw it all. If you don't believe me, just ask him! Ask him if one of Mildew's men put a knife to my back!"

Her mother gasped and stood still for several moments.

"They did what?"

"You heard me," Astrid whispered.

"My baby!" she quickly moved over to hug her daughter, "They didn't hurt you, did they?"

"Only my leg, but I'll be fine."

"Who did it? By the gods, I will hurt them!"

"It was Gregor and there is no need, he is already dead."

"Dead, how?"

"Gobber and one of the Chief's Night Furies saved me. They… fought Gregor off. Mom, when Mildew finds out what happened, he will be very mad and his people might do something terrible."

Her mother nodded in agreement.

"You're right. Maybe you shouldn't go out there. We can say you are sick or something."

"No mom. I'm needed out there. Getting hurt on the job is an occupational hazard for a dragon trainer."

Her mother did not look very thrilled by this, but Astrid was responsible for the whole training Academy and she was almost a woman anyway. She could be responsible enough.

"Ok Astrid, just be careful. Keep your weapon with you. I'll tell your father everything."

"Don't worry mom," Astrid said as she picked up the fish, "I'll have Stormfly with me. I don't think she will let anything bad happen."

* * *

Astrid walked with Stormfly to the arena and was not at all surprised to find the rest of the riders waiting there for her.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut approached her, looking very excited, while Fishlegs seemed glum and Snotlout looked oblivious.

"Astrid, you won't believe what Gobber told us!" Ruff said.

"Yeah, he told us that you were killed last night!" Tuff continued.

Ruffnut punched her brother.

"You idiot, he said that someone got killed last night."

"Oh yeah, right. So what happened?"

"Mildew captured little Hiccup. I went with Gobber to find him. We found a camp in the forest and we also found Hiccup. Mildew has been plotting to get rid of the dragons. One of his men tried to… stop us, and now that man is dead."

No one said anything after she stopped speaking.

"Do you understand what that means? Do you? Any of you!"

Fishlegs glumly broke the silence.

"It means he is going to find out that his man is… dead. Today. And he will do something soon,"

"Yes. We don't know how many people he has on his side. We need to make sure that everyone, and I mean everyone, keeps their dragons with them. Gobber said that he was going to tell people, but we should tell them too."

"I don't know what to say Astrid. I mean… this has never happened before," Snotlout protested.

"Just keep Hookedfang with you. You wouldn't want him to get hurt, would you?"

"No! Never!"

"Exactly. Alright everyone, you know what to do."

They began to disperse along with their dragons who had been patiently waiting for them. All except Fishlegs. She leaned against Stormfly and sighed very deeply. She never showed any weaknesses in front of anyone, but Fishlegs was kind and generally sensible. He could give good advice about what to do and his knowledge of dragons always proved useful.

"So Fish, how is the book coming?"

"What?" he asked in surprise at the unexpected question.

"The new Book of Dragons that you are working on. How is it?"

"Oh, it is coming well. I got all the Boulder-class, Stoker-class, and Attack-class mostly finished. The Mystery-class is still very… well, mysterious, but at least I was able to get a start on the Night Fury page. I left plenty of space for all the types of dragons for when we learn more in the future."

"Good," she answered.

"Astrid," he stammered, "do you think anyone will actually read it? I mean, how useful will it really be to people?"

"Maybe it won't be useful. Maybe we have to learn how to live with dragons through experience first. But that doesn't mean that it is not good to write a new Book. It will still say everything we know about dragons. That makes it worth doing."

Fishlegs was quiet for a few moments while he listened to her reassurance.

"Thanks Astrid, I needed to hear that."

Fishlegs departed with his Gronkle a moment later.

She could not help the feeling of a vice tightening around her entire world.

* * *

Everything broke right after the midday meal.

It started with the sound of roaring and hissing. She noticed that the sound was conspicuously different from the normal calls that dragons made. It seemed to be coming from the forest. She was just about to walk to the woods to investigate the sound when a shrill shriek echoed from the forest and was immediately silenced.

Every visible dragon craned its head and turned around to face the direction of the noise. Stormfly's breaths became very heavy and she started anxiously swaying where she stood. The dragons had their wings partially unfurled and had their eyes narrowed on the woods, their teeth bared with faint growls.

It was obvious why they were afraid.

She stroked Stormfly's jaw in reassurance.

"It's ok girl, you will be fine. They won't hurt you."

Stormfly responded by trilling very softly and curling her spiky tail, the spines smoothed flat, around her human.

"Yeah, I love you too girl."

Then she saw smoke rising from a corner of the village. She ran over and saw that the stable next to the Stendaar household was burning. The Stendaars were gathered in front of their house along with their pair of Gronkles.

And a small crowd of Nord with torches and spears were standing around them and yelling. She heard them yelling things she dared not repeat. Then they noticed her.

"There she is." "The dragon-loving pile of…" "She killed Greg!" "Get her!"

They charged her, only to slow down when Stormfly jumped in front of her and screamed at them, all her spines extended. Astrid had never heard her Nadder make that sound before. But she was very grateful of Stormfly's protection.

"What is going on here?"

Gobber and the rest of the youths, their dragons included, came up behind her. Several other people came up behind them as well as a few others joined the rebellious group.

"What do you think you are doing!" Gobber roared at them.

"Gobber, come on. Get over here! You know what side you are on," Edric beckoned to him.

"Never. My place is right here with them."

Edric's look of betrayal was completely lost in the uproar that followed. Both sides were shouting at each other, the rebels waving weapons around. Mildew walked into their midst and looked around.

"Men, it's time we do what we should have done long ago!"

They cheered.

"They took our catch! They killed Gregor!"

They roared in anger, grasping their weapons. They took a step forward, and froze.

Stoick walked into the midst of the gathering, towering over the assembly with an axe held at the ready. His billowing cape and massive red beard gave him the visage of the gods himself. No one had seen his ship arrive through all the commotion, and everyone gasped at his sudden return.

And the dragon-friends gave a soft cheer for Stoick's return, while Mildew's group was more subdued.

"What is going on here?" he roared.

No one said anything for a few moments.

"Sir, Mildew's group has been plotting against us. Against the tribe," Astrid finally spoke up.

"This is absurd. She has always had it in for us. You have no proof!"

"Oh yes, I do. Gobber was there and saw everything."

Stoick turned to him.

"Is it true, Gobber?"

"Yes Chief, they have an entire camp in the forest."

Stoick turned back to face the crowd.

"And what is the camp for?"

"Defense of course. Someone has to keep weapons for when the beasts turn on us."

"It's not just weapons chief. They put the traps back in the woods to kill dragons!"

Stoick frowned at Mildew.

"Why? We do not need traps anymore."

"We don't feel safe around them. It's them or us!"

Mildew pointed his staff at the dragons, once again provoking their growls.

"Sir, you should know… these rebels have been burning buildings and killed wild dragons. And…"

Astrid paused, realizing what would surely happen after she spoke.

"…they hurt one of your little dragons."

Stoick went stiff, exactly as she expected he would. He slowly turned to her and lowered his voice. When he spoke, she could barely hear his words and yet they made her skin crawl with the fear and anger they contained.

"Which… one?"

And she had to hide the fact that she knew exactly why he asked which one had been hurt.

"They hurt Hiccup."

Stoick wheeled around on the gathering and glared at Mildew, the white of his knuckles showing where he grasped the axe.

"You… dared… hurt my s… dragon! You threatened our tribe!"

"One of his men tried to kill Astrid, and also said that they wanted a new Chief, one who hasn't gone weak," Gobber interjected.

Stoick stopped yelling and instead just stared at Mildew and his group.

"You think I am weak. That I am not fit to be Chief anymore. Well," he said while lifting his axe and pointing it in their direction, "do any of you want to test that? Any of you!"

They all shrunk away from his towering fury. A few of the men on the edge of the group began to look around nervously, as if they wanted to flee.

"No you don't. You are all with him. Where is the Elder, where is Gothi? Bring her!"

Spitelout ran off in the direction of the Elder's hut.

Mildew seemingly understood why he had sent for the Elder.

"You don't dare. This is our home, and we are trying to protect it!"

"Wrong, it was your home."

Gothi hobbled into the clearing several minutes later, leaning very heavily on her cane. Her sleepy eyes were barely creaked open, but she seemed very aware of what was going on around her.

Stoick saw that she was present and began.

"Mildew, you and your followers have committed crimes against the tribe. You have threatened fellow members of the tribe, burned the tribe's buildings, killed dragons, and tried to supplant your Chief. You and your men are Outcast!"

There was a collective gasp and then… nothing.

No cheering, no jeering, or looks of hate.

At least, not from those still of Berk. It had been a long time since anyone had been Outcast from the island. But when it happened, they lost all standing in the community. They were not to be addressed as anything other than 'Outcast'. And that was when they were acknowledged at all. To be completely ignored was one of the worst punishments given to the living.

"But… but… you cannot do that!" Mildew stammered.

Gothi slowly walked into the clearing. She silently faced the rebels and slowly raised her staff in the direction of the harbor. Then she turned away and was helped back toward her hut by Ingrid.

"But…"

"Men!" Stoick roared, "there are Outcasts on our island. See them off or they die."

Mildew's group began walking back to their houses, their shoulders slumped and all energy gone.

"Where do you think you are going Outcasts?"

"To get our stuff," Edric whined.

"What stuff? You are not going anywhere other than the harbor. You have no home here, Outcast," Gobber reminded him.

"But…"

The growl of Snotlout's Nightmare and the sound of axes and knives being drawn made him quiver and join the rest of the crowd shuffling down the slope toward the harbor.

Only Mildew lingered, still glaring in Stoick's direction. Then he snarled and turned away after shouting out one more time.

"You will regret this!"

A couple dozen men followed him, weapons drawn to make sure that he did as he was commanded.

.

.

"Well, that's over with," Gobber cheerfully burst out, trying to lighten the dour mood. After all, their tribe had just shrunk by about a fifth judging from the size of the crowd making its exodus.

Gobber walked over and grasped Stoick's arm.

"About time you got back," Gobber said.

"What? Oh, right. Astrid… how bad did they hurt… my dragon?"

"They just hurt his arm. He should be fine, he just can't walk well."

His sigh of relief made sense to her considering that he was only being a concerned father, albeit in secret.

"Good. That's good," he whispered in palpable relief. Then he looked around at most of what was left of his tribe.

"So, I guess you want to know what I did when I was gone."

A general murmuring of yes followed.

"I arranged a treaty with the Berserkers, Volsung, and Vaina. They will not go to war with us."

"That's good news. What do we have to do for them?" Gobber asked.

"We will show them how to train their own dragons. I'll tell you all everything later, but right now I need to rest."

"You go ahead Chief. You've been traveling for a long time," Gobber answered him.

Stoick turned to leave, but Gobber remembered something.

"Say Chief, do you have a copy of the treaty? I'm sure Elder Gothi will want to see it."

Stoick paused and stared off into the distance.

"I'm sorry Gobber, I'm afraid I lost it. About the Elder though…"

Gobber watched as Stoick continued walking off toward the Elder's hut. It was very strange seeing his longtime friend now, knowing what must be going through Stoick's head. To come home to a tribe that was turning on itself in his absence and to a baby dragon-son who had been hurt. And to keep his knowledge of everything that had happened to Hiccup a secret from everyone else.

There would be time later to figure out what to do with the now-empty houses. Out of the corner of his eye, he could barely see a couple longboats setting out to sea with the now-Outcasts.

On the one hand, some of those on the boats were probably not bad people. They were just simpletons who had been drawn into the wrong crowd. On the other hand, that group was capable of killing and subverting the tribe. Not to mention what they had done to Hiccup and tried to do to Astrid.

They were the reason he had been forced to knife someone from his own tribe.

 _It had to be this way. Change is never easy._

* * *

He pushed aside the cloth covering the door to the Elder's hut. Immediately, the smells of mushrooms, herbs, smoke, and Terrible Terrors assailed his nose. The sharp smell of the grasses the Elder burned always made him feel slightly light-headed.

He made his way over to the bed on which Gothi spent most of her time now. Age, it seemed, was finally starting to catch up with her. She was resting in the bed, quite snug under her blankets and already seemingly asleep. There were a couple Terrors dozing near her feet.

Waking up such an old woman would have been disgraceful if she were not also the village healer. He knew someone in need of healing.

"Elder?"

She lazily opened her eyes and turned to look at him.

"You don't need to get up. One of my dragons got a little hurt, do you have something I could take to him?"

She groaned and slowly sat up in bed. A few gestures later, which Stoick had long since learned to understand, and she asked what kind of hurt.

"His arm, it's nothing too bad. Just if you have something for the pain…"

She raised a very wrinkled hand and pointed toward a jar of green stuff on a nearby shelf. Then she softly rubbed her other arm and lay back down.

He went over and grabbed the strange salve. As he did so, a strange guilt came over him for what just transpired.

"Elder, did I do the right thing earlier?"

She stared through him with her sharp blue eyes. Eyes that held many years of experience and bespoke much wisdom.

She closed her eyes and he could have sworn that he saw her give him a nod.

"Thank you, Elder," he whispered before backing out of the room and leaving her to her rest. He retrieved his traveling bag from outside Gothi's hut and walked home with the salve in hand. The closer he got, the more afraid he became. What would he see? How bad exactly was Hiccup's hurt?

He slightly trembled as he walked through the door and looked around his house. It was just as quiet and empty as he remembered it. His gaze wandered over the room, eventually fixing on the helmet above the fireplace.

 _What would Valka say?_

His steps toward Hiccup's room were slow and measured. He was afraid of what he would see. Astrid had said that it had only been a hurt arm, instead of the far worse things that he had imagined. But it was still his son who had been hurt.

It had also been three weeks since he had seen his son, since he had seen his baby dragons.

He walked into Hiccup's bedroom and saw the two dragons curled up on the bed, both apparently sound asleep. The smaller one was holding one of its arms out at a strange angle.

Had Hiccup grown in the three weeks he was gone?

He knelt at the side of the bed and carefully reached out his arm, nudging Hiccup on his shoulder. Hiccup stirred slightly and opened his eyes. He immediately swung his tiny head around to stare at his father.

"Son?"

Hiccup crawled to his feet and ran over to him, carefully throwing his dragon arms wide in a hug. He could remember the first time that Hiccup had hugged him shortly after… hatching. Hiccup's arms had not even been able to fit halfway around his waist back then. Now they could.

"Hiccup, are you ok?"

Hiccup nodded while making a strange crooning sound. It had to be involuntary.

"Let me see it."

Hiccup broke away from him and held out his arm. He gently held the tiny arm and closely inspected it. He was no great judge of dragon bodies but nothing looked broken. Still, Hiccup hissed slightly when he held his tiny arm at the wrist.

It was a shame that Mildew and company were already gone.

"Here, I have something to help it."

He opened the container and dabbed a bit of the mysterious substance on Hiccup's arm.

"You are safe now. Mildew is gone."

Even he could recognize Hiccup's look of surprise.

"Yes, I banished him. He and his men are Outcasts now."

Hiccup looked in the direction of the harbor.

"They are going right now."

Hiccup sat back down, catlike, on his bed with obvious relief and kept looking at his newly-returned father.

"Other than… your arm… did everything go ok here?"

Yes.

"Did Astrid find out about you?"

Hiccup actually grumbled while rolling his eyes. Just like he used to when he was still…

"Ok, that is good. Are you hungry at all?"

Hiccup shook his head and crawled back into his pile of blankets.

"I need to sleep too. You know where I'll be if you… need anything. I'll tell you what happened in the morning."

Hiccup gave him a curt nod and then closed his eyes.

He got up and stumbled down the hall himself, feeling the exhaustion finally catching up to him. Several days on the open sea combined with eating stale bread and having to Outcast rebellious members of his tribe had left him very sleepy. He stared at his unmade bed and let himself fall face-first into its meager comfort.

At least, he did not have to think about anything while he was asleep.

* * *

Toothless opened his eyes the moment he heard Hiccup's sire leave the room. He had felt Hiccup stirring next to him, but had not wanted to disrupt Hiccup's meeting with his sire.

"Hiccup?"

Hiccup said nothing for the longest time.

"Not safe on ground. Bad two-legs get us."

Hiccup thought for a moment, looking hesitant and unsure about something. Then he made up his mind.

"Toothless, teach me flying."


	12. I - To Touch The Sky

" _Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return." – Unknown (misattributed to Leonardo da Vinci)_

* * *

To Touch The Sky

* * *

Toothless could not contain his excitement. His tail was wagging back and forth without restraint, and he kept glancing up at the entrance to the cave-den.

This was the sun that he would finally teach Hiccup how to fly! The sun when Hiccup would use his wings as they were meant to be used. And he knew the perfect place to show him.

 _True, I still need to fly myself, but I know what to do._

He gobbled down the last bit of fish.

"Now Hiccup? We go to friend-place."

Hiccup swallowed his mouthful of fish and looked around for his dad, only to remember that he was probably still at the meeting that he had called to discuss what the tribe was to do without all the Outcasts.

"Yes Toothless, we go now."

Together, they hopped out the window, this time with a lot more gracefulness on Hiccup's part, and set out for the forest. His arm already felt much better. It was probably only a strain. He barely even noticed it now when putting any weight on it.

Being honest with himself, he was rather excited, and a bit conflicted.

Flying was a very dragonish thing to do. Yes, it was very fun as his time flying with Toothless before his life had been completely changed had shown him. And he knew that he had to be able to fly to get out of bad situations. There was no point to having wings if he was not going to use them.

But…

It still seemed a bit like giving up. Another way of reminding himself that he was not human and likely would never be again.

They passed through the entire village and into the trees without noticing anyone.

"Toothless, is flying easy?"

"Not when learning. But you do not need thinking after you learn."

He was thinking about what Toothless said when they came across a small rope dragged across the path. Both of them stopped and looked at it and then each other. They knew what it was.

Hiccup looked around for the trap and easily found it. A board with spikes set to swing into the path when the rope broke.

 _I need to tell dad about this one._

They carefully walked around the trap and continued on toward the obvious destination.

Something else had been bugging Hiccup recently. He noticed how Toothless always slunk away from Stoick and never even tried to interact with him at all.

"Toothless, you happy now?"

"What?"

"You happy here?"

Toothless paused and turned to look at him, an uncharacteristically distant look on his face.

"I wish that I was big. Much small now."

That was understandable, but not really what he wanted to know about.

"What about my sire? You like him?"

Humph.

"He tried to hurt me. He does not think good about me."

It certainly did seem that his father tried to ignore Toothless as much as he could.

 _Is dad like that with all dragons or just Toothless? Maybe I should talk to dad about this too. I will get Toothless to trust him eventually._

He was about to ask Toothless another follow-up question when suddenly...

"We play now. You run."

That was all the warning Hiccup had before Toothless charged him with a mock-roar. And they were both off in a flash, running through the forest on the way to the cove, which they entered after arriving.

Toothless ran straight over to the rocks that he had climbed on before and Hiccup followed him.

Toothless wondered how to explain flying to Hiccup. With a normal kin learning to fly, most of it was instinctive with a little bit of practice. But Hiccup might not find it so easy.

"Hiccup, flying is like moving in water in the air."

 _So it is like swimming._

"Hold your wings out."

Hiccup did. It felt strange to stretch them so fully.

Toothless inspected his posture and grumbled at what he saw.

"No Hiccup, not like that."

He walked over and nosed Hiccup's wings backwards until he was satisfied with where they were.

"Tail."

 _Oh right._

Hiccup turned and looked at his tail and the fins, giving them a small flick.

 _What am I supposed to do with…_

He face-pawed.

Of course he remembered how to use the tail. After all, he had learned how to fly with Toothless once in a very different way and it was still the same concept. Make sure both fins were working together almost like they were pushing off of something.

At least that is how it seemed to feel when he had been on Toothless's back.

"Fly."

He tried, bringing his wings forward and thrusting them down roughly as he remembered Toothless doing. Then he looked at Toothless.

Toothless had a look that clearly said he was not amused.

"Not know better," Hiccup grumbled.

"Try like this."

Toothless jumped from the rocks, beating his wings in tandem and angling both fins slightly downward. He flew a bit wobbly and had to correct himself several times, but he still managed a single loop around the cove.

Hiccup shook his head in amazement. Toothless wasn't even a year old now, in a manner of speaking, and was already able to fly.

 _In fairness though he is just relearning something he already knew._

Toothless landed on the ground and hopped up to join him, looking very pleased with himself.

"Hiccup! I did it! I can fly again!"

"Yes, you did Toothless. Very good."

Hiccup looked out over the pond and stood on the edge.

 _Ok, this is it. It's go time._

He stretched his wings again, held his tail as he thought he should, took a deep breath, and jumped.

All he could see was the water racing up at him. He forgot about his tail and let it go limp as he flapped as hard as possible.

He fell with a shriek into the water.

Everything went silent and murky when he fell into the water. Almost against his will, he opened his eyes and was surprised that he did not mind having water in his eyes.

 _Strange._

The blue sky was warping all around above him when he looked up through the surface of the water.

He finally started paddling using his wings to cut through the water and push him up to the surface. He gasped in a deep breath when he broke the surface.

Toothless was standing at the shore, looking only slightly concerned about him.

Hiccup hauled himself out of the water and shook himself to get drier.

"No laugh, Toothless."

"Good for first try. Falling in water better than what I did my first try."

"What you do first try?"

"Fall in rocks."

"In rocks?" Hiccup winced.

"Yes. That hurt. You try again but like you are in water."

Hiccup remembered how easily he had swam through the water and how much push his wings had been able to give him.

 _Is it that simple?_

He hopped back up on the rocks and spread his wings again, determined to get it right this time. Three frantic flaps were all he managed before he lost control and flipped over again.

Toothless groaned when he saw the ripples spreading outward from where Hiccup had again disappeared.

 _This is going to be a long sun…_

By the fifth time that Hiccup crashed in the water, he began getting very frustrated with himself.

"Why very hard!" he growled at himself while shaking off the water yet again.

"What are you thinking about?" Toothless asked him.

"I hold wings out right, keep legs in, tail straight out and not low but need turn fins in air, wings need…"

"No! Not that!"

Toothless grumbled to himself. How best to describe it to Hiccup? Flying was not something that was thought about, but rather it was something that one just did. It was natural and instinctive, just like walking.

Maybe Hiccup did not have the instinct because… he wasn't meant to be a kin.

 _No, he can do it. He just needs… practice._

The thought that Hiccup was forever stuck as something he was not supposed to be made him feel bad, almost like he had done something that he should not have.

And there was still his concern about what Hiccup would do or say when he found out exactly why he was what he was.

"Hiccup, do you think when you walk?"

"Not think."

"Good, do like that."

 _Easy for you to say Toothless, you know what to do you useless…_

Aloud, Hiccup just grumbled.

"Watch!" Toothless called.

Hiccup sat down on the shore and watched as Toothless flew slow laps around the cove. He watched the way that Toothless's wings rippled as they cut through the air.

And he realized that he was actually jealous of how easily flying came to Toothless.

 _It makes sense, I guess. He is a real dragon after all._

With that thought, he remembered another matter he had been meaning to talk to Toothless about for a long time now. Specifically, the matter of what had happened to him back on Dragon Island. He now felt confident enough with dragon-speech to be able to talk with Toothless about that day.

He waited until Toothless came in for his landing and then padded over to him.

"Toothless, we talk now."

Toothless nodded once to acknowledge him while catching his breath.

"What… Hiccup?"

"Why I kin?"

"What?"

"Why I kin, not two-leg?"

Toothless froze, unsure of what to say.

"You know?" Hiccup asked him.

Could he lie? Tell Hiccup that he did not know and hope that it would all go away? Knowing Hiccup as he did, there was little chance that Hiccup would let this sleeping matter lie.

"Yes, I know."

Hiccup's eyes went wide with surprise.

"Tell me!" he demanded.

"I do not want to."

Hiccup blinked, thinking that he heard wrong. Toothless did not want to tell him?

"What? Why not?"

"Afraid."

That was very strange. Toothless almost never seemed afraid of anything. The last time he could remember Toothless being afraid of anything had to be when they flew against the giant monster on Dragon Island. And why would Toothless be afraid of telling him the truth?

"Not be afraid Toothless. Tell me."

Toothless closed his eyes and took a breath. This was the moment that could make him and Hiccup no longer nestmates.

"I did it."

"You did what?"

"I did this to us."

"But… you… why you make me a kin?"

"This or you be dead."

"What?"

"You fell. Your front was broken and your life-organ bones were showing. I saved us."

"By making me a kin!"

"I did not try that. I wanted to save you. I made us new."

Hiccup's look showed his complete confusion and a hint of anger, but his confusion was the greater.

"I not understand."

"Night-Fury-kin can make one thing be with much wanting. I made us start life new."

"From a kin-egg?"

"Yes, I save you from your two-leg body hurts. But I did not know this change would happen."

Hiccup stood up with a hopeful expression.

"Toothless, you made me kin. You make me two-leg now?"

"No."

"No?"

"I can only do the change one time."

Hiccup heard, but didn't believe it. Wouldn't believe it. Toothless had somehow done this to him and could not undo it!

He was stuck.

He groaned and collapsed with a sob.

Toothless just watched as Hiccup shuddered and sobbed on the ground.

"Why are you very sad?"

"I… not want… be kin. Should be two-leg."

"But you are… you should be happy. You are alive. You are my nestmate."

All of it began rushing through Hiccup's mind just as it had when first realized his predicament. His inability to talk, to do human things, to have a real relationship with Astrid, and many other things besides combined with his increasing certainty that they were gone forever.

"Hiccup, why do you want to be two-leg?"

He only grumbled in response. How could Toothless possibly understand? He had not been forced to change everything about his life!

"I cannot change you to a two-leg. But I can teach you how to be like me. Do not be angry at me."

Hiccup looked up at him upon hearing that.

"I… not angry. I wish other way…"

They lay together for a few minutes before Hiccup sighed in resignation. He got to his feet and dragged himself back over to the rocks.

 _I might as well just keep practicing. Flying does seem fun…_

Toothless watched as Hiccup meandered back over to the rocks. He felt like he had eaten a heap of bad meat or foul fish. He had made Hiccup feel sad again. But at least Hiccup was not angry at him. That is what really mattered.

He walked over to Hiccup who was busy inspecting his own wings.

"Hiccup, are you happy?"

"I not know. Maybe. I want fly…"

"Do not think. Want to fly and trust your wings."

Hiccup took a deep breath and prepared himself just as he had several times before. He imagined Toothless soaring on the winds. He imagined himself floating, swimming even, through the air.

And he jumped.

He closed his eyes and tried not to think about anything while letting his wings do what they were supposed to do.

"Hiccup!" he heard Toothless's distant call.

He opened his eyes and saw that he was gliding well above the surface of the water. Not only was he gliding, but he was not losing height.

 _I'm… flying!_

The cliff face in front of him was not a problem because he angled his fins almost without planning it and banked away from the rocks. The exhilaration of flight under his own power was almost too much for him. He let out a joyous roar, which Toothless echoed from below.

It felt like… all the troubles and worries that had bothered him just moments before were left on the ground. As if nothing could trouble him up here where he was supposed to be.

He felt free.

Then his wings started to feel wobbly. He felt himself starting to tip to the side and over-corrected. A massive downbeat arrested his fall just before he hit the ground. He still crashed on his belly and had to gasp to get back his breath, but it was definitely worth it.

He had just flown on his own! Sure it had only been for a few seconds, but still…

He could do it!

Toothless ran over eagerly and hopped onto him in his excitement. Hiccup groaned at the weight on his back.

"You did it Hiccup! You were flying!"

"Yes, off me."

Toothless complied.

"Fly again?" he asked.

Hiccup tried and failed to wipe the silly grin off his face.

"Yes!"

They ran up the rocks together and jumped at the same time. His second try was much smoother and better controlled than the first had been. He knew what to expect this time. He knew exactly how to adjust his fins when the breeze gusted unexpectedly.

His heart was absolutely racing with excitement and a little bit of fear. It was a long way to fall into the cove from here. But he was somehow sure that he would not fall.

Toothless swooped down and under him before looping up and over him.

 _Show off!_

His wings eventually started to ache from the exertion, and he started merely gliding. He watched as Toothless flew down to the ground to figure out how to properly land. It didn't seem too hard. Just flare the wings and land on the back feet first. How hard could that be?

He glided in toward the dirt and flapped just before touching down. This time he flipped head over tail and landed on his back.

Hiccup caught his breath and Toothless came over and stared at him.

"Better, but you need more flying and less falling."

He rolled his eyes.

"I know."

Toothless helped him roll right side up.

"I want eat," Toothless muttered.

They both got to their feet and walked out of the cove toward the village. It had been a long and tiresome day for both of them.

It was a very odd feeling for Hiccup, knowing that he could now fly somewhat under his own power. If anyone wanted to hurt him, he was now reasonably confident that he could simply escape into the sky.

How much more inhuman was he going to get as time went by? And how much should he care about that reality?

He glanced at Toothless who was happily trotting along next to him. Toothless had changed him somehow.

Dragons had… magic. There was no better word for it.

He was a dragon. Why didn't he himself feel this magic?

 _Wait!_

"Toothless, you tell me how I make change?"

"Hard to say. Like flying, you know how to do it when you need it."

He did not know how to do it. He could not feel anything about himself that was strange, aside from being a dragon of course.

"When can us-kin do change?"

"Only if you would let the winds take your life-breath, if you want more than life, then you might make change be."

That explanation did not help much.

 _Maybe I can figure it out eventually and then change myself back._

* * *

Stoick still fumed at himself. How had he missed it? How had he not known what was happening in his own tribe? That people had been so incensed by the presence of dragons that they had been willing to revolt against their own tribe and had to be seen off the island with force.

They were completely unable or unwilling to change.

And they had even hurt Hiccup.

How had he been so unaware? It was his job as Chief to know such things.

He rolled out of bed just after sunrise and went to get the day started. He went to the docks and picked up a fish, which he took back home and started to carve for Hiccup and Toothless.

Hiccup was standing there on the table when he got back, a message already written out for him.

 **We will be out today**

 **I want to do something**

He did not really want to let Hiccup out of his sights, but he took a breath and decided to trust Hiccup on this one.

"Ok, where are you going to go?"

 **The forest**

"You sure that is safe? There are still traps in there."

 **I know they are there now**

 **We will be safe**

He sighed, resigned to the fact that nothing would stop Hiccup from leaving if he really wanted to leave.

"Ok, just be careful. I'll get this fish ready for you two. I'm going to be talking to the tribe this morning about what happened yesterday and what we are going to do without the Outcasts."

Hiccup nodded and jumped down from the table before running back to his room.

He began to carve up the fish while wondering how to go about what else he had to do. He had to somehow figure out how the village was going to function after losing a not-inconsiderable number of people. There were chores that had to be divided up. Something had to be done about the now-empty houses.

There was also the matter of the treaty. He had agreed that someone, Astrid specifically, would travel to the other tribes and teach them how to be peaceful with dragons. And she would have to leave soon in order to keep the other Chieftains appeased.

He finished dicing the fish and left the breakfast on the table before heading out.

It was oddly quiet outside. Yes, he saw a few people up and about their chores, but a pall seemed to hang over the village.

At least the dragons that he could see looked content.

 _I guess I have to make a speech about yesterday and reassure everyone that we will be fine._

The dependable cooks already had some breakfast soup made. He sat down at his table in the Hall and watched as his tribe began to slowly enter.

Those that were absent were most conspicuous. It was not only the men whom he had banished, but also their wives and children who were not accounted for. Some of the women and children had left with their husbands and fathers. Others had not known in time before the ship had already been cast off.

For the first time that day, he felt a pang of guilt in his chest. It was his order that had banished the traitors and had broken the families. It was his order that left children of his own tribe without a father and women alone in their beds at night.

 _I had to do it though. The Chief must do what is necessary for the tribe, not what is pleasant… The traitors did this, not me._

He waited until he did not expect that the assembly could get any larger and then stood up.

"Everyone! As your Chief, I should talk to you about yesterday."

That got everyone's attention, and the paltry conversation that had been occurring died immediately.

"The Outcasts that we removed from our island, they were our brothers once. But they chose to revolt and to rebel against us. They turned their backs on us. That is not what we Nords do. We stick together. We stick with our own. They were going to hurt our pet dragons for no good reason. Worst, they even threatened Gobber and Ms. Hofferdottir."

"You see, they thought that we were the enemy because of what we have managed with dragons. They had to be made Outcasts for the good of the tribe. I did not like having to banish them, but a leader must sometimes do something that is necessary even if they do not want to do it."

"This will mean a bit more work for all of us to make up for those we have lost. But we will be even stronger than we were before. We are all family and we stand with each other!"

He finished his speech with a clenched fist head proudly in the air. Those gathered in the Hall seemed reinvigorated and gave him, and their tribe as a whole, a hearty cheer.

The matter of tribal morale being settled, he had one other major duty to attend to before the more mundane tasks consumed his time.

* * *

Astrid had decided to eat breakfast in her parents' house instead of eating in the Hall with the rest of the tribe. The events of the last few days were still too fresh in her memory. Neither of her parents objected either.

She was finishing up the last bit of her soup when a heavy knocking began pounding at the door. Astrid got up from the table and opened the door.

"Chief, good morning sir."

"Good morning Astrid, may I come in?"

"Of course Chief. My parents are around back right now, I'll go get them for you."

"Thank you Astrid."

He waited while she brought both her father Sigurd and her mother Vídarr back into the house. They were both very surprised and nervous to see their Chief under their own roof.

"Chief, to what do we owe the honor?" Sigurd asked while clasping Stoick's arm in the customary greeting.

Stoick gestured at the table, and everyone sat down at their chosen places.

"I've come about your daughter. There is something that I need her to do for the good of the tribe."

Astrid gasped and froze.

"We understand. Who have you chosen for her to marry?" Sigurd asked.

Stoick looked confused.

"Marry? This is not about marriage."

Astrid let out the breath that she had been holding.

"This is about the treaty I made with the Berserkers, Vaina, and Volsung. I agreed that we would send a representative to their islands and teach them how to act like we do around dragons. I chose your daughter to represent all of Berk."

Astrid felt her heart swell with pride and honor at being chosen for such an important mission. And this was a mission that was exactly what she actually wanted to do.

"Thank you sir. When do you want me to leave?"

"Within the week. I know you need time to get the Academy in order for when you will be gone and also to prepare for the travels. You will be away for weeks."

"That is ok sir, I can do it."

"I know you can Astrid. I and your parents are both very proud of you. Come and talk to me later when you are ready to hear everything that you must do."

"I will sir."

Stoick nodded once and turned to leave the Hoffer house. But not before nodding respectfully to Sigurd and Vídarr. They both glowed with pleasure at hearing their daughter receive such praise and honor from the Chief.

"Well dear, what an honor. You get to represent our entire tribe!" Sigurd said as he gave his daughter a hug.

"I know dad, I'll make you and mom proud."

"Silly," Vídarr grinned, "we are already proud of you, our little starling."

They remained in a group hug for a few moments before Astrid broke away.

"Well, I should get going. Got plenty of work to do."

Her parents bid her a good day, and she left home for her usual duties.

 _Hiccup will definitely want to hear about this._

* * *

Hiccup spent most of the day at Toothless's side getting instruction on finer points of flight. Things such as how the winds behave near cliffs and water and how the wind itself seems to flow up and down. That means constantly adjusting ones wings and fins to smoothly stay aloft. Toothless had him practicing above the same clifftop where he had once learned how to control Toothless's fin positions.

"How do you remember it all?" he asked.

"It is like walking. Do you think about moving each foot?"

"No, it happens."

"That is how you fly. You spend many suns flying and you stop needing thinking."

Toothless then got up from sunning himself with outstretched wings and hopped over to the cliff's edge. He gave Hiccup a beckoning nod.

"Follow me, we should fly."

Hiccup followed him up to the ledge and looked over at the crashing surf and jagged shoreline below. If he fell...

"No fear, this is a good sun for flying and the wind is soft."

Toothless then spread his wings and leapt from the ledge, easily finding lift in the easy winds coming off the ocean. Hiccup felt his heart clench and gulped in nervousness. But at the same time, he felt something calling him to the open sky before him. Some need to be up and off the ground.

He perched right on the edge with his wings outstretched. He paused and took a deep breath and then leapt.

Floating. The wind and air worked to hold him up against the falling pull.

None of the lessons could have prepared him for how it really felt.

Pure freedom. Liberation. Rightness.

He didn't need to consciously correct for the slight changes in the wind; it was as though his wings and tail had a mind of their own.

Toothless roared out in joy and banked down in front of him. He followed Toothless around a nearby sea-stack and a short distance out over the open ocean. Then Toothless turned around and flew back to the top of the cliff.

They alighted, more smoothly in Toothless's case, and collapsed to catch their breath.

"Hiccup! You fly! Much good," Toothless purred in happiness while he bumped his neck.

"Much fun, yes. I like flying."

"I knew you would. You only need not step on your own tail and flying is easy."

Both of them returned home in the late afternoon, quite exhausted and hungry after a day of flight. Hiccup checked for his dad, but he could not see him anywhere at home.

 _He is probably still busy. Maybe Astrid could help get us something to eat._

Hiccup left the house, Toothless in tow, and ran to the training ring.

 _Where are you?_

"Who are you looking for Hiccup?"

"Astrid."

Toothless grumbled a bit.

"Why do you want to talk to her much?"

"Because she my… what is word for someone who makes you happy and feel safe around?"

Toothless answered with a word he had not heard before. That had to mean a friend.

"My friend, that is what she is."

Toothless looked disturbed by something.

"But… I am your friend."

"Toothless, we spend all time together! I want time for me."

"Grr, that not it. You do not want to talk."

Hiccup angrily turned on Toothless.

"Yes, I do. But I want talk with her! We just fly together. Have time together. We need Astrid for fish."

Toothless actually growled at him and rolled his eyes.

"No, you do not need Astrid for fish. You… want her for…!"

Toothless growled something that he did not know. Even without knowing what Toothless said, Hiccup glared daggers at Toothless, who in turn huffed and ran away.

 _Why would he say that! He is so… selfish, so…_

"What do you know! You… little…!"

Still fuming, Hiccup started walking in search of Astrid. It was not fair of Toothless to expect that he have all his time.

 _I have a life of my own and…_

There was Astrid walking with Stormfly.

 _Finally!_

He ran up to her, and she quickly noticed his approach. She looked around to see if anyone was watching, and then gestured behind a house where they could talk in safety. They both sat down on the ground next to each other.

"Hiccup, is your arm feeling better?"

He nodded and then rolled his arm some to show that it was indeed better.

"Good, that is good. It is very strange having so many people gone from the village now. But, I think we will be happier in the future."

She paused when she noticed his expression.

"What is wrong, Hiccup? You look sad."

 **I am hungry and**

 **Had a fight with Toothless**

"You had a fight with Toothless? What about?"

 _Uh…_

 **Nothing**

Astrid fortunately did not ask.

"About the hungry part, I can help with that. I was actually going to go to the docks and get something to make some special stew. You want some?"

 _Me get a chance to try Astrid's cooking? Absolutely!_

He nodded vigorously while licking his lips to emphasize his point.

"Ok, can you come to my house at sundown? I'll have the stew ready for dinner. Don't worry about my parents, they will absolutely love to see you."

 **Will they try to hold me**

"Uh, maybe…" Astrid blushed, remembering that she herself had held Hiccup like a baby without knowing who he really was.

"I'll tell them not to handle you."

He smiled and nodded happily.

"There is something else Hiccup. Your father has asked me to leave Berk for a while."

Hiccup's wings flopped to the ground, and his face showed his complete confusion.

"The treaty he made with the other tribes means that I need to show the other tribes how to treat dragons well. They want dragons of their own, you see. So he picked me to go to them and… you know, spread the peace."

That was definitely a good thing. The only problem was that it would mean that Astrid would be gone from Berk. Who knew how long it would take for the other tribes to learn?

 **How long will you be gone**

"I'm not sure. Several weeks at least, probably more."

He hung his head. The soft whine that escaped his lips was completely involuntary.

"I'll be fine. Your dad will actually tell me more about what I am supposed to do."

 **I will miss you**

Of course Hiccup would miss her since she was one of only three people who knew his secret. He would not be able to talk to her when she was gone.

Was Hiccup trying to say that he still liked her? Because that would be…? Sweet? Strange? She did not know how she was supposed to feel about that.

"I'll miss you too Hiccup. I just have to do this for the tribe and for dragons."

Hiccup nodded reluctantly. Then he had an idea and began furiously scribbling.

 **What if I come with**

"Maybe you could help, but you have to get your father to agree. And how would you get there?"

Hiccup's smug look was unmistakable.

 **I fly**

"You… can… fly?"

In response, Hiccup turned away, flared his wings, and jumped with a massive heave. He did not pretend that it was glamorous or even smooth, because it was neither. Still, it was proper flying on his own power. He banked to the left in a wide arc around the house, his wings working without conscious direction, and came in for a landing, throwing out his rear legs.

 _Ok, don't crash. Don't crash._

He fell flat on his belly with an oomph and sheepishly looked up at Astrid.

She had a look of unmistakable amazement and a little bit of concern.

"Wow, are you alright?"

He rolled his eyes and grumbled while miming her question as though he was trying to talk.

"Yep, you're definitely fine. But you just flew! Oh gods, Hiccup can fly now. What… what is it like?"

 **Very good**

 **It makes me feel happy**

"That is not surprising. Just gotta land a bit better next time, huh?"

 **Yep it is harder than it looks**

Astrid scratched her head, deep in thought.

"It would help if you could come. You could answer their questions to show them how smart dragons can be. No one would even ever know who you really are."

He nodded eagerly. It was a perfect idea!

"So you go talk to your father, and I'll go get the soup ready for this evening then. Deal?"

Hiccup held out a tiny paw toward Astrid, which she took and gingerly shook to agree upon their plan.

They went their separate ways after wiping out the runes, and Astrid walked on to the harbor. Sador's fishing boat was about to come in, and the men were preparing to bring their haul ashore. A couple of the local wild dragons as well as Hookedfang were visible in the sky flying away from the docks. She approached when the ship landed, and Sador stepped onto the docks.

"Sador, how went the fishing?"

"Splendid as usual Astrid. They," he nodded at the skies, "always know where to find the fish."

"Good, I was wondering if you had anything that I could take right now. I want to make something for the Chief's little dragons."

"Something for our little Furies, of course of course. Only the best for them."

He hopped back aboard and began digging in a couple barrels.

"Ah, here you go Astrid. These should make a fine meal for them."

"Thank you Sador, I'm sure they will."

The makings of the stew in hand, a fat salmon and a striped, yellow eel, she walked back to her home.

Once there, the potatoes, vegetables, and catches all went into the pot and would simmer over the fire for several more hours. After ensuring that the stew needed little further attention, she set out to find Stoick in order to find out the remaining details of her upcoming work.

* * *

Toothless spent the rest of the sun-cycle flying above the cave-nests. Building up endurance was very important for a near-yearling. Before Hiccup shot him from the sky, he had been able to stay aloft for an entire sun-cycle if the wind was cooperative.

Practicing flying also let him get away from Hiccup.

Hiccup was being so… frustrating. It felt a bit like how Hiccup had to leave every cycle back after they first met each other. Hiccup seemed happy when playing with him now, but always seemed more somber and sad around Astrid. Why was that? A friend was someone who should make one happy.

 _Does he still think of her as a will-be-mate? That would be… very wrong._

Yet, it was probably the case. Hiccup was being difficult because of his unique situation.

All the thoughts of comparing Hiccup to bad-wrong-snake-fish vanished as he was once again reminded that he was ultimately responsible for Hiccup's problems.

He sighed as he started to feel exhausted from the flying.

 _Maybe I am not being patient enough with him. It is not easy for him to talk to her now because he needs picture-words._

He could not see Hiccup anywhere, and it was starting to get dark.

 _I should tell him I am sorry._

Toothless ran back to home-nest and nosed his way inside.

"Hiccup?"

There was no answer from anywhere in the house.

 _Nap time until he gets back._

He hopped up onto the animal skin bed and resolved to wait for Hiccup to return.

* * *

"No. Absolutely not."

Hiccup's expression showed how taken aback he was by his father's answer. He sat down and then held his arms out in the universal gesture of pleading.

His dad just shook his head again.

"It is too dangerous. You just got hurt a few days ago."

 **My arm is not bad**

 **I can help Astrid**

"How? What could you do that would not give your secret away?"

 **I pretend you taught me to write and understand**

"That would still give it away. And Astrid would surely figure it out then. She is not an idiot."

Hiccup growled and clenched the pencil very tightly.

 **Why would it be so bad**

 **If others found out**

"Son! You were turned into a dragon! Don't you know how scary that is? We don't know what happened to cause this!"

Hiccup almost answered when he realized that it might not be a good idea to say that Toothless was the reason why he was a dragon.

"It will be dangerous out there with strange tribes and dragons that are not like the ones here on Berk. I can't have you getting hurt. You don't know how unreasonable people can be with magic."

 **Why**

"Because dragons are something they know how to fight back against. Magic is mysterious and dangerous. What are they supposed to do if dragons start changing more people into… them?"

Hiccup grumbled indistinctly and hung his head. Once again, his dad's words made sense in a way.

"I don't mean to yell at you, you just have to understand how bad it would be if everyone else found out what happened to you."

 **And when you get me changed back**

 **What will we say then**

 **Where was I all that time**

 **They will know eventually**

"I don't know. We will… sail that sea when we come to it."

Neither of them said anything for a while.

"So, are we clear son?"

Hiccup nodded sadly, and Stoick stood up from the table.

"Good! I have to go talk to Astrid about the trip. Then it's to the Hall for dinner. It's lamb tonight, you want me to bring back any?"

Hiccup shook his head.

"Not hungry then, ok. Be sure to get some rest so your arm can get better."

And like that, his dad was gone from the house.

 _Why won't he let me go? He is so paranoid._

 _._

 _I guess that is understandable though. There has been a lot of bad stuff that happened recently. I just wish he would trust me._

He got to his feet and walked over to the door. At least his dad had left the door cracked open so that he could easily get out. To pass the time, he started walking around the village and observing everyone around him. He saw Fishlegs walking out of Gobber's shop.

Gobber.

That is who he could spend some time with. He ran over to the smithy and was very surprised when Gobber looked around nervously and beckoned him inside.

"Hiccup, I think I should tell you that Fishlegs suspects something. About you. He told me that he thought he saw you writing to Astrid. He told me that he thought he was seeing things."

 _Oops, well it could be worse._

"You know how Fishlegs is. Very… book-smart and very curious. He might go ask your father what is going on."

 _Ok, it could definitely be worse._

Hiccup looked around for some paper.

 **Dad still wants me secret**

 **But people will find out eventually**

"If your father gave you an order, then you should not break it."

 **I did for you**

"Eh, ignore that one. The point is that people can't know that you were turned into a dragon."

Hiccup thought hard and grinned when he came up with the solution.

 **What about I am just a dragon then**

 **And dad taught me how to write**

 **No one would know who I am**

Gobber rubbed his chin in thought.

"That might just work. It would still be very shocking to many of the people. But on the other hand, only the dragon-friendly people are still here. Hiccup, are the rest of the dragons as smart as you?"

 **Toothless is**

 **I do not know how to talk to the others**

"I just wonder now," Gobber mused, "about all the things that we have done over the years. I mean, just think about me. All I have done is build the weapons we used to fight dragons and I taught people to fight dragons."

 **We thought we had to back then**

"Aye, I know that. I just feel like we never really knew what we were against. And then you and Toothless changed everything."

Gobber then looked around having just noticed something.

"Speaking of Toothless, where is he? I thought you two went everywhere together."

 **We had a fight**

Gobber lifted an eyebrow.

"Oh really, your first ever fight with your brother, eh? What was it about?"

Hiccup froze.

A brother.

 _He called Toothless my brother…_

Was he? Was that a fair way to describe them?

They obviously did not have the same parents. They were only related to each other in any way through the most magical and bizarre circumstances imaginable. Yes, they were friends, but brothers…

He had no brother before and did not really have anything to compare this to.

"Hiccup? Midgard to Hiccup," Gobber was waving his palm in front of Hiccup's nose to get his attention.

 **About how I spend time**

"How you spend time? I don't understand."

 **I want to spend time with Astrid**

"Nothing wrong with that. She knows about you and you two were friendly before… well, you know."

 **Toothless doesn't understand**

"Did you try to explain it to him?"

 _Uh, I didn't really get a chance. But.._.

"Oh well, I'm sure you two will work it out. I remember how my brother and I would steal the blanket off each other in the middle of winter, put dead rats in each other's boots, and punch each other just to show how strong we were. Good times. And when we were both grown up, I never once doubted that he had my back."

 **What did you do about the fights?**

"Well, they just kind of got resolved. Some never did actually. To this day, I swear that he stole my favorite helmet, but that is beside the point. The point is that he was my brother, and I knew that I can always rely on him. No matter if we had to spend months and years apart."

"Gobber, are you in there?" a voice called out.

Gobber turned and shooed Hiccup into hiding behind a workbench.

"Sador, is that you?"

"Aye, do you have nails for the ships? It's about time for repairs."

"Sure, right over there."

Sador grabbed the bag of nails after inspecting them.

"Thanks Gobber."

He left a moment later.

"Well, Hiccup, I guess I have some work to get back to. How is the arm by the way?"

 **It is better now.**

Gobber grunted in acknowledgment. Hiccup hopped down from the table and set out for Astrid's house. It was already late and dinner had to be almost ready. It had better be ready at least.

 _This is strange, I've never been to her house before. I wonder how to do this._

He walked up to the shut door and considered how to get their attention. The best he could come up with was to rap on the door and hope that they could hear him.

 _This is going to look so strange to them. Ok, be an innocent little dragon now…_

Knock. Knock.

He heard the sound of footsteps walking over to the door.

And there stood Astrid's mother Vídarr. She looked around for a moment before noticing the tiny dragon sitting on her porch.

"Oh, you are adorable. Did you just knock?"

Hiccup did not answer other than by tilting his head to the side and looking happy. Which he was.

"Astrid, there is a little dragon at our front door."

"Coming," Astrid shouted.

Hiccup let himself in and walked toward the living room while surveying the surroundings. It was very different from his own house. There were more furs and flowers decorating the house. The walls were absolutely covered in family portraits and ceremonial weaponry. Even despite the dimming evening light, the entire house was brightened by the light from the candles and fireplace.

It seemed a much cheerier and brighter place.

"Why is there a baby dragon in our living room?"

"Mom, you remember I said that he might come by."

"How would you know that might happen?"

"One moment."

Astrid stepped around the corner, and Hiccup had to prevent his jaw from going slack. She was in her nightgown and had her hair let down. He could not remember her ever letting her hair down in public. But of course this was not in public.

She silently beckoned him into the kitchen, and he followed numbly.

He saw all three of the Hoffers gathered around the dinner table with a large, steaming pot at the center of the table.

"Astrid, what is a dragon doing in our house?" Sigurd asked.

"He is going to join us for dinner."

Her parents exchanged a look of confusion.

"What is wrong with just giving it some fish outside? And what if it makes a mess in here?"

"Dad, he is not going to make a mess in here."

"But, it is a dragon dear. We shouldn't have pets in our kitchen."

"Mom, dad, he is not a pet. He is much, much smarter than a pet."

Again, her parents were confused.

"Hiccup, come up here," Astrid addressed him while patting on a free chair which he jumped onto.

"Astrid, what is going on? You are talking to a dragon!"

"Because he can understand me! Well… some of what I say."

Both of her parents began staring at him. He felt like shrinking into the cushion on the chair to escape their intense gaze.

"Let me show you," Astrid said as she looked away.

"Hiccup, are you hungry for fish stew?"

He nodded once.

"You could have trained it to do that," Sigurd objected.

"Tell it to use a spoon," he continued.

Before Astrid had a chance to reply, Hiccup stood up on his hind legs and rested his arms on the table. He reached over and picked up the spoon in a paw.

Both of her parents gasped in amazement.

"It… is true, the dragon really understands you," Sigurd admitted.

"They are much smarter than we thought they were. At least Night Furies are," Astrid said as she stood up and poured a generous serving of the stew into the bowl which she set aside for Hiccup.

Hiccup looked at the juicy fish stew and could barely wait to dig in. The only problem was how to actually eat it. Using the spoon would take far longer than if he could just attack the soup directly, but it would probably be far less messy. He made a point of looking from the spoon, to the soup, and to Astrid's still-dumbstruck parents.

"I think he doesn't want to use a spoon," Astrid noted.

"Uh… here then, have him use this rag," Vídarr mumbled.

Astrid lay the rag under the bowl and moved both to the edge of the table for him. Hiccup smiled at the three of them, licked his chops, and then buried his face in the stew.

"I've never seen anything like this before," Sigurd muttered at the sight of a dragon eating in a relatively civilized manner at his dinner table.

"If you think that is amazing, there is something even better. Don't tell anyone else, but I think he might be able to learn to write."

Hiccup paused in slurping down the soup to grin at how clever Astrid was. She had just made it possible for him to be somewhat himself around her parents and maybe eventually write without it being too shocking to them. That would be progress. Maybe eventually his own dad would be as reasonable and let him talk to others.

But for now, the soup had to be dealt with to the satisfaction of his belly. He also spied what he thought were some potatoes and carrots in the soup. Those did not have nearly as much taste as the fish though.

 _All in all, a very satisfying soup. Sure, this is my first soup in about a year, but still…_

The bowl eventually emptied and his belly filled, he stepped back from the table after wiping his chin on the rag and curled up on the chair.

 _I need to tell her how good that was._

In fact, it was either so good or he had eaten so much that he started feeling a bit light-headed and sleepy. He hastily hopped down from the table and ran over to the door, which he started pushing on. Naturally, it would not budge.

"It's ok, I got it," Astrid said while getting up.

She ran over to the door and opened it for him.

"Are you going home?" she whispered.

Yes, he nodded.

"Ok, I hope you liked the stew."

He smiled back to her and nodded again. Astrid went back inside, and he set out for home. It was harder than he thought it would be. Based on his growing shivers, the night was much cooler than he thought it would be. His stomach then growled at him, which was odd since he just ate very well.

 _Hmm, maybe my belly doesn't like vegetables. Probably not normal dragon food. Or maybe I'm just sleepy._

It had been a long day after all. He nudged open the door and stumbled to his room. Toothless was already sound asleep in the bed. He grumbled a bit at seeing Toothless, but his stomach took his attention off his frustration with his friend. He curled up on the edge of the bed with a blanket partially covering him.

 _I just need to sleep. I'll feel better in the morning._


	13. I - Business

" _It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages" – Adam Smith - The Wealth of Nations_

* * *

Business

* * *

Hiccup did not feel better in the morning.

In fact, he did not even fall asleep that night. His stomach pains grew steadily worse, and he kept shivering despite being back in the warm house. It was after everyone had gone to sleep and the moon was very high in the sky that he felt a tingling in the back of his throat.

 _Oh… no!_

He stumbled off the bed with a crash and tried to run down the hall to the door. But he could not see well at all. Everything was covered in a strange red mist and was twisting and bending in the mist. Bright spikes of light flashed and hurt his eyes. The hall that was straight in front of him suddenly turned to his left and then disappeared entirely before reappearing.

Was there something crashing along behind him too?

It wasn't clear if he was hearing silence, a buzzing sound, a loud crashing and clanging, or all three at the same time.

He stumbled face-first into a shut door. The front door.

 _No. Not good._

He frantically looked around for anything that would help. Thankfully, there was a pot on the floor in the kitchen.

He made it just in time.

A minute later, he lay moaning with absolutely no energy on the ground next to the pot. The taste of sick in his mouth was disgusting, but there was no water with which to wash himself. The twisting world around him gradually subsided, and the pounding in his head became almost bearable.

"Hrchph… Hichu… Hiccup!"

He forced open his bleary eyes and focused on the dark shape in front of him. Legs, arms, wings, a tail.

"Toohleth…"

Toothless felt very bad for Hiccup's sake. Hiccup had obviously eaten something very bad. He tiptoed over to the container and took a sniff. He blanched as several bad smells reached his nose. Something in the container, other than the foul-stomach-water, smelled very wrong to him. It smelled bad, wrong, and almost like fish. His eyes went wide, and he hopped back from the container with a growl in recognition.

Bad-wrong-snake-fish!

Why had Hiccup eaten bad-wrong-snake-fish? Every kin knew that those… things… were vile, disgusting, and a plague on all that is good. Every kin except for Hiccup it seemed.

"Hiccup, are you better?"

"Yes, head hurts," Hiccup mumbled.

"You ate bad-wrong-snake-fish."

"What?"

"The not-fish you gave me in friend-place and I not eat."

Hiccup groaned in realization.

 _Oh, there was eel in the soup. Now I know why dragons don't eat eel._

He started to struggle to his feet but was too weak.

"Toothless… you get… my sire?"

"Yes Hiccup, I will."

Toothless ran down the hall toward the place where Hiccup's sire slept. He stood up against the logs covering the entrance and began making as much noise as he could. His lungs were still far too small to make a noise that would carry any great distance. He hoped that his barking and yowling was loud enough to wake Hiccup's sire.

It was.

He heard the heavy footfalls on the cave floor and backed away from the opening.

Stoick grumbled heavily when he was awoken. Still in the haze after waking, he did not quite grasp that the noise had to mean something bad. He flung the door open and looked down.

In spite of the darkness, he could see the young dragon before the door.

"Hiccup?"

The dragon huffed at him, turned tail, and ran down the hall. That was odd.

He gruffly followed into the living room and from there into the kitchen. He grimaced at the smell.

"What the…?"

That is when he noticed the other dragon laying on his belly next to a bucket and a disgusting mess.

Hiccup was obviously very sick.

"Hiccup, what happened?"

It was actually a rather dumb question since Hiccup had obviously vomited. He had to have eaten something that was bad for him.

 _Oh Thor, what should I do? How bad is it!_

He thought back to several occasions when Valka had tended to a sick and miserable baby Hiccup. For one, he needed to get Hiccup cleaned up and back to bed. And some liquids would help too.

"Are you feeling better?"

A faint whimper and a slight nod were the only responses he got.

"Ok, stay right here. I'll be right back with water and to… get you cleaned up."

He ran out of the house not a moment later.

It was just the two of them in the house now. Despite the smell, Toothless padded over to Hiccup and sat down in front of him.

"Hiccup, I was wrong."

"What?"

"I should not have said what I said. You should have time with Astrid. She is a kin to you."

He paused before continuing.

"I do not understand why you want to… with her."

"What? I not know word," Hiccup mumbled.

"Make eggs with her."

Hiccup groaned again. Why couldn't Toothless understand that it wasn't about… that?

"I like her, Toothless."

"What? How are you like her?"

Hiccup moaned at how confounding language could be.

"No… not like her. I… grr… not know how talk."

"Is hitting part of the two-leg mating?"

"Not now," Hiccup grumbled before laying back down in exhaustion.

They waited in silence for Stoick to get back. The brief conversation that they had did not, in Toothless's mind, explain any of Hiccup's strange behavior around Astrid. But, he now realized that he did not have to understand everything Hiccup did. He simply had to accept it and trust that Hiccup would not reject him or completely abandon him for Astrid.

At least, knowing that Hiccup did not hate him for what he had done on fire-island did a lot to reassure him.

The front door burst open, and Stoick marched in with a bucket full of water and a soaking rag. He poured some of the water into a mug and then walked over to Hiccup.

"Ok, I'll get you cleaned up. Come here."

His dad brought out a large and dry cloth, which he then used to dry him off.

"Here, drink some water and then I'll take you to your bed."

Hiccup complied, softly lapping at the water in the mug. It helped him feel a lot better, though his headache was still bad and he felt weak everywhere.

"Do you need me to carry you?"

It was very strange to hear his dad's voice being so tender and concerned. He got to his feet and tried to walk, but was very exhausted. His body didn't seem to want to obey his command. So he swallowed his pride, or what was left of it, and nodded to his dad, who cradled him in his arms and gently carried him down the hall to his room with Toothless in tow.

"Just go to sleep. I'll clean up everything, and I'll bring you a little food in the morning. You can tell me what happened tomorrow."

Hiccup nodded gratefully and settled for giving his dad a quick pat on the wrist to show his appreciation. Then he burrowed back into the blankets to sleep and Toothless joined him.

Toothless knew that nothing that had happened was life-threatening. With all the bad-wrong-snake-fish out of Hiccup's belly, he would be able to sleep well.

Before he himself drifted off to sleep, he couldn't help but wonder why Hiccup had eaten that vile thing at all. Even hatchlings that never had any experience with foods of the world knew that those things were not meant to be eaten. It was definitely not a mistake that Hiccup would ever make again. Maybe they could laugh about it one sun.

* * *

"How are you feeling?" Stoick asked.

Hiccup nodded and smiled happily as he climbed out of bed and walked into the kitchen. He still felt a bit weak, which made sense considering that he had been so sick just yesterday, but just a bit of food ought to help make him feel better.

"That is good. You looked very bad yesterday. Any idea what it was?"

Hiccup paused while slowly chewing the fish his father had carved for him. He could not tell the truth, that he had eaten at Astrid's house, since that would look very suspicious.

 **Bad fish and potatoes I guess**

"Must have been. I didn't know that dragons got sick. None of ours have been as far as I know. Are you sure you are alright?"

 **Yes Dad**

 **Hungry though**

"Well, eat up then. You should stay inside and rest. I have a lot of work in the village today. We are going to be building a few new buildings and changing empty houses to ones that dragons can live in."

That sounded like a very welcome plan. Not all the buildings were large enough for the dragons to enter. Nightmares and Nadders especially could not fit through the doors and had to sleep either in the stables or outside.

 **I can help with that**

 **Let you know what they like**

"Maybe, for now though I will get Astrid to help design the new stables. You just stay here and get better."

Then his dad stood up and left the house. Toothless came forward a moment later.

"Hiccup, we talk now?"

"Yes Toothless, you helped me. I am happy you help me."

Toothless purred in happiness.

"Why did you eat bad-snake-wrong-fish?"

"I did not know about it. It was in the… water-fish-food that Astrid gave me."

"You did not know what you were eating?"

"I made mistake."

"Did it not taste bad?"

"Maybe little different, but I thought it was because she made it."

"Now you know why I did not eat it."

"Yes, I will not eat that again."

"Good, you learned. How do your wings feel after flying?"

He ruffled them slightly.

"They hurt a little, but it is good hurt."

"Keep flying every sun and they get very strong. Then we can fly much and have fun."

"That sounds good but I need sleep right now."

"You sleep. I will go fly."

They hopped down from the table and went their separate ways, Hiccup to bed to recover his strength and Toothless out the door to practice flying.

* * *

"Everyone ready?"

He heard two roars from above.

"Alright, lift now!"

He gave the signal and both Astrid and Snotlout's dragons began to beat their wings faster, straining to lift the weight they were burdened by. The beam slowly rose into the air. The two dragons knew the routine by now, having done this several times already.

Working together, they managed to position the cross-beam directly along the length of the barn. The planks creaked and groaned when they came in contact. Several men hopped up with hammers and nails. Stormfly and Hookedfang winged away from the structure, looking quite pleased with themselves.

Stoick crossed his arms as his men kept working. The barn, intended for the Hrafn family's Nightmare, Rendwing, was going up very quickly with the dragons' help. A task of this size would have taken several days without the dragons.

"That's the second one today Stoick. At this rate, I need more help with the forge. I'm running out of nails," Gobber bemoaned.

"That's a good problem to have. I'll see about sending one of the kids to you later to work the forge."

They looked around the village at all the various activity. Men and women were carrying baskets of fish, dragons were aiding in construction and peacefully lounging about in the midday heat, and children were running around without fear.

Stoick closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. It finally hit him how… good all this was. His was becoming a tribe of peace and happiness. There was no fear between the humans and dragons.

 _Is this what you would have made, my love? If only you had not been taken…_

Something swooped closely over both of them. A very fast and small black shape. The little Fury made loops in the sky over the village and wove around the tops of the homes.

"Woah Stoick! That's one of yours! Beautiful isn't he?"

"Yep, that would be Toothless."

"Really, how can you tell? They look almost the same."

"Well, the other one is sick."

"What? He is sick?" Gobber looked genuinely concerned.

"It wasn't pretty, I'll say that. He is sleeping right now."

"I hope he feels better soon… he is one smart dragon."

"What? What do you mean by that?" Stoick wheeled on him.

"I mean what I said. He looks really smart for a dragon. Like he is actually listening whenever you talk to him. Say, how smart do you think they actually are?"

"Uh, well… very smart."

"Yeah, I agree," Gobber muttered.

They stood awkwardly without saying anything else.

"Oh, by the way Stoick, did you hear about the ship that finally came into port?"

"No Gobber, which one was it?"

"It's trader Johann's ship."

Stoick immediately forgot about everything going on around him.

 _Trader Johann…_

If anyone had heard stories about magic in foreign lands, it had to be him.

"I need to go see our guest."

He ran off before Gobber could reply. There was already a small gathering of people down by the docks. Johann's annual visits to Berk were one of the highlights of the year. He brought trinkets and all manner of items from foreign lands. More than the stuff though, it was the news that he brought that most people were interested in.

Gossip about other tribes and the goings-on in the mainland was mainly obtained through the few travelers they received. And Johann had a history of telling very good tales and bringing many items to trade.

"Is that who I think it is? Why yes it is! My favorite Chief of Berk!" Johann cheerfully announced at his approach.

"The one and only. Trader Johann, it's good to see you again. We were beginning to wonder when you would actually get here this year."

Johann laughed.

"Don't worry about me, the dragons haven't gotten me."

 _He doesn't know yet…_

"Are we your first stop in the Nordic Isles?"

"Indeed you are, my favorite tribe! You don't do the… unpleasant things that other tribes farther down south like to do. Climb aboard and see my wares."

Everyone started to do so. Johann walked straight over to Stoick with a small stoppered-bottle in hand.

"Say, where is your son? He is always the first one here, and I've brought a supply of ink for him just as always."

"Johann, he is dead."

Johann's usually cheerful demeanor fell almost instantly.

"Oh, I didn't know. I'm sorry about that. Truly, I am. I liked that kid. Here, take the ink, I was going to cut him a very good deal on it, but there is no point trying that now."

Stoick reached into his pocket and handed Johann a single gold coin. Far more than the inkwell was possibly worth.

"What is this for?"

"Payment and appreciation for the service you do to our island. No, don't try to give it back. Please come up to my place tonight. I have a… proposition that I would like to talk to you about."

The firmness with which he made the request made it absolutely clear that this was a very serious matter.

"Chief, I will see you after I finish all this business and get some food in your Hall."

"I look forward to it Johann."

He looked out past Johann at the approaching blue-green Nadder. Even from a distance, Astrid was clearly visible on Stormfly's back.

"Oh, there is one more thing Johann. We don't fight dragons anymore."

"Really? Finally found the nest after all these years then?"

"Nope, we do this," he pointed behind Johann.

The trader's eyes went fearfully wide when he heard the sound of approaching wings. He wheeled around in fright and stared dumbly at the approaching dragon and girl on its back. His gaze tracked the duo as they flew over the docks and above the cliff towards the village.

"What did I just see?"

"We ride dragons now. You don't need to worry about them. They won't hurt you if you don't threaten them."

"I don't believe it…"

"Believe it."

The clearly-perturbed Johann was swarmed with people looking to trade now that their Chief had stepped away. To his credit, he went right back into trading-mode and was able to carry on his business despite the revelation. On the way back to the village, Stoick kept running over how to approach this upcoming conversation.

Everyone was very cheerful at dinner that evening. Many had acquired new items from the trader as what they considered to be very good prices. Johann had seemed rather awed by the sight of dragons peacefully flying in and out of the village. Perhaps he had given them good deals because of the amazing inhabitants of the village.

Or maybe he was just a shrewd trader.

"Stoick, what did you get from him? I got a few books on smithing down on the mainland," Gobber announced.

"Oh, nothing much really. Just some ink."

"Ink? What for?"

"…writing…"

Gobber nodded. He knew the real reason why Stoick needed new ink.

"That makes sense. Well, I'm going to head out and give Astrid a bit of advice. She is leaving soon, right?"

"One of these days."

Stoick left soon thereafter. He walked past the table where Johann was busy chatting with a table of eager listeners. He tapped Johann on the shoulder once to remind him of his agreement. Then he headed home.

He briefly checked in on Hiccup and saw him sound asleep. Having done that, he walked into the living room and sat down. There was nothing else that he needed to do.

So he waited and thought about how this was likely his last hope for Hiccup.

All traces of sorcery had been driven from the Nordic lands generations ago. There were records of the cleansing in the old scrolls. All the Chieftains had formed a council and agreed to end the sorcerers who were obviously either in league with the dragons or controlling the devils.

The bonfires and dogs had been very hungry in the weeks that followed.

Everyone had shrugged-off the fact that eliminating the witches had not helped with the dragon problem.

Now he had to rely on there being a real sorcerer out there who would be willing to help him with Hiccup's dragon problem. And Johann was the only person who might know where to find such a person.

 _Hiccup needs me to do this. I cannot fail him._

He heard a knock on the door.

 _Ok, time to do this._

"Johann, good to see you!"

"Chief Stoick, thank you for inviting me to your island. It is always a pleasure doing business here."

"I'm glad that you enjoy it here so much. Come here to the table. Share a drink with me."

He filled two Chief-sized mugs, the foamy cream spilling over the brims. They sat down together and clanged the mugs together loudly, spilling the liquid gold over the table.

They both downed their respective mug and filled up a second one.

"So Chief, how may I help you?"

"You get around a lot, don't you Johann?"

"Of course I do."

"What are some of the strangest stories you have ever heard? Anything magical?"

"Well, there are stories about strange and fantastic beasts. I'm not sure that much can top what you have on this island though. Anything in particular?"

"Some of my people are very superstitious as you can imagine. Ever since we have brought dragons into our village…"

"An amazing thing indeed. I hope I can meet some of them tomorrow. I've never met a nice dragon before."

"That can be arranged. Ever since dragons became part of our lives, some of my men have… get this… started telling stories about people getting turned into dragons."

Johann raised an eyebrow and chuckled heartily.

"It is truly bizarre of course, but the idea is still very powerful. There is something I want you to do for me."

"What is it Stoick?"

"I want you to find a sorcerer."

Nothing was said between them for a long time. Then Johann deliberately set down his mug.

"That is quite a strange request."

"I know how it must sound."

"You know what happens to anyone who is associated with sorcery! I know what happened in the cleansing."

"That will not happen here obviously."

"Oh sure, what reassurance could I possibly have of that?"

"Those days are behind us. Maybe other tribes are still like that, but we are not. We made peace with the dragons and we do not raid other tribes. I also have no reason to get rid of you when you are so good for my tribe."

"True. Why would you even want a sorcerer?"

.

"Wait, you… you think that someone was changed into a dragon."

"Nah, as you said that would be very strange. It is more what people think that matters. If I knew who to turn to, I might be able to reassure people that they don't need to fear. If they knew that there was a 'cure' for being turned into a dragon, that would shut up the grumbling."

He knew that it was a very poor argument, but it was the best that he could come up with.

Johann ran a finger around the rim of the mug for a while before answering.

"Even if I did know a sorcerer, what is in it for me or for them? Why would they want to help you?"

"I could pay you."

"I am a successful trader. I do not lack coin."

Stoick reached under the table and pulled out a small bag. He dropped it on the table with a metallic clang. They both stared at each other, the tension building.

"Gold. More coin than you would make in ten years of trading here. You take that now as a down-payment."

"Gold is a language that everyone understands. What exactly do you want me to do?" Johann replied as he inspected the bag's contents.

"Find a sorcerer, a real one, and convince them to come to me. Promise them whatever they need. Give them this."

Stoick pulled out a dagger inscribed with the Berk crest and the Haddock family insignia.

"This will let them know that they will not be harmed. On my family honor. Do you think you can do this for me?"

Johann took a breath and leaned forward in his chair.

"I might know someone... who knows someone who could… arrange… something. Mind you, it will take a long time. I have to finish my trading voyage, sail home, send to meet the right people, get their trust, meet with them, and pay them. Then it is up to them to sail here."

"How long?"

"A year, maybe two. I cannot do better than that."

 _Two more years of Hiccup being trapped like this…_

"That is all I can ask for Johann. I knew you could help me. And I trust that no one, and I mean no one, else will hear about this arrangement."

He extended his arm to offer Johann the traditional arm-hand shake to mark a formal agreement. It felt right to do so even though Johann was not properly a Nord like them.

"Of course no one else will know about it. It's not the kind of deal that it is a good idea to talk about publicly. Ha, a Norse Chief on an island filled with friendly dragons wants to bring a sorcerer onto his island. I had no idea how strange this day would be."

"Oh, have another one with me while you are here. Everything makes more sense after you have enough mugs."

"I don't normally drink that much Stoick, but this is a special day…"

He took the extra drink and began to speak more freely about such topics as the wars of far-away lands, womenfolk, the dragons he had already seen on Berk, and many other topics which he immediately forgot. Two mugs later, Johann had to be supported by a still-sturdy Stoick on the way down to the hut where he and his few deckhands were bunking for the night.

"Whel Shtoick, thiss has bhen… good day."

"Ah get to bed you silly man."

"I thingk I whil just do thaht…"

Johann was snoring on the ground moments later.

It was a bit hard for him to accept as he walked back home. It could take years for Johann to arrange the meeting and get a sorcerer sent to save Hiccup.

And what was he supposed to do in the meantime?

Wait.

* * *

Hiccup woke up early in the morning and felt very good. He happily stretched and yawned.

It was going to be a good day, he knew it. His belly felt completely better, if a little empty. That could be easily fixed.

"Hiccup, you are up!"

Toothless hopped on his back. He growled happily and began nipping at Hiccup's ears. A mock-fight ensued, sending blankets and pillows everywhere. The battle ended with Hiccup pinned under Toothless's paws as always seemed to happen.

"We should get food Toothless," Hiccup whipped Toothless with his tail for emphasis.

"Good idea."

They bounded into the kitchen. Only, there was nothing there for them. Hiccup could hear the sounds of snoring from his dad's bedroom.

"We need fish. Eat."

They began nosing about the kitchen, eventually finding the basket. Unlike months before, it was easy for him to push the basket over and drag out the largest fish since they had grown a lot.

He considered how to eat the fish properly and in a civilized way. He looked at his hands and appreciated that his claws were actually sharp. Maybe sharp enough to cut the skin off the fish. He didn't have a chance to try before Toothless pounced and started ripping the fish apart.

It was a little disturbing how viciously Toothless was devouring his portion, having left about half the fish to the side. Toothless made no distinction between the innards and the actual flesh. Hiccup began carefully tearing off the scales before gulping down the juicy, white flesh. It was far messier than he wished it would be, but it was a large fish.

"We should go now."

They dropped the bones and ran outside. It was indeed a glorious day. The sun was shining, people were working, and the village seemed to be returning to normal.

But he felt an itching in his wings as he looked up at the sky and the sun.

 _I want to fly._

"We fly Toothless."

Toothless chuckled deeply and flared his wings.

"I am faster!"

Toothless started running and jumped. It was not as easy for him to take-off from the ground as it had been from the rocks in the cove. But he managed all the same.

Hiccup stretched his wings and prepared to start running as well.

"There you are!"

He paused and turned to face Astrid. She ran right up to him and caught his eye after looking around. They walked around behind the nearest barn.

"Where were you yesterday?"

 **Sick**

"What, you were sick? What happened?"

 **Eel makes dragons sick**

"Eel? But when did you eat…"

She paused and covered her mouth with a gasp. Then she sat down next to him.

"Oh, I did this… I made you sick."

He shook his head wildly and whimpered softly.

 **I feel better**

"I didn't know. I noticed that the dragons would never eat eel, but no one knew why. Are you sure you are better?"

He nodded.

"Ok, I am sorry. I really am."

He rested a paw on her forearm and dipped his head solemnly.

"Thank you," she eventually whispered.

"What are you going to do today?"

He stepped away from her and spread his wings.

"You… are going to fly?"

He pointed up at the nearest house, and she followed his gaze. Toothless was sunning himself while fanning his wings.

"Come up here Hiccup!"

He stepped farther back from her and began sprinting down the ridge toward the cliff. He managed to get airborne much more easily than he had the other day.

The wind coming in off the ocean lifted him higher as he banked around. That same elation that he felt before returned to him and left him giddy.

This was where he belonged. Enjoying the freedom that all dragons enjoyed. Toothless's perch was just ahead. He took a deep breath and threw his wings forward to arrest his fall. The landing on the wooden roof was surprisingly smooth.

Then Astrid started whooping and hollering in delight.

"What is she doing?"

"She is happy that I fly and land."

They then watched as Astrid ran off toward her house. Hiccup looked around the village again from this new perspective on top of the building. And he noticed something different.

There was a very familiar boat in the harbor.

 _That is trader Johann! No one told me he was here! He probably brought ink for me._

Toothless followed his gaze.

"What are you looking at?"

"That new… water-walker."

"Why?"

"It has a two-leg who goes far away. He bring two-leg things and stories."

Toothless shuffled anxiously.

"Hiccup, I want to talk about our fight."

"What about it?"

"I was sad that you want to give Astrid much time."

"Why does that make you sad, Toothless?"

"Because you might want to give her all your time. You might forget me."

Hiccup gasped. How could Toothless think such a thing? He ran over and nuzzled Toothless's cheek in reassurance.

"No, I will not forget you. Why you think I would? Silly!"

"You… said Astrid is your friend."

"Yes, you and she are my friends. Both friends. I not mean you not friend."

Toothless wasn't sure how much he liked that answer, but he wasn't about to get Hiccup frustrated at him.

"What would you do about her if you were two-leg?"

Hiccup thought for a while, unsure how exactly to respond because he did not know himself. What would his life be like if he were still human?

He would probably have Astrid's role as the head of the Academy. His dad would be proud of what he had accomplished. But there were also things that young men were expected to do when they came of age; things that he wasn't sure he wanted.

Like get married.

Would his father have already arranged something for him now that he was successful and the pride of Berk? Would he and Astrid already be married? How awkward would that have been for them both?

"I not know Toothless. Not now."

They watched a few of the people going about their routines. Neither of them wanted to move from their warm roost.

"Toothless, where was your nest?"

Toothless turned and stared at the peak of the most-appropriately named Thor's Hammer, the highest point on Berk's mountains. It was so named because it was shaped like a hammer laying on its side with the base of the grip at Raven point.

 _Of course he would live up there! That mountain is hard to climb._

Toothless started to fidget anxiously.

"You want to fly there? I can show you my old cave."

That sounded like a good idea.

"Not now, but later yes. I not strong enough for flying that high."

"You tell me when you are ready, and I will take you there."

They both heard a squawk and turned to see a Nadder winging toward them. It was Stormfly, and she was not alone.

"Come on you two!" Astrid shouted.

"Toothless, we fly now!"

Toothless unfurled his wings and jumped from the building with no warning. Hiccup jumped after him and began chasing after Toothless' tail. He did not even need to think about controlling his wings or fins anymore; it was as though they had minds of their own.

They ducked and wove through and around the buildings and the great Hall. He let out a spontaneous roar of joy as the same elation filled his being at feeling the wind under his wings.

Stormfly flew in alongside them and began eyeing them curiously. They were both no larger than her head and had difficulty keeping up with her. After all, it took several of their wing-beats just to match one of hers.

Hiccup looked over at Astrid, who incidentally had her hair flowing out behind her and her arms held out toward the sky. She was an accomplished flier with Stormfly from what he could see.

Up there in the sky and alongside two of the most important people in his life, Hiccup flew in complete happiness.

* * *

"Wake up Stoick!"

"Hrm..." came the noise from under the covers.

"You lazy man, you are worse than me after the winter party!"

Stoick threw the covers off and put on some garments.

"What is the matter, Gobber? Why did you wake me up?"

"Well for one, you never sleep this late."

"I may have had too much to drink."

"That isn't like you. Anyway, the real reason is that Johann is leaving soon and wanted to see you."

Stoick groaned in annoyance.

"Alright, let's go."

He threw on his cloak and followed Gobber down to the dock. There was a large crowd gathered around to say farewell. Johann was still busily engaged stroking Stormfly's side as she chittered happily at him.

 _We've won him over then._

"Johann, my friend, I hear that you are leaving us."

Johann sadly left Stormfly's side and walked over to him.

"Yes Chief, just the man I wanted to see. I'll be sure to come back here as soon as I am able. And I'll have a lot of new stuff for you all."

That got a round of cheering.

He held out his hand for the Chief to clasp. They did.

"I will not forget our 'agreement'," he whispered to Stoick.

"If only I could have one of your two little Furies here."

"What?"

Johann pointed at the two dragons sitting patiently at the side of the gathering.

"They are the most incredible of all them I'd say."

"Right about that Johann, and no, they are not for sale."

"I figured not, still, it is strange to see how different they are from the terrors of legends. If only they were for sale… Farewell Chief Stoick."

"May the gods smile on your voyages, Johann."

Johann returned to his vessel and his boat departed from the dock.

"I wonder when we will see him again," Gobber asked.

"Probably next year right around this time."

Gobber waited a moment before continuing. When he did so it was with a very solemn voice.

"There is something else you should know Stoick."

"What now? Out with it."

"It's about the Elder…"

* * *

Hiccup followed his father into the Elder's hut. He had of course been listening to everything that had been said and knew that it was not good.

The gaggle of Terrors on the roof were not bothered by their approach.

He had not been in Gothi's hut in years. The last time had been when he broke an arm. The entire hut was now filled with incense and herbs. The sharp tang of smoke assaulted him and ticked his nose until...

He sneezed several times.

No one was saying anything as Gobber and Stoick solemnly stood around Gothi's bed.

 _I can't see anything._

He stood up at the edge of the bed and rested his forearms on the blankets. He gasped at what he saw.

Elder Gothi looked much older than he remembered seeing her. Her wrinkled skin sagged on her face and her arms resting outside her blankets were twig-thin. Her breaths were shallow and weak and her eyes were closed.

More than her appearance though, was her smell. She smelled of something strange, something bad. Of decay.

She was dying and everyone knew it.

He closed his eyes and moaned sadly.

The Elder was a very wise person who had been a trusted adviser to his father in the past. She was the keeper of tradition and had been willing to change by accommodating dragons on the island. Astrid had told him stories about what Gothi had done to bring the dragons into the village.

He had also never been around a dying person before.

He heard a soft shuffling sound in front of him and lifted his head. Gothi was awake and was slowly reaching a weak hand toward him. He froze and stared at her as she rested her weak hand on his head.

Despite her age and weakness, her blue eyes were as piercing as ever. They stared directly into his green ones with a strange, appraising look in them.

He was sure that she knew his secret. There was no other explanation for the intensity of her gaze.

She started mouthing a word, only with nothing being said aloud. The corners of her mouth twitched as if to smile.

Then she slowly drew her hand back to her chest and closed her eyes while drawing a deep breath.

Hiccup shivered and turned away from the bed, running past his dad and out the front door. Something about the experience was deeply haunting and disturbing. There was nothing that he could do about the Elder, and it was strange and rather moving to know that there was a dying person in the building behind him.

Once back in the sun, he started to feel a bit better and wandered over to Toothless.

"Old female… almost dead."

"Death happens. Why you sad?"

"She… part of nest. Old two-legs have special place in nest."

"What do old two-legs do for nest?"

"They teach the young and share what they know."

He paused and considered how to explain religion to Toothless.

"They also do ceremonies for two-legs' life-breaths after death. Do kin do death-ceremonies?"

"Not for after death. No way to know what after death. How two-leg old-ones know?""

He struggled again with explaining the idea of the gods.

"Hard to say. They talk with great-breath-life beyond the clouds and skies."

"I not understand," Toothless answered after a moment of thought, "that sounds like a silly two-leg thing."

If he was honest with himself, he rather agreed that Toothless's skepticism made a lot of sense. There were many of the old myths that seemed unbelievable except as moral lessons.

"Some stories hard to understand but still teach good life-lessons."

Stoick and Gobber emerged a while later. Both of their heads were bowed and they walked slowly. Hiccup watched as Gobber clapped his father on the shoulder and slowly walked off into the village.

He got up and walked over to his dad with a clear look of solemn curiosity. His father looked quite shaken.

"She is gone. I'm going to tell everyone. You can go home, I need to talk to you later."

He nodded once in agreement since he did not especially want to see anyone right now.

He and Toothless walked back home, and Stoick continued on to the Hall to break the news of the Elder's passing.


	14. I - Ambassador

_"My course is set for an uncharted sea." - Dante Alighieri – The Divine Comedy_

* * *

Ambassador

* * *

The village took the news of its Elder's passing quite well considering recent events. It had not been truly surprising since everyone knew that she was getting progressively worse and was confined to her bed. The ceremony was different from that given to fallen warriors though. The tribe gathered in the middle of the village as Gothi's body was carried on a stretcher by four bare-headed men.

The procession, complete with a strangely silent gaggle of Terrors following in the treetops, walked out of the village and made its way toward the base of Thor's Hammer. A network of caverns extended deep into the solid rock, and it was in one of these caves that the Elder was burned according to tradition.

The pyre was stacked with kindling, and Gothi's tiny, frail form was laid on top along with various herbs. The ceremonial words were spoken and a fire struck. The entire group left the cave to allow the burning in an honorable fashion. The glow from inside the cave flickered in the evening light and the smoke seeped down the ridge from the mouth of the cave. The Terrors sat at the edge of the cave and did not make a sound.

Celebrations normally followed such a momentous event. This one was far more subdued than Stoick remembered. There were many toasts and many mugs of mead, but a certain gaiety was absent from the Hall that night.

He walked back home alone with one problem on his mind.

There was no clear successor for Gothi. She had been the obvious wise-woman when the previous Elder passed. But there was no such figure in this case. The last year had changed so many minds and traditions that the elderly figures once thought to be fitting to take over as the Elder were no longer so. Many of them were too set in their old ways despite not having been part of Mildew's revolt.

He closed the door behind him and turned just in time to see Hiccup lift his head from the table. Hiccup had a pencil clasped in his paw and paper at the ready.

Stoick sat down and rested his elbows on the table and cradled his head in his palm.

"She was an amazing person you know. It was a good thing you did for her, being there near the end."

Hiccup nodded solemnly.

"She helped a lot when we got back from Dragon Island. I can't say how many times she reassured someone that the dragons would not hurt anyone. And she didn't even need to say anything. She had… a way with people."

"I'm not sure what will happen about the Elder now. I don't know, we will figure something out though."

Hiccup bent down and hastily scribbled.

 **You wanted to talk**

 **And I am hungry**

"Oh, yes as usual. Let me get the fish, then we'll talk."

He left to go into the kitchen.

"Toothless, fish!" Hiccup shouted.

As he figured would be the case, Toothless had appeared out of nowhere and joined Hiccup on the table.

He brought out the plate of carved fish and let the two dragons dig in.

He wanted to tell Hiccup about the arrangement with Johann. To tell his son that there was still hope that everything could be made right again.

 _Do I tell him? What if I tell him and nothing happens?_

"Hiccup, I…"

Hiccup swallowed the bit of fish in his mouth and looked up at him.

"I…"

Sigh.

"Can you really talk to him?"

Hiccup gave him an obviously-confused look and nodded once.

"I know you said that before, but I don't understand it. It just sounds like noise to me."

 **I think humans cannot hear it all**

Then Hiccup tapped his own head with a paw.

 **I feel something in here**

"So he actually talks? To you?"

 **Yes dad**

 **He is as smart as me**

"And… are all dragons that smart?"

 **Maybe**

 **I cannot talk to others**

"Why not?"

 **They might speak differently**

 **Or not be as smart**

"I don't really know what to think, Hiccup. Can you tell him to do something so that I know he actually understands you?"

Hiccup nodded eagerly.

"Ok, how about tell him to…"

 **Smile**

"Sure, that."

Hiccup turned to Toothless.

"Toothless, sire want you show you talk."

"What? Why he care?"

"He want know you not small-head."

Toothless turned to Hiccup's sire and nodded.

"Show him you not-teeth."

"Why?"

"Do. That what I say you would do."

Toothless looked back at Hiccup's sire and showed him his teeth-not-out mouth. Why exactly two-legs showed teeth to be friendly, he could not fathom.

Stoick felt himself getting lightheaded when Toothless smiled a toothless smile at him. This was far too eerie.

"Tell him to… sit by the fireplace."

He watched as Hiccup growled back at Toothless, who did not seem especially impressed with being ordered about. Regardless, the dragon got to his feet with a huff, ambled over to the fireplace, and sat down.

There was no chance that could have happened by coincidence.

The dragon was aware and intelligent beyond a common animal.

It… he was...

Stoick closed his eyes to absorb this revelation. It explained why the Night Fury… why Toothless… had been so disruptive in the previous raids. Instead of dumbly snatching at food or looking for fights, he had always targeted the torches and defensive towers. He had a strategy and planned his actions.

 _I should have known…_

How was he supposed to think about this small dragon as an intelligent, aware person? It was unthinkable.

As were the ideas that a human could become a baby dragon and the beasts that once killed and snatched livestock could now peacefully meander about the island.

"Hiccup… can you tell him that… I am sorry for what I did to him. For trying to kill him and tying him up."

Hiccup blinked in amazement that his father was actually apologizing for something and that he was apologizing to Toothless no less.

"Toothless, my sire say he sorry for trying hurt you. And for trapping you."

Toothless huffed in anger at the memory. He came to rescue Hiccup from the angered-fire-scale-kin, and Hiccup's sire fought him, and Hiccup was absolutely stupid, and then he was trapped by two-leg vines.

But the sire had freed him from the trap under the water when he did not have to.

He reluctantly considered Hiccup's sire again. The two-leg had changed in the seasons that he and Hiccup had lived in the cave-den. And now he was trying to make atonement for past wrongs. True, he was not presenting a gift of atonement, but this way must be two-leg custom.

"Tell him his head was filled with bad-wrong-snake-fish-waste and I thought his life-organ was cold-rock-water. But now he is not very bad."

Then he turned tail on the other two and ran down the hall.

"Well, what did he say?"

Hiccup fumbled nervously with the pencil while deciding how to answer.

 **He said you were stupid**

 **But he accepts your apology**

"Good, good. Does he understand me? Understand what I'm saying?"

 **Easy Norse words like his name**

 **But he never learned others**

"No, of course not, how could he have?"

 **Why did you save him?**

 **After you pulled me out of the water**

Stoick shuffled in his chair and was silent for several moments as he collected his thoughts.

"You were right about him and the other dragons. You tried to tell me, and I did not listen. I saw you dive into the water to try to save him. You did not have the… strength to break him out."

"I didn't know what you… what anyone… could possibly do against that monster. But I knew that you needed your dragon to be able to fight… or to be able to escape."

A minute of silence passed between them.

"Hiccup, are you sure that you don't know how this happened to you? No guess at all what happened to you and Toothless?"

It was again Hiccup's turn to shuffle anxiously. He had to prevent his tail from swishing in unease. He could not let his dad know the truth. Knowing the truth would not change anything since the power Toothless had supposedly used was gone as Toothless explained it.

He shook his head without looking at his father.

"Ok… you are being very brave about this son. I… won't give up on finding a way to make you right. Oh, and I got something for you from Johann."

He pulled the bottle of ink out of his pocket and showed it to Hiccup.

"He brought it for you as he always does. Good thing too since we were running low on ink."

Hiccup nodded.

"Would you also tell Toothless that I will try to be nicer to him?"

Another nod.

"Ok, thanks. And let me think about getting you to talk to other people. We just need to figure out how to do this so no one suspects anything."

 **Thanks dad**

Stoick stood up and left after gently patting Hiccup on the head. Hiccup simply lay flat on the ground and wondered at everything that had just happened.

 _Wow, we actually talked about something. I hope he decides to let me talk to everyone soon. Not surprising that Johann brought the ink for me as he always does. I wonder what he thought about Berk now._

He picked up the vial of ink and hopped down from the table to carry the vial into his room. Toothless acknowledged his entrance with a nod.

"What did your sire say?"

"He say he be nice now."

Toothless groaned.

"I do not know about him. He is much chilled with me."

"No, he was sad I dead. And he not know why I kin. Chilled because he was scared."

Toothless thought about Hiccup's answer. There were certainly kin that acted angrily because they were scared or unsure about their surroundings. And two-legs were not so different.

"He is not very bad. It will take time for me to trust him."

"That is good, Toothless."

Toothless wondered about something he had seen done recently.

"Hiccup, why did your nest burn the dead and old female?"

"It what two-legs do for dead. They put bones under dirt or mountain. Shows… think good of the dead and remember dead."

"That is what the kin-light-in-sky means."

"What?"

"The light-in-sky that only burns in cold. My sire and dam said that is the breath of kin dead. Say it is where kin go when they die."

Hiccup thought he knew what Toothless was describing.

"What colors are light-in-sky?"

"Green, blue…"

 _Auroras._

"You think real?" he asked.

Toothless gave a noncommittal grunt in response.

"I do not know, how could I? It is only a story to make kin happy."

Toothless looked outside at the dimming light.

"Hiccup, we should go fly next sunrise."

"Good, we fly then."

"I will teach you more flying, and you need to fly more for strong wings."

"I also talk with Astrid. She and Storm-Flier will fly other two-leg nests."

"Why?"

"Stop two-legs and kin from fighting. Make more two-legs and kin live in mixed-nests."

"That is good. I will sleep now."

Toothless climbed inside the blankets and curled up. Seeing no reason to do otherwise, Hiccup nodded off as well after replaying everything his dad had said to him. It had been the longest and certainly the most substantial talk they had had since his life had changed last year.

* * *

"Are you sure you are ready to do this?" Stoick asked.

She held herself proudly before the combined gazes of her parents and her Chief.

"Yes sir, I am ready."

Stoick nodded seriously but also proudly.

"I'm not surprised at all. Sigurd, Vídarr, I am very proud of your daughter. She is the pride of Berk."

All three of the Hoffer family blushed at the copious praise.

He pulled out a rolled-up scroll and handed it to Astrid.

"Everything you need to know is in there. This also has your formal status as herald of Berk. Remember Astrid, any offense to you is an offense to all of us."

"I'm not worried about that sir. I will have Stormfly with me. I will still be careful though."

"Good. If you do not return by the third of Heyannir, I will send others to find you. If any of them do… hurt you in any way, we will make them regret it. Who do you recommend to take your place in the Academy while you will be gone?"

"Fishlegs sir, the rest are not… responsible enough yet."

"I agree. I should go and tell him so that he has some warning. And I'll see you off tomorrow."

"Thank you Chief," Sigurd and Vídarr both answered.

Stoick left them in peace.

"Well, I should pack my things," Astrid said as she got up from the table.

It was so sudden that she was still slightly in shock.

 _Tomorrow… does it have to be so soon?_

She grabbed a candlestick and walked into her room. It had become gradually messier as she took on more responsibilities. Old weapons lay on the ground and contrasted with the dragon saddles also strewn about and in need of repair. On the chest which held her traveling gear was a small stack of drawings, mostly of Stormfly. But a few of the pieces of paper held halted outlines of a much smaller dragon, as though she had started drawing a little Fury but gave up minutes into the sketch.

The papers were carefully stacked away and she started stuffing various pieces of clothing into the bag that she would carry with her for the next…

How long exactly?

She sat down on her bed and unrolled the scroll.

 _Astrid, you should know some things about each of the tribes; Volsung, Vaina, and Berserkers. The Berserkers, oddly enough, should be the easiest for you to work with since their Chief, Osvald, helped me a lot and he is very agreeable. Save visiting them for last. The Vaina mainly fish for food and don't care for any fighting with people. I think their Chief, Svana, already approves of you. The Volsung are warriors who have done a lot of fighting down South. Their Chief, Edgaras, wants to use dragons as weapons. You will have to change his mind and all his tribe as well to get them to be good to dragons. The last thing we need is a tribe that can make dragons into weapons. Go to them first. The treaty says that you will need to take as much time as it takes until they have their own dragons. The enclosed map shows where each of the tribes can be found. Flying there should only take a day for you and Stormfly. Keep yourself safe and remember that you represent all of us._

She briefly looked over the map and then sighed deeply.

Knock, knock.

"Astrid," Sigurd whispered.

"Yes, father?"

"May I come in?"

"Sure, I was just packing."

Her father walked in and looked around the room fondly.

"I remember when you first got this room of your own. You were so happy. Now you are all grown up."

"Dad…"

He could not help himself and walked over to embrace his daughter.

"I'm worried for you. All alone out there among all the men from other tribes."

"I'll be fine, dad. I can take care of myself."

He released her and stepped back.

"Just in case though, I want you to have this."

He unhooked a hilt from his hip and lay it in her open palm. Her breath caught as she recognized the symbols carved into the hilt. It was her family crest. She slid the weapon within from its sheath and, sure enough, the dagger shared the crest. The dagger was a burnt black color and very clean, almost ceremonial in appearance. But her warrior's eye saw that its blade was still very sharp.

* * *

Fishlegs did not sleep at all that night. His Chief had come to speak to him about taking over the Academy while Astrid was out representing Berk.

It was a huge honor and he was determined to make his parents proud. But he was also anxious. Astrid was much better at dealing with both people and dragons than he was.

Gronkles were very easy-going and almost never caused trouble. He did not have the same experience with calming angered Nightmares or showing nervous villagers how to approach a dragon that was sitting on their property.

He got up early that morning since he wanted to meet with Astrid before she left. She was indeed in the Hall eating an early breakfast when he arrived.

"Astrid."

"Oh, hi Fishlegs. Did the Chief talk to you about what I have to do?"

"Yes, he did. I'm not sure I'm ready for this."

"You will do fine. It's not that hard. You know how to treat the dragons, and most of us here on Berk do not need much help now."

"I guess so. What about you?"

"It will be strange going to the other tribes, but I think I am ready. I'll have Stormfly with me too. It will be nice to see other islands and new parts of the world."

Fishlegs almost dug into his breakfast, then he remembered one thing he meant to talk to Astrid about.

"I finished the Book."

"Really?"

"Yep, everything we know about every dragon we know of. What they like to eat, pictures, how they like to play, and more. Well, I left room for each of them for when we learn more of course. And we will have to wait for the little Furies to grow up before I can put much on their page."

"Wow Fishlegs, that is very good."

"Do you think it would help to take with you?"

"Maybe, but there is nothing in the treaty that says we have to share everything with the other tribes. And we have the only new copy, right?"

"Yes."

"I think we should keep it here."

"Ok, that sounds like a good plan."

"And I'll tell you about any new dragons I see," she added.

She downed the last of her soup.

"I have a bit of stuff to do before I leave."

"Ok, bye Astrid. And stay safe."

"I will Fishlegs, good luck here."

She left the Hall and returned home. She went straight to the stable built behind the house and rubbed Stormfly under the chin to wake her up.

"Hi girl, you might want to get some fish. We have a lot of flying to do today."

Stormfly chittered happily and hopped up to stretch. Then she pranced out and headed for the nearest fish station.

Astrid took a few minutes to bring her backpack and other bundled supplies down to the stable.

 _What am I forgetting?_

 _._

 _Hiccup… I should let him know that I am going soon. I wonder if Stoick is gone yet._

She walked across the village and knocked on Stoick's door.

"Sir? Chief?"

There was no answer. But there was a scrambling behind the door.

"Hiccup?"

He barked once and she let herself in.

"Hiccup, I don't have much time. I am leaving now."

He blinked in surprise and hopped onto the table.

"I'm not sure how long I'll be gone. You did a good job with flying by the way."

She thought he looked bashful at hearing that.

"How hard is it?"

 **I needed lots of practice**

 **But it feels very good**

"I bet so… I should go so your dad doesn't find me."

 **Bye Astrid**

She hesitated, not being quite sure if it would be right do. A hug felt appropriate to give to a friend she was not going to see for a long time, but it felt very strange to do so with him.

"Do you…"

Sigh.

"Don't worry about me. I'll tell you all about it when I get back."

He nodded in resignation and watched her go.

* * *

She finished packing the last of her supplies, some dried and salted pork, cheese, and bread, and said a final farewell to her parents. Then she walked outside and found her dragon waiting for her.

"Hi Stormfly, are you ready?"

Stormfly hopped over to her and nuzzled her cheek.

 _Of course you are ready, why do I need to ask?_

Then she crouched down and waited patiently as Astrid strapped her things into the saddle-pack.

Snotlout, still wearing his morning clothes, ran up to her.

"Astrid! I didn't know you were leaving."

"I only found out yesterday that I was going."

"And why didn't you tell me?"

"Why would I? I needed to pack and do other things."

"Well, I'm going to… miss you."

That sign of tenderness was very surprising coming from him. Snotlout did not have the reputation of being an emotional or tender sort.

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

She looked around the small gathering that now included her parents, Snotlout, Fishlegs, and Gobber as well. It was bittersweet knowing that she would not see them again for a long time.

"See you all soon!"

They all gave her a cheer.

She hopped on Stormfly and they were aloft in moments. Stormfly took her direction and started flying south.

She looked back at Berk as the island fell away behind her. The village gradually became smaller until it was not even visible on the island. Then even Berk itself was gone, and she was out over the open ocean with nothing in sight. It was both terrifying and exhilarating.

 _I've never done anything like this before._

* * *

Hiccup watched sadly from on top of his house as Stormfly flew away from Berk.

 _Stay safe Astrid. I'll miss you._

The tiny dot finally disappeared from his sight, and he looked out over the village.

"Toothless!"

A distant roar echoed from far away and above. Toothless flew in and hovered over the house. He was still wobbling a bit from the exertion of staying stationary, but it was clear that he was getting stronger.

"Hiccup! Fly!"

He spread his wings and jumped from his house. One loop and he was aimed right at Toothless.

"I get you!"

Toothless roared happily in challenge and flew inland with Hiccup in pursuit.

"You are slow Hiccup!"

That gave him a bit more motivation, and he pushed his wings harder. But Toothless did the same. Hiccup could not make up any of the distance between them.

He finally gave up when his wings and shoulders started aching and he was short of breath. He sought out the nearest treetop to land on and landed on a barren branch.

"Stop!"

Toothless heard him, turned around, and landed next him.

Hiccup wondered in amazement.

 _How is he not out of breath?_

"You are flying better. What is eating your liver?" Toothless asked.

"Astrid and Stormfly flew away."

"What? Why?"

"They show other two-legs that kin are good. Are friends."

Toothless did not say out loud that he was glad that Astrid was away. It would give him more time with his egg-mate. With his friend.

"Hiccup, what do you want to do? What should we do?"

"We could fly, see your old nest."

He checked the weather and considered the distance of such a flight. Getting back down would be a simple matter of gliding if only they could make the flight up the mountain.

"Fly now! Follow me!"

And they were off. There were only a few other dragons out on the currents and none of them came to investigate.

Toothless started doing rolls and spins in the air while roaring happily. They reminded Hiccup of the treatment Toothless had given Astrid.

 _That looks fun._

He tucked his wings in tighter and angled his tail-fins. He immediately started spinning wildly while beginning to fall. Only a couple seconds of this were enough to leave him dizzy. He threw out his wings and righted himself. He looked forward just in time to see Toothless completely limp and falling toward the trees.

"Toothless!"

He dove as fast as he could. He had no idea how he could possibly catch Toothless or hold him in the air. All he knew was that Toothless was going far too fast and was headed straight for a quick death.

"Stop!"

Toothless pulled up and recovered with barely any room to spare. Hiccup growled and beat his wings harder to catch up.

"You! Small head!"

"What Hiccup? This is fun!"

Hiccup grumbled and said nothing. Toothless had just been playing, and he had fallen for it. But that moment when he thought Toothless was in trouble was terrifying. The worst part was his feeling that he had been powerless to help him.

They continued on until they were finally above the base of the mountain. He looked up at the snow-capped heights above.

But he started being buffeted by strange winds which kept throwing him off his balance. This was nothing like flying over the village or even over the forest. It was like the air was flowing up, down, and across within seconds.

Toothless felt the near-mountain winds as well and thought little of it. They were a bit stronger than he remembered because he was smaller, but nothing was too difficult for him. Hiccup on the other paw…

Hiccup was struggling and getting knocked around by the wind.

"Follow me Hiccup!"

He banked away from the mountain and flew into the open air. The winds tended to swirl around the mountain itself, but the open air was more predictable. He glanced back and was glad that Hiccup was still following.

They both escaped the twisting winds around the mountain and kept flying higher. Hiccup could not help but glance down, and he felt a slight twinge of fear. He was so high up and there was nothing keeping him in the air but his own ability. He was almost at the same level as some distant clouds. The air around him was also starting to feel cooler.

Toothless finally spotted the place he had been looking for, a clearing nearly halfway to the top of the mountain. He had chosen that place many season-cycles ago because it was completely hidden from view on the ground and because it did not look like two-legs would ever have a reason to climb that high. He had always been careful to leave or return to his den when doing so would not be seen. The most appealing aspect of the place though was definitely the cave.

The pair dove for the clearing and landed smoothly.

Hiccup looked around the rocky clearing. There were a few small pines on the edge of the clearing. He saw the mouth of a large, dark cave in front of him. It was set deep enough that it was invisible from below the clearing.

 _So this is where Toothless lived._

Then he turned around and stared in awe.

The rock fell away sharply in front of him, revealing a green vista which stretched out to the ocean. The chill winds churning around the mountain were calming now that he was on the ground. It was beautiful.

Toothless ran on ahead past several old bones and stopped in front of the cave. The boulders on the side of the path, the basin where the rain always pooled, and the faint echo from inside the cave, all were familiar but also foreign at the same time. The cave was massive to him now and most of the rocks that he had once easily shoved out of the way were now very large.

And there were signs that the cave was not abandoned. A pile of four-leg bones lay in the corner and there was an old pile of waste just outside the cave entrance. He bristled when the smell of two-head-gas-breather reached him.

 _It took my cave!_

"Is this cave yours?" Hiccup asked after joining Toothless.

"Grr, yes. It was, but a two-head-gas-breather-kin nests here now."

Hiccup cautiously walked forward into the cave while looking around. It was easily large enough to hold fully-grown Toothless. A large overhang perched out on the right-hand side of the cave and provided an ideal view down the mountain and to the ocean.

He could also smell the Zippleback which had apparently taken up residence in Toothless's old home.

"Sorry about cave. It very good."

Toothless turned to face him and rolled his eyes with a grumble.

"Thank you for saying that…"

"Where you sleep?" Hiccup asked.

"Up there," Toothless looked at the ledge on the side of the cave, "It let me see when other kin would try to take food."

"And you go shoot two-leg… rock-throwing things."

"Yes."

"You lived here alone?"

"Yes."

"Why not live with other kin on fire-island?"

"Bad place. You saw the Monster eat other kin. And the Monster tried to do something to my head."

"I not understand."

Toothless fumbled with trying to figure out how to explain the experience.

"When I was near that place I felt… I heard bad hissing, like there was talking in my ear. But no one was there. The sound wanted me to go, nest in the mountain, and bring back food. But I said NO!"

Toothless waited a minute before continuing in a subdued voice.

"I did not want to hear those hisses, even though they felt good and warm. They were… hunters to my thinking."

"But what about other kin? Why they not leave fire-island?"

"I do not know. Maybe they were not strong like me. Maybe they liked the hisses."

Hiccup wondered at these references Toothless was making. Hisses? Imagined sounds?

 _Was the Monster making those sounds?_

He looked toward the darkest part of the cave where there seemed to be a tunnel. Intrigued, he ran back to it and peered inside. The opening was wide enough for a man, but definitely too small for a dragon.

A full-grown one at least.

"Toothless, what is this?"

Toothless bounded over and peered into the blackness. It was completely dark even to his sensitive eyes. A twisted idea entered his mind.

 _I can explore this now!_

"I could not go in there before."

He took a deep breath and shrieked, only for Hiccup to jump in alarm.

"Why you do that?"

Toothless remembered that Hiccup would not know about the sound-sight.

"Night-Fury-kin can see with sound."

Hiccup just stared dumbly at him.

"Close your eyes and listen. Do not think."

Hiccup did so.

Toothless made the same noise again and Hiccup saw a flash in his head. It was as though a picture of all the entire surrounding space suddenly appeared in his mind. Toothless in front of him, the rocks around him, the cave entrance, and the downward-sloping passage before him which opened into a large chamber.

Hiccup opened his eyes in surprise and stared at the blank void before him. He could not see anything inside.

 _How did… What!_

"How you do that?"

"Your ears can see in the dark."

Hiccup wiggled his ears in bewilderment. His ears could see? That made absolutely no sense, but he knew that he had seen something strange with his eyes closed. Maybe this was just one more secret that no one knew about dragons.

Toothless purposefully walked into the dark tunnel, his tail vanishing into the void. Hiccup could still hear the echoing of Toothless's footfalls on the rock from inside. He slowly followed Toothless inside and strained his eyes as the darkness grew and the path began to fall away.

"Toothless!"

Oddly though, he could not see anything around him after he shouted.

 _How does this work? How do I make that sound?_

He had never heard Toothless make that kind of sound before and had no idea how to do so himself.

Toothless answered from in front and revealed the entire chamber. Hiccup focused on the resulting image and took in the features of the inner chamber: the icicle-like rocks hanging from the roof, Toothless's form in mid-hop, and the rectangular shape in the middle of the chamber.

 _Wait, what is that?_

Blindly, he shuffled toward the middle of the room using a wing to warn him if he was about to bump into something. He finally did and his jaw dropped in surprise when he realized the thing's shape.

 _A chest! What is a chest doing up here? Astrid needs to know… oh right, she is gone…_

"Toothless, we go out now?"

"Yes."

Another ping and Toothless bounded over to him. Even in the dark, he could hear Toothless's steps. They walked back up the narrow passage until Toothless scrambled up the path and Hiccup ran into a problem. The trail was very slick and he was having trouble getting a grip.

"Toothless, help me."

"Grab my tail."

Toothless held his tail in Hiccup's face and Hiccup grabbed onto it with his teeth. He pulled Hiccup out of the chasm and the light grew as they emerged from within. Hiccup dropped Toothless's tail and looked back into the void.

"Thank you Toothless. How do I make the sound?"

"Like flying, you need much practice. Shape your inner-air and you will make the sight sound."

Hiccup grumbled softly to himself. It was easy enough to practice something like flying where he could watch Toothless do it himself. But he had no idea what to do here other than embarrassingly try to squeak out different sounds and maybe get the right one eventually.

They walked together back to the ledge and jumped as one. Hiccup had a few nervous moments as he struggled to find the correct currents amid the twisting and swirling mountain winds, but he finally managed to stabilize his flight. Then they tucked their wings and dove.

The wind began rushing by as dozens of trees passed under wing in a matter of seconds. Toothless, being a bit of a dare-dragon swooped down closer to the treetops.

Then Hiccup jumped in alarm as he started to hear a whistling, a shrieking noise from behind him. He spared a quick glance and did not see a dragon diving after them. With a shock, he realized that he had to be the one causing that sound.

 _But, how?_

It only happened when Toothless did one of his very fast dives.

 _Maybe it is because of the air rushing over our wings, like whistling._

With that conjecture in mind, he resumed the dive and listened for the return of the shrieking noise. This time it did not alarm him and he played with the angle of his wings to try to make the sound louder or softer.

He quickly had to abandon the experiment and pull up because he had flown down the entire height of the mountain and was nearing the treetops.

Both of them flew back into the village and headed straight for the fish. As usual, Toothless gobbled up his chosen fish, while Hiccup grabbed his and headed for home. He was met on the way by Fishlegs, who walked right up to him.

"Hi there little guy, where are you going with that fish? Going home?"

He nodded once.

"Clever little dragon you are. You are so amazing. I wish we knew a bit more about you."

He took a deep breath and reminded himself to not say anything as Fishlegs gently patted his head. Fishlegs was sure to babble if he found out anything remotely close to the truth.

So he wandered off toward home. It had been nearly half a day that he had been gone. He slipped inside and started working on his meal.

 _I wonder where dad went._

He did not have to wait long since his father returned halfway into his meal.

"Hiccup, I was wondering where you were."

He also brought over the paper, a pencil, and a towel for Hiccup to use to clean his fingers.

 **I was exploring Thor's Hammer**

"Really, find anything interesting?"

 **Yes actually**

 **A chest in a cave**

"A chest?"

 **Any idea what it is**

"No. I'll send… the Thorstons to investigate it. There is something else I want to talk to you about."

Stoick anxiously shuffled on his feet for a moment.

"I've been thinking about… your situation, and I think you should be able to talk to people."

That made Hiccup's jaw fall open in amazement. Did he hear his father right?

 **You really mean it**

"Yes, it is not good for you to be stuck alone with no one but a dragon for company. But we still shouldn't let anyone know about… your secret."

That wasn't hard to manage.

 **How should we do this**

"Well, I think we should start with just a few people, the more trustworthy ones."

 **Like Gobber**

"Yes, he should do. I will tell him that I want to show him something amazing. That I have… trained you to write. You will have to play along with it. Do you think you can do that, pretend to be… I don't know, like a little dragon?"

Hiccup grumbled humorously.

 **I have been all this time**

"Oh, right. Let's do it tomorrow then. I'll tell Gobber to come here and we can show him then. What about Toothless, can he write?"

Hiccup shook his head.

 **He did not want to learn**

"Ok, we don't need to worry about that then. I'll let you know when I bring him over, ok?"

Yes.

"Good. I should go check on Fishlegs and see if he needs help.

Hiccup hopped down from the table and started to follow him.

They together left the house and started walking through the village. Toothless noticed them from his position sunning himself on the rooftop and launched into the sky to follow them. He gave a single roar of pleasure.

Stoick looked back just in time to see Hiccup also take off and start flying. It would not do for him to command Hiccup not to fly, but that Hiccup was such an apparent natural at flying was far too strange for him to seriously consider.

He finally entered the Academy arena and found Fishlegs patiently instructing a small crowd. As he listened to Fishlegs explaining the different characteristics and abilities of various dragons, he was struck by how different the explanations were and how different the reactions were to what was being taught.

"Is it true that dragons will fall asleep if you tickle them with Thorngrass?"

"Yes, Dagny. But don't get any ideas, any of you."

"Why not? It would be fun."

"Would you like it if someone made you fall asleep right now? What if the dragon falls on you? It would be very bad for both of you. The best time to use Thorngrass would be if they get hurt and you need to help them feel better. Oh look everyone, it's the Chief."

The entire crowd of youngsters turned to face their Chief.

"It's ok kids, I'm just here to watch."

"How long will Astrid be away Chief?"

"I don't know Joric, but I do know that she will do what she needs to do for the tribe. Now pay attention to Fishlegs. He knows dragons better than almost anyone."

Hiccup and Toothless chose that moment to come in for their landing. As he was want to do, Fishlegs stared rapturously at the two little Furies walking across the arena.

"Oh! I want one!" Dagny exclaimed.

"Now now… those are the only two Night Furies we know about and they belong to the Chief. Do any of you know what Night Furies used to be called?

"The Unholy Offspring of Lightning and Death!"

"Yeah, humph. Just look at them."

Toothless was busy chasing Hiccup's tail as they alternated chasing after each other.

"Unholy indeed, so terrifying…"

"Fishlegs, when will we get dragons of our own?"

"What do you mean Dagny? You already have Terrors."

"Real dragons, ones we can fly with."

"Not until after you show that you are responsible enough to take care of a Terror. And only after your parents approve… The large ones are a lot of work; you have to groom them, teach them how to behave, clean up any messes, and learn to trust something much bigger than yourself."

Stoick had heard enough to know that Fishlegs was doing well in his new task. That was a relief. He left the Academy with no concerns.

Except for those surrounding what he planned to do tomorrow.

 _How will they take it when they see Hiccup write?_

Hiccup insisted that Toothless was just as smart as he was. He had seen Toothless understand and reply to what had to be Hiccup's words. It was undeniable for him, but not so clear for the other dragons. They certainly behaved like… not exactly like pets, but there was something different about them. It was hard to think of something that weighs as much as ten men as a mere pet. Still though, none of them ever tried to read, write, or seemed to have more complex desires.

 _What are they really? Are they… people? Why would only Night Furies be able to talk?_

Even Hiccup had related that none of them seemed to speak.

He wandered around the village making idle small talk to those he met. All the while he kept pondering what exactly would change after tomorrow. At least nothing like Mildew's rebellion was likely since the dragon enemies were gone from Berk.

* * *

Gobber was headed home from finishing dinner when he noticed a black shape slinking around his house.

 _Thor's beard, if that is another of the Terrors…_

It was not a Terror.

"Hiccup, come inside," he whispered.

Hiccup crept inside.

"Let me get a light."

Gobber lit a few candles on the main table and cleared aside some room for Hiccup to stand on the stool. Hiccup glanced at the table and then looked at him plaintively.

"Oh right, you need stuff to write with. One moment. Here… this will have to do."

It took Hiccup a long time to write with the strange pencil.

 **Dad will show you that I can write**

 **Pretend you are surprised**

"Really, he is going to tell everyone the truth?"

 **No**

 **Not that I am his son**

"Oh, at least he is going to let you talk to everyone. That is progress, I think. How about you go. I'll go along with it, don't you worry. It'll be good to talk to you tomorrow."

Hiccup nodded happily and slipped outside moments later. Gobber watched as Hiccup's tiny form vanished into the night.

"Well, Stoick, you are finally starting to come around, old friend. Took you long enough."

It came as no surprise to him when Stoick came to him first thing in the morning after he arrived at the forge.

"Stoick, how can I help you this fine morning?"

"Gobber, we have been friends for scores of years."

"Aye, how we managed that with everything we've been through…"

"There is something I want to show you. Something… amazing."

"Oh really, now you've got my interest. What is it about?"

"It's about the dragons. Actually, it is about one dragon."

"Well, whatever it is I'm sure it cannot take too long. I don't want to get behind on saddle-repair."

"Gobber, I assure you that it is worth it. Let's go to my house."

Gobber calmly put everything away and followed Stoick back to his house. It was strange to see how nervous Stoick was despite his best efforts at keeping his composure and to know exactly why his old friend was so tense.

This wasn't as simple as showing off a very smart dragon that had learned how to write. It wasn't as simple as letting the entire village know that they did not understand how smart dragons truly could be. It was that he was going to do that without letting anyone know who Hiccup really was.

The more that he had thought about that decision, the more it made sense. It was unfathomable what had happened to Hiccup and Nords, even well meaning ones, could do regrettable things when confronted with the new or the strange.

They entered Stoick's house and shared the customary mug of mead at the table before engaging in any conversation.

"So Stoick, what is this news you have to share. Something about a dragon."

"Yes Gobber. You are the first person I am going to show. I have… trained Hiccup how to write."

"Write, are you serious?"

"Yes, I am. Hiccup!"

Hiccup walked down the hall and hopped onto the chair at the head of the table. Stoick then handed him a pencil and set paper on the table.

"Hiccup, show him that you can write."

Hiccup clasped the pencil in a paw and set it to the paper.

 **Hello**

"Stoick! This is amazing! You actually taught him how to… wait, does he actually understand you? Do you understand me Hiccup?"

Hiccup nodded and smiled. Gobber slapped Stoick on the shoulder with a hearty laugh.

"Well, how about that! Dragons can actually understand us. I'm not even going to ask how you managed to train him. Is it just him or are the others like that?"

"I don't know. I haven't tried, but I suspect that they are not as smart as he is."

"What about the other one, Toothless?"

"He… did not learn as well as Hiccup here."

"So… are you going to show the entire village soon? This is the kind of thing that they would all want to know about."

"I was planning on showing them later today. I'll have a full-tribe meeting at dinner. Might as well tell them after they fill their bellies and are in the best mood."

"Do you really think that would be a problem?"

"You know what happened with Mildew. I don't think anyone here would do anything like that, but learning that dragons can be much smarter than they thought could still be… unsettling."

"I suppose so. I wouldn't worry about it too much though. I'll get back to the forge now. Chief…"

He turned to face Hiccup.

"And it was good to see you Hiccup. You are one very smart dragon."

He gave Hiccup a soft pat on the head for good measure.

"Gobber," Stoick added.

"Stoick?"

"It is a strange world we live in."

"Indeed, but it is also wonderful. Whoever thought that we would have pet dragons, or that we could talk to a Night Fury and have him answer by writing? Uh… Hiccup… would be proud of you."

"Thanks Gobber, I… hope he would."

Stoick saw Gobber out the door and then sighed deeply in relief.

He only turned around when he heard scribbling.

"He took that well, perhaps I was being too suspicious."

 **What is the plan for tonight?**

"Same as today, just show that you can write and understand me when I talk."

 **Ok**

 **I really want to talk to them**

"As long as you keep the secret."

Hiccup's look of patient exasperation was evident even on his draconic features.

* * *

The announcement at dinner went exactly as planned. Everyone stopped talking to listen to the Chief's announcement. There were many looks of confusion when he started explaining the situation, and then a great hush fell on the entire crowd when Hiccup hopped up onto the Chief's table.

Something about the way that tiny dragon was looking out at them seemed strange. Then it picked up a pencil and started scribbling on a piece of paper. At first, no one knew what to do about this incredible sight. Then Fishlegs, the Thorston twins, and a few others eagerly approached the table. They stared at the paper in amazement.

 **Hello**

"Is… I mean… how did you? Stoick, your dragon can write!"

"Yes, I taught him."

The entire Hall exploded.

"Let me see that!" "Ha, even you can't do th…" "Night Fury intelligence factor is unprecedented!" "How much for him?"

Even Hiccup began to nervously shy away from the uproarious crowd.

"Everyone, stop!" Stoick roared.

They complied.

"One at a time now."

Fishlegs nervously walked over and stood next to Hiccup.

"Do you know what I am saying?"

Hiccup nodded for everyone to see.

 **Yes I know**

No one could possibly deny what they had just seen.

"Wow. Chief, do you know what this means?"

"It means, Fishlegs, that we need to think a bit differently about dragons from now on. Hear that everyone? Listen up! My dragon can write. He is smart enough to talk, in his own way. Now, I cannot speak for other dragons, only my own, but it is possible that they are all smarter than we think they are."

He paused for a moment to let it sink in.

"I know that none of you hate dragons, and we have learned how to treat our dragons well. Just remember that any of the dragons might be just like mine here. They might have things to say, but not know how to talk to us. Remember that. Treat them well."

"Aye!" the chorus replied.

The rest of the evening was naturally taken up by everyone asking Hiccup every imaginable question and then waiting for him to write out his answer.

"Can you fly? Breathe fire? Do you only eat fish?"

Fishlegs naturally asked Hiccup to stretch himself out so that he could draw him properly for the first time. Stoick thought that Hiccup looked rather proud of himself, albeit a little bashful at the same time.

Near the end of the interrogation, Fishlegs stepped over to Stoick, and they watched as Hiccup entertained some of the little girls by sliding his teeth in and out and letting them pet his wings.

"I hope you don't mind my saying it Chief, but I wish Hiccup were here to see this. Even though he is in Valhalla now."

"So do I Fishlegs, so do I."

 _More than you know..._

Both he and Hiccup returned home later after saying farewell to the crowd. They were both too tired to do much other than go straight to sleep. Stoick waited while Hiccup hopped up and burrowed into the covers next to the dozing Toothless.

"Hiccup, you did a good job out there."

Hiccup grinned and yawned sleepily. His dad blew out the candle he was holding and left the room.

 _Finally, I can talk to them. This changes everything. Ugh, Fishlegs will never let me have a moment of rest now._

Sigh. He glanced out the window before closing his eyes for the night.

 _What are you doing out there Astrid? Something fun I imagine._

* * *

She huddled as close to Stormfly's side as she could. Stormfly had kindly wrapped her in her wings, but that did not keep out all the cold rain or wind.

They had been forced to find shelter sometime in the afternoon upon spotting the incoming storm front. Without knowing how far it was to any other land, it would have been suicidal to try to fly through it. So they found the first desolate spit of land they could and hunkered down.

Astrid occasionally peeked outside her living tent and saw only darkness. This was her first time ever being properly off Berk, leaving aside those couple fateful visits to Dragon Island. It was scary, knowing that there was no form of civilization for leagues in any direction. She was completely alone in the middle of nowhere.

Except for Stormfly of course. The dragon was sleeping soundly after nearly a half day of flight. It was a strange thought that she would be completely stranded here if Stormfly were to abandon her for some reason. But there was no chance that would happen.

 _I guess we should get there tomorrow after the storm passes. Volsung first. I hope they have some edible food._

She lay back against Stormfly's warm side and fell asleep to the relentless patter of rain outside.

They were back in the sky and over the sea the next day. Stormfly naturally went fishing in the morning and was kind enough to bring back one of the fish for her human. Astrid checked the map she was given to make sure that she knew where they were supposed to go.

After a few hours of flight, they passed through a cloud-bank and emerged with a sight that made Astrid gape in amazement. The land before her was truly massive. Berk could be crossed in well under a day of hiking and only a score of minutes flying. The mainland though stretched from horizon to horizon with inland mountains that put Thor's Hammer to shame.

"Wow girl, just look at that."

What caught her attention just after the mountains was the sprawling village set slightly inland along with the docks and sloops in the inlet. It was exactly as her map had indicated.

The Volsung tribe.

 _Alright, it is time now. You can do this!_

"Ok Stormfly, we need to go there," she pointed to the village.

Stormfly looked down at the village and chirped suspiciously. Astrid stroked her side in reassurance.

"Don't worry about them, they will not hurt us."

They flew down closer to the village while staying out of arrow-shot to be safe. Dozens of men started running about and pointing up at them. None of the men aimed any arrows as far as she could see, but they definitely were keeping their weapons close.

The men then stood aside and left a clearing in the middle of the village.

They were clearly expected to land.

 _This is it._

She guided Stormfly down into the clearing, and landed gracefully as always. Everyone kept their distance from the dragon, especially since it kept nervously looking around and its tail-spines were very sharp.

"Now that is something I never thought I would see."

She turned in her saddle to face the speaker.

 _He must be Chief Edgaras._

"You are Edgaras of the Volsung."

"At your service, little girl."

"I am Astrid Hofferdottir. And I am not a little girl."

"Oh really, you certainly look… well-endowed… for a boy then."

The men guffawed crudely at her. Astrid slowly unstrapped herself from the saddle and then hopped down from Stormfly. In the blink of an eye, she drew her knife from its hilt and pointed it in his direction. At the same time, Stormfly hissed dangerously and protectively stepped closer to her.

"You would all be dead right now if she was really angry with you."

Astrid then put her knife away and drew the scroll Stoick had given her. The crowd was stunned by how quickly both she and the dragon had moved.

"I am here because of the treaty my Chief agreed to with you. I will show you how you can get dragons to trust you and be your friends, like Stormfly here is for me. If any of you cannot take instructions from a woman, then you will not learn anything. Do you understand me?"

Edgaras recovered himself first.

"Stoick spoke truly about you. They will listen to you. And don't worry about being bothered by my men. None of them will try to do anything to you. Wouldn't want to get any of those Nadder spikes in your rears now would you boys?"

"No Chief," was the general reply.

"Good, now that the meeting is out of the way I must saw that it this is truly impressive. That you have tamed this beast and made it obey you perfectly shows how strong the Berk people are."

"Stormfly is not tame."

"Of course it is, it is almost groveling at your feet even now."

Astrid reached over and started to pet Stormfly's neck.

"Stormfly is a she, not an it. And she is not groveling before me. She is happy to be around me and wants to keep me safe."

"Why are you talking about the dragon like that? Like it is a person?"

"Because she is. That is something you must understand or you will never be like us. None of our dragons are tamed as you said. They are not pets like other animals."

"All you need to show us is how to make them carry us and fight for us."

Astrid closed her eyes and took a moment to calm herself down. The things that Edgaras was saying about dragons and how he planned to use them…

"I cannot show you how to make them carry you. I cannot make Stormfly carry me. She wants to have me fly with her, and she lets me get on her back. That would change if I started being mean to her, yelling at her, hitting her, or anything like that."

Edgaras silently fussed over her words.

"I cannot help you if you will not listen to me."

"You will fulfill your side of the treaty. They," he designated a group of his men, "are the ones you will teach."

She considered them. Unsurprisingly, they were all burly men with gruff expressions.

"Are you sure they are the best for this? They do not look… right to me."

"They are my best and bravest warriors."

"That is stupid! You do not need warriors to get a dragon's trust. I need people who can be gentle and patient."

Astrid turned from him and vaulted onto Stormfly's back.

"We will be back after we find some fish. Consider what I said and try to think about dragons differently. You will never gain their trust if you treat them as tools or weapons."

If Edgaras gave her any reply, it was lost in the rush of wings as Stormfly launched into the air. They landed on the shore well north of the docks, and Astrid removed everything except the harness. Stormfly then happily flew off and started diving into the ocean like a seabird. Astrid was perfectly content to watch and nibble on some of her bread.

"They are so idiotic! What am I supposed to do with them?"

Sigh.

"We didn't do a great job at first either though. I wonder where the wild dragons are around here. That first meeting is going to be a mess."

She thought for a long while about home and about her mission. She already missed her parents, the other 'riders', Hiccup…

Stormfly eventually caught enough and returned to her.

"Hi girl, did you catch enough fish?"

Stormfly trilled happily and nuzzled her.

"We should probably go back to them."

Warble.

"Don't worry about them, we will get through to them. I hope."

They returned to the village immediately afterwards. Stormfly took more interest in the buildings and people this time and caused more than a few people to hop away in alarm. Edgaras broke from the crowd and walked toward them both with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face.

 _Great…_

"Have you thought about what I said?"

"I have Astrid. You are the dragon expert, and I will defer to your judgment."

"It might also be good if you include some youths in the group that I will teach. Dragons trust them more easily."

"Fine, fine. Arnor, Lewin, Jarli, your eldest sons will join the group."

Astrid just barely bit back a comment that no daughters were included. She was making slow progress but progress nevertheless. So she waited as the three sons were brought out and joined the group of men awaiting her instruction.

"Ok you all, ready to meet your first friendly dragon?"

"No." "Friendly?" "Not really." "I guess."

"That's the spirit! Now the first thing you need to know about approaching a dragon for the first time is to be respectful. Do not stare it down, do not yell at it, do not run at it with sharp things… you get the idea."

"The second thing is that it always helps to have fish. I do not know of a single dragon that does not like fish. Offering them food is always a good way to get their trust."

"But you don't have any fish right now."

Astrid held out a hand and Stormfly hopped over and nuzzled it.

"I do not need any now. She knows me and trusts me. She still likes it when I give her fish though. Sometimes she even brings back a fish for me. You, boy, what is your name?"

"Belethor, son of Jarli."

"Come here, you are going to pet Stormfly."

"Uh, I don't know what to do."

"Just follow me and do what I say."

Everyone watched with baited breath as the pair slowly walked closer to the dragon which had turned its gaze on the Belethor. But it made no move other than that. Belethor's eyes never left the dragon's massive spines running all the way from the crown of its head to the tip of its tail.

"Go on, stroke her side. She likes it."

Astrid noticed how one of Belethor's hands kept creeping toward his pocket.

"Stop! Do you have a knife in your pocket?"

"I… well…"

"You will take it out very slowly and throw it away so she can see you do it."

"But…"

"Listen boy, what do you really think a little knife is going to do if she wants to hurt you? She could kill you several different ways without even touching you."

Belethor had no answer for that. He reluctantly pulled out the knife and tossed it away. Stormfly, much to Astrid's approval, did not so much as flinch when she noticed the blade. He slowly crept closer and reached out a trembling hand to Stormfly's side which he then started to pet. Stormfly settled down and let herself be stroked.

"It feels… so smooth."

Astrid smiled.

"They are very smooth."

"But… I thought dragons have scales."

"They do, but they are not all as hard as other animal scales. They also only shed their scales one time each year. Their wings are very soft, but you do not want to try to touch them. They are very sensitive about their wings because of how important they are. I can touch her wings, but she will not let anyone else touch them."

She looked out over the rest of the group.

"Who's next?"

The rest of the group had varying degrees of enthusiasm and bravery. Some of the larger men brashly marched forward only to be hissed at in warning.

"Dragons are very good judges of character and intent. You need to be respectful toward them or they will not trust you."

"Buh… I warn't going to urt it."

"What is your name?"

"Ulg."

"Ulg, I don't think you are ready for dragons yet."

"Buh… I am. I've killed four of em."

"…Exactly…"

.

"Uh, how many of you think that dragons are mostly bad creatures? Be honest with me."

Most of their hands went up. Belethor and a couple others she did not know were the only ones who did not raise them.

 _This is going to be a long day…_

* * *

The end of a long and trying day finally arrived, and she breathed a very deep sigh of relief. The last few hours had seen a good number of Edgaras' chosen warriors make absolutely no progress with Stormfly while some of the younger men seemed to easily gain her approval.

It clearly irritated Edgaras, who wandered away from the square early on in the process.

Then there was the one unfortunate incident that almost started a war.

She was busy explaining dietary habits when Stormfly lost interest and wandered off. She had no concern that Stormfly would do something bad since even little children ran about freely on Berk. Not even a minute had passed when a great screeching and loud yelling echoed from behind a line of buildings. Astrid ran, fearing for Stormfly's life.

She saw her dragon flaming a hut. A hut that had a Nadder skull decoratively displayed over the door.

"Stormfly! Stop!"

Stormfly looked wildly in her direction and then hissed at the men standing around them both. Men with weapons in hand.

"Everyone stop!"

"What is going on here!" Edgaras stormed onto the scene.

"It just attacked us!"

"No, she did not, she burned down a house because it had a Nadder's skull on it. Of course that would make her angry."

"Why can't you control your beast?"

She almost pulled out some of her own hair in frustration.

"Were you not listening at all! I do not control her! None of us do. You would be angry too if you found someone using a skull from one of your own as a trophy!"

"I will have its head!" the enraged hut owner yelled.

"No, you won't!" Edgaras countered.

"But it…"

"No one was hurt this time. Astrid, do not let this happen again! Or else!"

Astrid waited until Edgaras had left along with the man whose place had burned to the ground before she turned back to her charges.

"We are done for today. Be back in the square in the morning."

They dutifully obeyed and left her alone with Stormfly. Stormfly knelt at her side and started making sad cooing chirps. Astrid lay against her side with a great sigh.

"Oh girl, I wish that had not happened. Or else, indeed! You were only doing what made sense, anyone would do what you did if they saw something like that."

Chirp.

"We need food. I am hungry, and we definitely don't want you eating anything or anyone… Fish?"

Stormfly immediately perked up at the mention of fish.

"Let's go find the Hall."

It was not hard to find. It was the largest building in the village and was in the direction that most of the people had wandered off. Surprisingly though, there were armed guards at the front door.

"Stop! We won't have that beast in our Mead Hall. Chief's orders."

"Fine, she is going to have something to eat though. I assume that you have fish for her."

"Go on inside and ask, we don't know about that."

She eyed their weapons and nervous twitch.

"No, you go inside and find out. We will stay out here until you get back."

Their look of indignation at being ordered around by a woman was quite humorous. But the dragon at her back did a very good job of convincing them to swallow their pride and do as she requested. A small group began gathering behind her, too nervous to walk near the dragon in their path. She turned to face them.

"What are you afraid of? Go on ahead, she will not hurt you."

No one moved.

"Come on! Grow some spine. Or have you men lost your manhood?"

 _I shouldn't enjoy this so much…_

"That is a fair question, Astrid," Edgaras berated them.

"Go on inside. The dragon will not hurt you, look at how docile it is," he commanded his men.

The men, women, and children nervously huddled together, the women shielding the children, and scuttled past Stormfly. Again and to her credit, she remained still and only watched as they shuffled past her.

"You need to understand how strange this is for them. The entire village would have been in arms against your dragon only a month ago. It was very strange when I arrived back and told them about what we would gain from the treaty. Some of them didn't believe me at first."

"But then?"

"Well, I made them listen. Amazing how a few choice words and examples can make people obey."

"I can't say that I like your methods, but it is your tribe."

"That it is. Good thing you understand that. I'll have some fish brought for your dragon, but it will have to eat outside."

"Even ours do that. But you know your people will have to get over their fears."

"And they will eventually. I doubt that your tribe adjusted overnight, now did they?"

"No, they did not. It took a long time and we even had to banish people who threatened to rebel."

That really got Edgaras interested.

"Did you now? You know why that happens. Rebellions only happen when the leader is weak or blind. Or, as you just put it, needs to grow a spine or has lost his manhood. He should have dealt with the dissent before a rebellion could even have grown."

He chuckled immodestly.

"You certainly are a fiery one. I think you will get plenty of marriage offers when people see how much control you have."

"I've told you before, I do not control her. I cannot make her do something she doesn't want to do. And don't think that I could ever be enticed by someone I do not want."

He wagged a finger at her.

"Don't be so sure that you will have a choice who you marry."

"We will see. As I understand the treaty, I am supposed to get you dragons of your own. Let's suppose that I do get this group of knuckle-brains to think the right way, I still need to find dragons for you. Any idea where they might be?"

"Of course I do. There are some mountains a day's march from here. There are a good number of Nadders and Nightmares up there."

A woman arrived carrying a basket of fish.

"Good to know. I'm going to eat something; do you mind if she waits out here."

"As long as it doesn't burn anything else down or eat anyone."

She bit her tongue to avoid saying something uncouth. Thankfully, he left her alone with Stormfly and she took her time giving Stormfly the fish.

"I can think of at least one person I wouldn't mind getting eaten. Ok girl, I'm going to go now. Don't get into any trouble."

Stormfly chirped happily and flew up into the sky where she started lazily circling the town.

 _Alright, time to see what slop they are serving here._

The chicken stew and hardtack were not bad and made her feel much better. She did not even mind the strange looks she was getting from everyone. Plus, some of them looked quite awed by her presence.

 _I am a dragon rider after all. Of course they should be impressed._

There was one table that had a good number of young men. Young men who kept leering in her direction.

 _Ugh, some things never change._

Edgaras had arranged for one of the larger stables to get cleaned out to house the island's strange pair of guests. It was nothing near as nice as what the dragons back on Berk were privy to. But at least it had a roof overhead, walls, and dry ground. She had politely refused the generosity of several intoxicated men who offered to share their bunks with her. Stormfly was perfectly willing to let her curl up under a wing.

She thought back to only a couple days ago when she was getting ready to leave Berk. It had seemed like it would be easy back then. Just show up with a friendly dragon, teach a group of people willing and eager to learn, establish peaceful contact between them and dragons, and everything else would happen on its own.

There was no way that she could have known that the people would fight her every step of the way. Though that should have been obvious in hindsight.

She snuggled up closer against Stormfly's side.

"We'll manage somehow girl. Heh, I'd like to see Edgaras yell at an angry Nightmare…"

* * *

She woke up early in the morning to Stormfly squawking in her ear. That could only mean one thing.

"No, I don't have any fish. You just ate yesterday."

A plaintive gurgle and nudge followed. Astrid just shooed the nose away.

"Go get some, miss bossy dragon."

Stormfly hopped to her feet with an indignant chirp and flew off after Astrid relented and let her outside.

While Stormfly was gone, Astrid gave a great deal of thought to the issue of how to get the people here to think properly about dragons. She kept coming back to one idea that seemed like it had to work. She knew from first-hand experience.

"Alright everyone, I have a new idea," she addressed her audience later that morning.

"Some of you are going to fly with me and Stormfly today."

"But we don't know what to do," Belethor objected.

"All you need to do is hold on," she explained as she hauled out the riding gear, much to Stormfly's approval.

"Belethor, thanks for volunteering."

"But…"

"And Stormfly likes you anyway."

Resigned to having been volunteered, Belethor stepped forward. Astrid vaulted herself up into the saddle and offered the young man a hand up. She handed him the ropes and he sat behind her.

"Strap yourself in with these and hold onto my waist."

He sheepishly did so and some of the other men whistled at him, which only made him blush even more.

"Alright girl, let's go."

Stormfly flared her wings and started walking.

"Oh no…" he whispered.

Then they were aloft. To his credit, Belethor did not scream, although his hold on her became so uncomfortably tight that she had to elbow him in the side.

"Look at it!" she shouted over the wind.

"Yeah! Yeah! Nice!" he stammered back.

"Open your eyes and see the world from on dragon wings!"

His gasp a couple seconds later indicated that he did in fact open his eyes. She let him wonder at all the sights around them both in peace. The whistle of the wind around them, the clouds passing on both sides, and the island far below, she could imagine what this experience must be like for him. Her first flight with Stormfly had been a very impromptu affair with Hiccup taking the initial lead.

"Hold out your arms!"

She demonstrated and reached as if to try to touch the clouds. She felt his arms disappear and glanced back at him. He too was holding his arms outstretched and his face had a look of pure awe. His gaze flew back and forth, drinking in the sights of the world beneath him.

"So what do you think?"

"It's amazing."

"You haven't seen anything yet. Hold on."

She leaned forward and whispered to Stormfly.

"Alright girl, let's have some fun."

Stormfly chittered happily.

"Oh no…" Belethor bemoaned.

* * *

By the end of the day, she had taken four others up into the air with her. Each and every one of them seemed transformed by the experience.

"Dragons are not mere beasts," she explained afterwards.

"As I have been trying to explain to you all, dragons are amazing and can be friends. But you need to think about them the right way. You do not use a dragon for anything. Think about that and tell everyone about today."

She watched her group of 'students' as they wandered off with their heads still lost in the clouds.

 _That has to get through to them. I just need them to start talking._

* * *

"Chief Edgaras, I am going to go up to the mountains and meet the dragons up there."

"Alright, don't get eaten. My people are talking about yesterday. It seems you made an impression on them."

"That is what I hoped for."

She left with Stormfly not long after that. What was a full day's march for his men was under an hour's flight for her. The mountain's rock face began about halfway up its height. It was up there that she hoped to find where the dragons roosted. She found what looked like the right spot and hopped off after grabbing some fish she had brought.

"No girl, these are not for you."

She carefully tiptoed around, keeping an eye open for any sign of the dragons that supposedly lived up here. Stormfly kept very close and hopped from rock to rock behind her.

Then she spotted a yellow Nightmare lazing on the ground about twenty paces away. It had not noticed her.

 _Alright, here we go._

She took a deep breath and stepped toward the dozing dragon.

"Hi there!"

It bolted awake and fixed its eyes on her. Eyes filled with fear and anger. She held up the fish.

"It's ok, big guy. I won't hurt you. Stormfly, come here."

Stormfly cautiously walked over to her and stood next to her.

 _He must be very confused._

"You want this fish? Here, it's yours."

She tossed the fish to the dragon and it glanced between her and the fish for a while before gulping it down.

She started walking toward it again and it anxiously shuffled on its feet, but did not growl or back away. It took a bit of coaxing by both her and by Stormfly, but it eventually allowed her to approach and pet its nose.

The village was put on edge when she returned with a strange yellow Nightmare circling overhead. Her Nadder they had grown somewhat accustomed to and thought domesticated, but this one was clearly a wild dragon.

"What is it doing here?" Edgaras yelled.

"He wanted to follow me back."

She turned and waved to the dragon. It rumbled to itself and then dove down and alighted in the middle of the town. Astrid oversaw the introductions.

"Do you think he will stay?" Belethor asked her.

"Oh, that is up to him and you all. Keep treating him well and he just might."

"He is a bit of a small dragon. But he will do. How do I pair him with one of my men?" Edgaras asked.

"It doesn't work like that. You can't make someone into a friend just because you want it that way."

He looked completely exasperated with her.

"You just don't understand Astrid. You think that they are your friends. No! They are beasts. Good beasts, useful beasts I will grant. But you seem to think that they are just like us. Why?"

"You don't know them like I do."

"Which is? Do they talk? Why do they carry people away? Have you seen body parts left behind from an attack?"

He chuckled to himself.

"You see Astrid, you don't know them like I do."

"What is all this for then? Why did you even want me here?"

"I already told you. They are useful to have. They may be beasts, but I would rather they be my beasts."

She just stood there and stared him down. He was incorrigible.

"You cannot understand," she finally answered.

She stepped away from him and looked over the village, the place where she had lived for over a week.

 _I'm through with them._

She left and went to the stable to pack her things. Then she saddled Stormfly and walked out into the square where she hopped on Stormfly's back.

"We are leaving now Edgaras."

"What?"

"I mean that I am leaving with Stormfly and going to the next tribe."

His anger flashed for the first time.

"No, you are not. You are going to fulfill your part of the treaty or else!"

"I already have. I told you everything you need to know to… get your own dragons. You have to go out and do it now. You know where they are and how you must treat them. Oh, by the way, I do know a dragon who can talk, and he is far smarter than you."

She didn't even look to see if what she said moved him at all. Stormfly sensed her rider's wish to be gone from the place and eagerly launched them both skyward.

Astrid spared the village one last glance as it fell away behind her.

"I don't know about them. Some of them seem like they might learn but most of them are too…"

Stubborn. Confident. Manly.

Stormfly trilled her sound that Astrid had long since associated with suspicion and anger. It seemed that she was not too happy with the former hosts either.

"Maybe the next tribe will be better…"

With nothing to do but enjoy the flight, she allowed her mind to wander.

 _Belethor, Jarlief, and Skald seemed like they might understand. Maybe they can change their tribe with time._

Something that Edgaras had said was still bugging her though.

Body parts left behind in an attack…

She had never actually seen that. Death, she was sadly acquainted with at a young age and people going missing during raids used to happen only infrequently. It was a terrifying thought because Edgaras had seen the full extent of what dragons were capable of. Terrible though it was to admit, she had not seen it all like he had.

 _He probably cannot change by now. He has seen too much._

He was not open to being convinced of what she wanted him to learn. The best that she could hope for was that his way of thinking would drift away with time as more people came to know dragons as she did. It also struck her as somewhat hypocritical of him to blame dragons for killing people and attacking others. His own tribe led attacks on people farther south, took prisoners, and did terrible things to the women they captured.

Were dragons really any worse?

 _Alright, forget about them. Vaina… fishermen… Chief Svana Barrell-chest. I wonder what she is like._

Having already been through so many frustrations with the Volsung, she did not have especially high hopes for the Vaina.

* * *

It was pleasantly surprising how welcomed Svana made her feel and how similar the village seemed to Berk. Svana herself was, unsurprisingly, a massive woman whom she certainly would not have wanted to face in combat. Amazingly though, Svana asked a lot of questions of her. Intelligent questions. She also made a point of referring to Lady Astrid or Lady Hofferdottir. Astrid couldn't help but grin at the change in treatment from Edgaras's tribe.

Svana had apparently also instructed the village to be more accepting of a friendly dragon among them as several dozen people turned out to meet the dragon and rider. There was already a stable set aside just for them. Stormfly was very well looked out for with at least a couple people eager to give her a grooming whenever she returned, though she wouldn't let herself be handled by any other than Astrid.

The introductions to Stormfly and first lessons went very well. Svana had picked a mix of men and women, and then even brought in boys and girls at her suggestion.

What had finally won them over completely was her mentioning how much fish Berk was able to catch with the dragons' help. She even went on to demonstrate with Stormfly exactly how the dragons were able to help so greatly.

Svana was practically giddy with excitement as soon as they returned. She recounted how difficult the last few winters had been with poor catches leading up to the winters. Possibly doubling their catches would mean that no one would starve during the winter.

Finding dragons was a somewhat more difficult matter as there were not many dragons other than Terrors on the island they inhabited. It was completely by chance that she ran into a young Timberjack in the woods. The poor dragon was terribly confused at seeing her next to Stormfly and it took a lot of coaxing to convince it to follow her back. As soon as it entered the village, it proceeded straight to the docks and started helping itself to the basket of eels as though it had never eaten before. That quite confused her since Hiccup had said that dragons couldn't eat eel. She made a mental note to ask him about this when she got back.

She only needed a couple more days before the first peaceful interactions with the natives occurred. She and Stormfly were both present to oversee the event and make sure that nothing bad happened. Astrid let herself be smelled and nuzzled by them first to make a good impression.

Everything went smoothly after that. Svana happily approached her the next morning.

"Thank you Astrid! I think we can handle it from here."

"I'm sure you will Svana. Your people have been far more… cooperative than the Volsung were."

"Edgaras is very headstrong and enjoys fighting. Me, I am headstrong and want the best for my people. There is no reason to always be fighting the dragons."

"I don't know what your village will look like in the future."

"Don't worry about us, we can figure something out. Here, I want you to have this," Svana reached into a pocket and pulled out a necklace adorned with seashells.

"It is beautiful, thank you."

"It is a sign that you are a friend to the Vaina. You are welcome to come back whenever you want."

She snapped a finger and a fisherman came forward with a massive salmon. Stormfly had her gaze locked on the fish as soon as it appeared in Svana's hands.

"And this is for you Stormfly. Catch!"

Stormfly nuzzled Svana's side after catching and devouring the fish.

"That's one beautiful dragon you have there Astrid. Kind of wish I had one."

"Maybe you will. You should be able to get the trust of most dragons now. Just remember to treat them well."

"We will defend ourselves, but we will not look for any trouble from them. Who would ever think of being cruel to such glorious beasts now that we know we don't have to kill them on sight?"

Astrid walked over to Stormfly and mounted her.

"Alright girl, one more and then we go home!"

Stormfly took off with a happy roar to the cheers of the onlookers below. She pointed Stormfly in the right direction and relaxed in the saddle for a short nap as the wind whipped around her.

 _I'll miss them. Just the Berserkers now, this should be easy. Osvald sounds like a good man._


	15. I - Sepulchre

" _No day shall erase you from the memory of time." - Virgil – The Aeneid_

* * *

Sepulchre

* * *

"I bored," Hiccup lamented.

"Go fly then," Toothless rumbled back.

Hiccup rolled over on his back, glanced outside at the morning light, and went limp. He had already read just about everything that his dad had in the house to read and Toothless always just told him to go flying. Flying was invigorating and peaceful to be sure but he wanted some variety in his entertainment.

"Not more flying. Want do something with two-legs."

"You are sad that Astrid is not here."

"Yes."

"So do something with other two-leg kin."

That was a thought. Now that the entire village had an idea of how smart he was, it was far safer to spend time with Fishlegs and the twins. Snotlout seemed to have distanced himself from everyone and never tried to make conversation. Both Fishlegs and the twins had taken great interest in him and asked him hours of questions after learning that he could write.

 _But what can I do with them?_

He thought about what they could possibly do together and one idea for an adventure came to mind. There was that bizarre chest that he found in the nook hidden in Toothless's old cave. He still had not told anyone about it other than his father.

"I know! I tell my kin about the… two-leg thing in your cave!"

"Ssss, will they make the two-head-gas-breather leave?"

"No Toothless. You not need the cave now, yes?"

Toothless just grumbled in slight frustration.

"I still want it."

"Silly."

Snort.

"You come with me if you want."

Hiccup hopped out of bed and went outside looking for Fishlegs or the twins. They would probably be in the Hall at this hour.

"Hiccup, wait! I will come!"

Hiccup grinned as Toothless ran up behind him.

"I knew you would."

They walked through town together and waited at the door for someone to let them in. Ignis opened the door from the inside and paused to look at them.

"Hi little guys, you want in?"

Hiccup nodded emphatically. His attention was drawn to the basket of chicken she was carrying. Just the smell of it made his mouth water.

"No, this is not for you. This is for Arnie."

"Who would think that Nadders love chicken more than fish," she added to herself.

 _There is chicken today! Hmn, maybe I can get some. Something other than fish sounds great._

As usual, people glanced in his direction as he and Toothless made their way along the Hall. He hopped up onto the chair specially left for him at the Chief's table.

Sure enough, Fishlegs got up from his table and came over to him.

"Hi there Hiccup, you want me to get some food for you two?"

Yes please, he nodded with a smile.

"Ok, wait here, and I'll get you some."

Toothless stared up at Hiccup as he perched on the two-leg thing with his paws up over the ledge. It looked rather silly to him.

"Hiccup, you look silly."

"Silly? Why?"

"You are sitting like a two-leg."

"Yes, and I like it."

"Silly."

Hiccup just stuck his tongue out at him. Then he waited patiently until Fishlegs returned, and he did so with a plateful of juicy chicken. It was enough that even Toothless forgot to be glum and licked his chops at the smell of the chicken.

"Here you go, enjoy," Fishlegs chuckled as he set the plate down on the table.

Hiccup rumbled happily and bent down to dig into the chicken when he noticed Toothless glaring up at him.

"Hiccup…"

"Get up here Toothless," Hiccup relented while making room for him on the large chair.

Toothless hopped up and stood next to him. Then he viciously attacked the food, sending scraps all over the table and onto the floor.

"Toothless stop! You are making mess!"

"But ground-bird is tasty," he grumbled while a hunk of chicken dangled from his chin.

"No, not make mess. Bad!"

Fishlegs burst out in laughter and only stopped when he noticed that both young drakes were staring at him.

"You two are so funny together. I just wish I knew what you were saying."

Hiccup then lifted a paw and pretended to write in the air.

"Ok, I'll get some."

While Fishlegs was off getting some paper, Hiccup dug into the chicken as well, making sure to eat civilly and glaring at Toothless all the while.

"Here you go," Fishlegs laid out the paper and pencil on the table.

 **He was making a mess**

 **And I need to show you something**

"What is it?"

 **A surprise**

 **Bring the twins**

"A surprise, ooh. What is it, no… Uhm, where is it?"

 **In the mountains**

"The mountains… I guess that means flying. I'll go tell them and get Meatlug ready."

Hiccup had to chirp to get his attention back.

 **Bring torches**

"Uh, ok. We will wait outside your house."

He left, clearly eager to have an adventure with the little Furies and to find out what the surprise was. That left Hiccup free to return to what was left of the food.

When the plate was finally picked clean, Toothless hummed in happiness now that he had a full belly.

"That was good. We should eat ground-bird more."

"You should eat with less mess," Hiccup answered while hopping back to the ground.

They left the Hall together and headed back home. Sure enough, the twins and Fishlegs were both waiting for them along with their saddled dragons.

"Alright, I hope you can still fly."

"Fishlegs, where are we going?" Ruffnut asked.

"We are following them, they have a surprise for us."

Hiccup rolled his eyes and huffed at him while spreading his wings. The entire company was in the air moments later, the Gronkle and Zippleback following the two Furies.

 _What a beautiful day for flying. Sunny. No wind._

He could tell that the other dragons were flying slowly to allow them to keep the lead.

 _I wonder what they think of us. How do they think about their babies or other dragons?_

He had to focus even harder though when they started ascending the mountain's heights. The wind seemed unpredictable up here with random updrafts that threw off his pitch. A quick glance at Toothless showed that he was not having any trouble at all, which made sense because he had many years of practice to draw on.

They finally made it up to the clearing that held Toothless' old cave. The entire company landed and dismounted.

"Guys, look at the view," Fishlegs remarked with awe.

"Pretty incredible, huh sis?" Tuff asked.

"Totally, it's perfect except that I can see you."

An amused chuckle brought their attention back to Hiccup, and he pointed at the cave.

"Woah, look at that. It's massive. Can't believe we never found this before. Is that what you wanted to show us, Hiccup?"

No, he shook his head. Then he beckoned to them and started walking toward the mouth of the cave.

"Guess we should get the torches out. It looks dark in there."

The three of them went to the bags to unpack the torches while Hiccup and Toothless continued on.

Toothless paused at the entrance and sniffed.

"Hiccup, the two-head-kin is here."

He peered inside as well and saw a large lump in the middle of the cave. It became apparent that it was a Zippleback as his eyes adjusted to the darkness.

"Let's go Toothless!"

"Hiccup, it is not…"

Hiccup had already run ahead, completely oblivious to the possible danger. He did not seem to understand how territorial wild kin can be.

The Zippleback's heads lifted as one and turned to face Hiccup, who was standing only a few bounds from it. Toothless realized two things when he saw the Zippleback clearly; it was angry and hungry. Dread twisted his insides.

"Hiccup, run!"

"What?"

Hiccup blinked in confusion. Why did Toothless tell him to run? He looked back up at the Zippleback.

Something about the way its heads were snaking his way and its eyes were trained on him was very disturbing. He suddenly felt like a mouse that had wandered into a wolf's den. A tiny, unbidden whimper escaped him as his fear grew.

"Run!"

One of the necks lunged for him, and he stumbled backwards. He couldn't see anything other than its glistening teeth and the saliva dripping from its jaws.

He turned tail and ran for his life, the dragon's heavy footfalls close behind him. Toothless was screaming something, he could not tell what. They burst into the sunlight.

At every moment Hiccup expected sharp teeth to close around his tail.

He heard someone shouting. Something massive appeared in front of him and then disappeared. He only stopped running when he saw Toothless in front of him. Toothless was staring over his shoulder and did not look afraid anymore.

Fishlegs' and the twin's dragons had charged the wild Zippleback and were growling and hissing at it while backing it toward the cliff ledge. Meatlug charged it and knocked it off the cliff, only for it to fly away shrieking in complaint.

"Hiccup?" Toothless whispered.

"It… it tried… eat me… I not know…"

Toothless lay down next to him and started licking his neck.

"Ugh, why Toothless?"

"Make you feel better."

As if that was not embarrassing enough, Ruffnut chose that moment to run over to him and start stroking him.

 _Please… no more. Anything but this…_

"Alright Ruff, let him go," Fishlegs told her.

"He was just almost eaten, Fishlegs! He is terrified."

"He is fine now though. And I think he wants down."

"Alright then…"

She did step aside. Even Fishlegs could not resist stroking the trembling dragon on the back though.

"Are you ok?"

He meekly nodded back.

"I don't know why it would attack you. None of our dragons ever do that."

Meatlug waddled over to him and started sniffing and prodding him.

"Good girl, you saved little Hiccup. Good job."

Hiccup couldn't wait any longer. He had to know why that happened.

"Toothless, why that kin… bad? Not like two-leg-friend-kin."

"It did not nest with two-legs. It was hungry. And it thought you challenge it."

"What? How? I small."

"You are a Night-Fury-kin. It knows a Night-Fury-kin lived here. We are danger to it."

That made some sense. Maybe it was just defending its territory. Still though…

"But what about this stone-belly and two-head?"

"They are kin and protect the nest. We are young of their nest, so they protect us."

"Hiccup, do you still want to show us something?" Fishlegs asked when Toothless stopped rumbling.

 _Might as well now._

He got back up and led the group back inside the now-empty cave, still feeling a slight twinge of fear as he paused in front of the dark entrance to the inner cavern. He knew that fear made no sense, but still it is not every day that one almost gets eaten!

"In there?" Fishlegs asked.

Yes.

"Alright, we love adventure. Let's go sis," Tuffnut announced.

The twins disappeared inside the small entrance, torches in hand. Fishlegs, Hiccup, and Toothless followed behind. It was only a few seconds before…

"Fishlegs! Look what we found!"

"A chest!" he exclaimed as he ran over to investigate it himself.

"This. You wanted to show us this?"

Yes, Hiccup nodded.

"Woah…" Fishlegs ran his fingers over the rusty chest, looking for a lock.

"I can't get it open!"

"Let us," Ruffnut offered.

She and her brother began fussing with the rusty lock while they were not knocking into each other. One of them produced a small knife from somewhere.

Click.

"Huh?" "I got it." "Whatever."

The three of them opened the creaky chest. Hiccup also came over and stood upright to peer inside.

Scrolls. Books. And gold coins. Lots of gold coins.

They all just stared in awe at the sight.

"What is it, Hiccup?" Toothless asked.

"Two-leg picture-things."

"Guys, we should tell the Chief about this," Fishlegs announced.

"What is it?" Tuffnut asked.

"They are histories. Writings that are generations old. See here! This one is about the first generation here on the island when it was called Bjork. Genealogies, maps, lists of dragons, oh this is an amazing find! Thank you Hiccup!"

He felt very bashful indeed. Even more so when Ruffnut gave him a pat on the head.

"Let's take a few of these back with us. We can come back for everything later."

Fishlegs grabbed a few of the scrolls and headed back outside. The twins took one look at each other, nodded once, and pocketed a few of the coins before grabbing some of the books.

 _Oh well, there is plenty to go around. I wonder what they will do with it._

The entire party was soon back in the air and gliding down the mountain. Hiccup nervously kept a watch out for any nearby dragons that he did not know in some way. The encounter up in the cave still had him on edge and nervous. Toothless said that dragons of his nest, of his tribe, would protect him because he was a youngling. But how to recognize which dragons were friendly?

He waited until he and Toothless landed outside his house and let themselves inside. They lay down in front of the smoldering fireplace.

"Toothless, how I know which kin are good kin and which are not this-nest kin?"

"Smell."

Smell?

"I not understand."

Toothless grumbled in frustration. Then he walked over to Hiccup.

"What do I smell like?"

"Like a kin?"

"No."

"Like fish?"

"Not that. My smell talks. It tells other kin what I am thinking. You smell like you still have fear. Smell can say angry, hungry, sad, happy, and more."

"But I not know smells. Two-legs not talk with smell."

"Hmn, you will learn. Just like you learned how to talk to me and to fly."

That was a small comfort and it left him very frustrated with himself.

"I am bad Night-Fury-kin…"

"No, you are not bad," Toothless growled before continuing, "You learned how to fly and to talk very fast. The life-organ learning is different for you."

"Not understand."

"Knowing without learning. Things we break our egg and know. Those things you might not know."

"Because I was two-leg?"

"Yes. Also because we not have sire and dam to teach us," he added.

The mention of teaching reminded Hiccup of something else.

"Toothless, why you not want learn two-leg picture-words?"

"No need. Who would I talk to?"

Even if there was no specific person to talk to, it could be a useful skill for him to be able to write.

"Still good thing to learn. You could need talk with two-leg me."

Toothless paused, not quite sure he had heard right. He had already discussed this with Hiccup.

"You are not a two-leg Hiccup. I cannot change that."

"Not you but maybe my sire can. I not want not talk with you then."

Toothless said nothing. It was a terrible thought to consider. He had long accepted Hiccup as his kin, as a nestmate. The thought that Hiccup might be changed back into a two-leg… it would mean that he would be alone again with no one to properly talk to. Hopefully none of this changing back would ever happen.

"Do many kin eat other kin?" Hiccup meekly asked.

"Normally small ones or very big ones not of their own kin or nest."

"But why? Very bad."

"It is. They must eat or die, and it is better to eat. Most kin here are safe because there is much fish. The kin in this nest do not eat kin or two-legs."

He had already figured as much but it still left him feeling a bit better. Until he seized on the last thing Toothless had said.

"Other kin eat two-legs?"

"Yes, some do," Toothless answered after a short pause.

Hiccup ought to have known. What else could possibly happen to those who were carried off in the night raids?

"But not Night-Fury-kin, not you."

A longer pause ensued.

"No, not us."

But something felt strange to Hiccup. He noticed that Toothless smelled… nervous. It was horrifying to imagine what might have brought that on.

"Toothless, what you not saying?"

.

"Tell me!"

"There… was one big male two-leg who found me far away from here. He was going to try to kill me. I bit his neck and killed him."

Hiccup froze, aghast at hearing that Toothless had killed before. His friend, the dragon who would not kill a human, had killed a human.

But did it change anything?

 _It was in self-defense. He had to do it._

"Hiccup?"

"I… not think you do thing like that. Not like you."

Toothless stared blankly at the wall for a while until Hiccup thought that Toothless had completely forgotten about him.

"Life was hard. Bad times. When I flew over your two-leg-nest in fights, I tried to not kill your kin. That bad two-leg took his two-leg-metal-tooth and looked for me."

Hiccup reluctantly forced a wry grin.

"Never again. Good times now."

Toothless huffed in frustration.

"As long as you do not get yourself eaten!"

 _Oh, don't worry about that. I learned my lesson there…_

He heard the door open and heard the unmistakable sound of his father's footfalls.

 _Time to see what he thinks about the treasure!_

Toothless ran into the bedroom and curled up on the covers while Hiccup was busy. He had no interest in joining Hiccup and Hiccup's sire.

It had been so close to coming out. He had again been sure that Hiccup would have forsaken him if he had found out the truth.

* * *

It had happened after his first close encounter with the two-leg monsters after his escape from the first cave. He had fled into the wild, far from any sign of two-leg caves or hunters. He hunted, keeping everything sire had taught him in mind. The fur-covered-four-leg-head-horns were good hunting if their head-horns could be avoided. The bushy-tail-small-four-legs were aplenty, but their fur was annoying and caught in his teeth and they were fast. The patience needed to catch the fish. Much patience. The vigilance needed to avoid the traps of the clever-bad-nest-breaking-two-legs.

Two season-cycles passed, and he grew deadlier and better at hunting with each season-cycle. In all that time, he saw several other kin, but none of his kin, his dark-wing-kin.

He was alone.

The two-leg nests also started growing and more of the two-leg-hunters started passing through his hunting grounds.

Perhaps it was a fault of his, but he was still curious about them. He wanted to understand why they were so bad and what their weaknesses were, other than having naturally weak and frail bodies. So he braved the bushes nearest the closest two-leg-dead-tree-pile-nest and watched. A set of mates in their strange furs were making their strange growls at each other while their young ran around outside, calling to each other in their own way.

There was nothing here to indicate that they were the monsters that they truly were. They were not breaking living eggs or wearing the skins of kin. The first clawtip of doubt began poking at his liver.

He came back a few more times, being particularly interested in the hatchlings and young. They seemed different from the adults. The young were more full of life, of energy, of doing. They did not behave at all like the nest-hunters that killed his sire, dam, and egg-nest-kin. Maybe he was wrong and two-legs were only monsters as adults.

He was stalking a four-leg after many days of not catching anything when the two-leg hunter found him. It was easily large enough to threaten him. He hid but it was clear that the two-leg was on his trail. One of its shiny-false-rock-teeth appeared in its paw.

He remained perfectly still, hoping that the two-leg would pass by and miss him. It took another step forward but was looking down at the trail and missed him on the rock next to the path.

Two-legs had unknown powers and he had been warned that they can throw long teeth far into the air to tear at wings and ground kin. This two-leg had found his trail and there was no escape. Even flight was no protection here near the ground and among the trees.

This would be a fight to the death. He coiled his body and pounced without hesitation.

The two-leg tensed and looked up an instant too late.

He fastened his jaws around the two-leg's neck, and they both collapsed to the ground. His claws dug at the two-leg's belly and his teeth sunk into its throat. A sharp pain bit at his side as the two-leg's false tooth bit and cut at him, trying to dig into his life-organ. He clenched his teeth in pain and anger, and the two-leg thrashed under him, its hot life-water dripping over his tongue.

Until the two-leg went still.

He stepped away, panting in excitement and pain as life-water fell from his teeth. He had just done it! Gotten his first two-leg kill! Killed a monster!

This changed everything! If only his sire could see him now.

A sharp twinge reminded him that it had bitten him too. He licked his side until the pain receded and the flow of his own life-water stopped. He checked himself over to make sure that nothing else had been hurt.

That would leave a tooth-mark.

He glanced back at the torn body covered in its own life-water and wondered.

It had been many sun-moon-cycles since he had eaten. The life-water in his mouth had not tasted good, but he was desperate. He slunk over to the body and inspected it. There did not look to be much actual meat on it. He had never had two-leg meat before and did not know what to expect.

The first mouthful of flesh was not satisfying, but he had to eat to survive. By the time he was finished, he promised himself that he would never hunt two-legs. They did not taste good. Getting past the false-fur-skin was very tedious. But more than that, there was something else about them that he could not put a claw on. If only there was some sign that they were not monsters…

That uncertainty was only reinforced after he came back to the place after several sun-moon-cycles. Other two-legs had found the remains and took all the bones away. Beasts would leave their dead behind.

His hunting grounds became far too dangerous after that. More two-legs started stalking about and searching for something. Searching for the killer of their kin. He left the place as soon as he realized their purpose. He was not foolish enough to seek a fight with such dangerous creatures. That victory had been because of surprise.

He flew farther north along the shore, looking for a place where there were no two-legs. He eventually found several fire-scale-kin and spike-tail-kin flying out to sea and decided to follow them. Surely the two-legs could not swim or fly to wherever these kin were going.

* * *

His tail twitched in nervousness as he relived the memory. He knew in his liver that he had done nothing wrong. Life outside of nests, two-leg or kin, could be nasty, cruel, and short. Even if he were starving now, he could not imagine himself feeding on a two-leg ever again. Not after making Hiccup a part of his life. It would be like feeding on another kin in a way.

 _Hiccup cannot know, he would not understand._

"Toothless! Fish here!"

That was a good thing since he was very hungry after the day's activity.

"It is amazing Hiccup! These are as old as our tribe itself! See this one, this is the mark of Chief Gorm. He led our tribe to Berk and helped us survive against the dragons."

Hiccup honestly could not remember seeing his father so excited since perhaps before his own incident. It was a very good feeling.

 **There is more up there**

"Fishlegs told me that there is an entire chest and that it has gold too. This is great for our tribe. He said that you found it. How did you find it?"

 **I was exploring with Toothless**

"Up in a cave in the mountains?"

 **No one had ever been there and it looked fun**

"Well, I'm not going to tell you not to go up there. Just be careful about the dragons you might see."

 _No kidding…_

"I'm going to send some more people up there to bring down the rest of the treasure. Who knows what it might have for us."

Hiccup was at supper in the Hall that evening when the chest itself was brought down. Naturally, everyone crowded around and inspected the find. All the muttering paused when the chest was opened and the golden glint appeared. Then everyone started whispering all together as the piles of gold coins and old scrolls were heaped on the Chief's table.

"Where was it?"

"Up in the mountains in a cave," Stoick answered.

"Who found it?"

"Hiccup did."

Hiccup felt everyone's eyes seek him out as soon as they heard that he had been involved in finding the treasure.

"Three cheers for Hiccup!" Gobber yelled.

For the first time in forever, the entire Hall cheered for a dragon. Hiccup felt very sheepish about it and gave them all a slight grin. The idea of them cheering for him was still one that he was completely unfamiliar with.

"Woah, look at this Stoick," Gobber exclaimed while handing over a piece of parchment.

"What is it?"

"A map of Berk. But look at these here," Gobber pointed out some strange markings.

"Are those caves?"

"Yep, and look where they go."

Hearing about more caves piqued Hiccup's interest, and he hopped over to inspect the map as well.

"They are all over the island. All the way under Thor's Hammer! How did we not know about this? And what is this?" Stoick indicated a place titled 'Loki's Hollow.'

"No idea, it looks easy enough to get to though. Just have to fly up to here and take the passageway into the mountain. We should send some people to find out," Gobber said.

"Look at this one here, Gobber. This one goes from a cove by the ocean right under the ledge outside the village. If any enemies knew about this…"

"Ah, that would be bad I see. Well, let's send the Ingerman lad and the Thorstons. They have enough appetite for adventure anyway."

 **Me too**

"Uh, what do you say Stoick? Hiccup wants to go with them. He did find the treasure after all."

Stoick of course did not want Hiccup to go venturing in strange, unexplored caverns. There was no telling what dangers there could be deep underground. But he also felt terrible with the idea of keeping Hiccup penned up inside with nothing to do. Hiccup always was an adventurous lad who was fond of the outdoors. That fondness had only grown stronger since he became a dragon.

"Hiccup, can you stay safe with them? Not wander off or do something stupid and crazy?"

Hiccup was very thankful that no one had told his father of the incident up in the cave.

 **Yes**

"Ok, go with them and be careful."

 **I will**

"I'll tell them to head out first thing in the morning. No sense keeping adventure waiting."

Hiccup hopped down from his chair and roused Toothless.

"We go under ground next sun-cycle."

"Why?"

"Fun. See new places, places other two-legs walked."

"And I need to come to keep you safe," Toothless groaned.

"Yes!" Hiccup answered with a grin.

They left the Hall together shortly thereafter. Gobber watched them go as they had done many times before. Then he sat down next to Stoick and decided to broach the delicate topic.

"I don't know what it is about those two Stoick. I feel like… I should know them or something."

"What do you mean Gobber?"

"I dunno. Well… they are so much smarter than the other dragons and they are so little. And… Hiccup reminds me of… your son. What do you think?"

Stoick stiffened and thought hard over an extended drink from his mug. He had been able to keep the truth from everyone so far. Would it do any real harm to let Gobber know the truth? He knew that Gobber had been a mentor to Hiccup in the past. And Gobber was probably the one person he trusted the most on the island.

"I don't know Gobber. Maybe a little."

"Do you think it is possible that Thor, Odin, or the Valkyries might… uh… send someone back or give them another chance?"

"Gobber, are you saying that the gods would send someone back to life as a dragon?"

"Technically you said that, but sure, it makes some sense. Doesn't it?"

"I think you've had too much to drink."

"But don't you think it is odd that…"

"No! I won't have you spreading these rumors," he clenched his fist and slammed the table.

Those at the nearby tables turned in surprise at their Chief's sudden outburst. Gobber was left slack-jawed. And he felt real anger towards his lifelong friend. Anger born of knowing the truth and knowing that Stoick did not trust him with the truth. Anger that Stoick was deliberately concealing wonderful news from him and from the entire tribe.

He stood up and turned his back on Stoick.

"Gobber, I'm… sorry."

"For what?"

"For… yelling at you."

"No, you are not."

Stoick shook his head slowly and whispered, suddenly looking very tired.

"I just don't want the people thinking that anything strange is going on."

"Stoick! We live on an island of friendly dragons, what is not strange about that?"

"You remember the stories about the Seiðr, don't you Gobber? About sorcerers and conjurers who summoned demons and sacrificed people to the gods to gain their favor. What do you think would happen if people hear rumors that someone got turned into a dragon?"

"I'd hope that we are beyond that Stoick. We've seen some strange things in our time and we ended up alright."

"I don't think that the gods would take someone from Valhalla if they earned it. No. Hiccup is in Valhalla. He died a hero."

Gobber paused for a long time before answering.

"Aye, he is a hero."

He left without waiting to hear if Stoick responded. Once outside the Hall, he clenched his remaining fist and closed his eyes. It hurt, knowing that his old friend would lie to his face. A deliberate lie by omission.

 _What's his problem?_

He returned to his forge and took out his frustrations on some soft metal that needed shaping. Stoick was a very proud and confident leader and man. Outwardly, Stoick's outburst could have any number of explanations. But he knew the truth.

 _Almost wish I didn't know… it would make everything easier._

* * *

Hiccup woke up with the dawn and stretched his limbs with a wide yawn. Then he remembered his wings and stretched them too. He blinked in surprise that they did not hurt at all after all the flying he had done the other day.

 _That's a good thing. Maybe I can get Toothless to show me some tricks now._

He hopped over and shook Toothless awake.

"We go now."

Toothless grumbled incoherently and followed him down the hall. Hiccup paused when he saw his father already awake and clearly waiting for him. That itself was not surprising; rather, it was how haggard he looked that was strange. As though he had been very frustrated at something and not slept well.

 **Is something wrong dad**

"I'm just… angry at myself. I yelled at Gobber after you left last night and I shouldn't have. He was asking questions about you."

 **Why not tell him then**

"Because it is too dangerous. He would not do anything to hurt you, but I don't know about everyone else in the tribe. I don't think he could keep it a secret for long."

.

"And you are still so little. I can't imagine you getting hurt."

 **Dad do not worry about me**

"Oh, but I have to. You keep yourself safe down in those caves. I doubt that there will be anything down there, but be careful."

He nodded in acknowledgment and a brief, awkward moment of silence ensued before they went their separate ways.

"Hiccup, who do you want to touch bellies with your sire?"

"Because… it is like nose touching… it means care and wanting them happy."

"Why you not do that for me?"

"I not know kin do that like two-legs."

"They do not."

"Why you ask then?"

"Because you do many things that kin do not do. Those things are twisted."

Hiccup glanced around for Fishlegs and the twins and failed to see them. They must still be on their way.

"How kin show care and happy-wanting? Only nose-touching?"

"And giving food."

"Hmm, like you gave me fish?"

In a way, that was an appropriate comparison. It suddenly struck him that he had actually greeted Hiccup as he would have a nestmate. How appropriate…

"Yes, and also playing together, teaching each other, and protecting each other."

Hiccup thought for another subject to fill the silence while they waited.

"Toothless, you fly very fun. Many spins. I not know how. You show me?"

He twitched his tail for emphasis as that was his major problem. He did not understand what he was supposed to do with the fins in anything more complicated than flying in essentially a straight line.

"Now?"

"Yes, now."

"Watch me."

Toothless jumped aloft and flew away to make a pass by the house. Hiccup watched closely as Toothless flew by while spinning in a corkscrew. It was very impressive and hard to see what exactly he was doing.

 _I better try this myself._

He was aloft as well in moments and gained enough height that he was able to practice flying without having to worry about the buildings. He tucked one wing in close to his side and flared the opposite fin as he thought Toothless had done. It only sent him into a wild spin that he could not control. He righted himself and resumed flying normally.

It was so hard. Normal flight was almost like swimming through the air and there wasn't much to think about. Here there were all different angles to consider and there was too much to keep in mind.

 _I'm thinking too much._

"There they are!"

He recognized Fishlegs's voice and spied both Fishlegs, the twins, their dragons, and, surprisingly, Snotlout in the square. As far as he knew, Snotlout did not care to spend time with them. He banked toward them after shouting out for Toothless.

"You ready for this, little guy?" Fishlegs shouted.

Yes, he nodded back eagerly. The idea of exploring a cave was very exciting since he had not done so in years. And it would be nice to be back around the gang again, even if they did not really know him.

"Alright everyone, hold on tight now. Let's go!"

The group jumped aloft in moments and began flying toward the mountains with Fishlegs in the lead. Hiccup hung back and flew alongside his cousin and Hookedfang.

What was going on with his cousin? It was a question that would have to wait until after they finished their adventure.

Leagues passed under-wing as the group flew on. He heard Fishlegs shout something from ahead and looked where he was pointing.

It was near the base of Mount Thor. A sheer wall of grey rock that rose several hundred lengths near vertically and had a narrow path that snaked along the base of the rock wall.

He hovered and stared in amazement once he flew around the corner and saw what they had come for. A cavern entrance. It was far larger than the entrance to Toothless's old lair. But aside from its size, there was something else that was exceptional about it. The rock all around the entrance was smooth and glossy, as though it had been melted in the distant past.

Everyone landed and dismounted.

"Look at this everyone, it's amazing," Fishlegs shouted.

"How deep do you think it goes?" Tuffnut wondered.

"The map says it goes all the way under the mountain and that is where we are going. Everyone got your supplies? Torches and food?" Fishlegs took the lead.

Yep. Yep. Yeah.

"We don't know how big this passageway is, so we should have the other dragons stay outside."

The three of them dismissed their dragons after getting all their supplies.

"And you two, you ready?" Fishlegs turned to him and Toothless.

"Toothless, you ready go in?" Hiccup asked.

Toothless stared into the darkness and sniffed at the air. There was nothing in the cave from what he could tell. It should be safe.

"Yes, we go."

For emphasis, Toothless charged into the cave first.

"Well, that answers that," Fishlegs shrugged.

Fishlegs and the twins laughed at the Fury's antics and lit their torches. They all started walking into the darkness of the cave.

No one said anything for quite a while. The only sounds were the crackles of their torches and their footfalls echoing all around them. It was very eerie how worn and smooth the path was except for several very deep grooves cut in the rock.

Hiccup felt surprisingly nervous. Something about hearing the echoing click of his talons with every step and smelling the musty air was unsettling.

"Hiccup," Toothless stopped walking.

"What?"

"I do not like this place."

"What? Bad kin?"

"No, I do not smell anything. My liver does not like this place."

"We stay with two-legs. Safe."

Toothless reluctantly resumed walking and followed Hiccup as the group went deeper and deeper. The path eventually sloped downward and everyone had to watch their feet around the cracks in the path. The dust swirled with their every step.

"So, do you want to talk about it?" Fishlegs asked.

Hiccup glanced back and saw Fishlegs and Snotlout walking together. His cousin looked very unsure of himself.

"Not really. I mean, it's not like you have any more experience than I do."

"Only a little. But talking can only help. We have missed you a lot."

"Bah, I guess so."

Hiccup slowed down to let the two of them catch up so that he could hear more clearly.

"You've never lost family, Fish. I hated how clever he was. Then things became different after we lost him."

"We all regretted how cruel we were to him."

"Fish, that's not the issue. I am now next in line to be Chief after my father. My dad has already told me that he wants me to take over from him. I'm not the smartest, but I could be a good Chief."

"I thought you always wanted that."

"With Mildew's rebellion, other tribes, there is so much to worry about. Even with all that, yeah I do. And then there's her."

"What about her?"

"What do you think, Fish?"

"She is very busy."

"Yeah, she is so busy with work and dragons and treaties… Why does she get to do the important stuff while I am stuck here fishing, shoveling dung, and building stuff?"

It finally struck Hiccup who the she was that Snotlout was referring to. Astrid.

His Astrid.

"My father has already said that he is looking for a wife for me. We are just about that age Fishlegs. Why shouldn't I have her?"

"You know she is not interested in anyone."

"I know, any ideas how I can get her attention?"

"Beats me."

Hiccup was very disturbed and confused. His cousin was thinking about wooing Astrid! Not that he thought Snotlout had any real chance of succeeding, but it was the principle of the matter.

Astrid was his!

True, their situation was very strange but… he had feelings for Astrid. They had flown together to the dragon nest after a long and romantic evening among the clouds. She had even given him a kiss!

It wasn't fair or right! It all came back to his present condition.

He took a deep breath to calm himself. Astrid was a sensible person.

 _She won't be interested in him. She knows he is… dumb, ugly, grr…_

"Hiccup, what is it?" Fishlegs asked in alarm.

 _Oops…_

Nothing, he shook his head.

"Guys!" Ruffnut yelled from up ahead.

"What?"

"Come look at this!"

They all raced ahead and looked where she was holding her torch.

There was a skeleton clad in full Norse war attire. Someone who had died with their axe in hand. His empty skull stared up at the ceiling.

None of them said anything for a long time. They all bowed their heads for a moment in respect for the fallen warrior.

"What do you think happened?" Tuffnut finally asked.

"Well, none of the bones have been touched. And look at all the burn marks. I think this was a dragon," Fishlegs answered.

"How long do you think he has been down here?" Snotlout wondered.

"Probably as long as the chest has been up in that cave. Maybe over a hundred years."

"Do you think anyone else is down here?" Tuffnut wondered.

"Only one way to find out," Ruffnut answered.

The four of them slowly turned away and started wandering deeper down the passageway.

Hiccup remained behind, unable to tear his eyes from the skull. How had the man died? Why was he left here? Who was he?

He had also never seen a skull before. It was very disturbing.

"Guys! There is more!"

He ran ahead and joined them in staring at a strange dragon skeleton. It looked somewhat like a Nightmare except that it had a shorter neck and had curved spines running from the crown of its head to the tip of its tail. Old scales completely devoid of any shine or color lay on the ground around the bones.

And it had a massive notch in its spine where something had cut into its neck. One of its wing-bones was also snapped in half.

Again, everyone stared solemnly at the sight.

"I've never seen a dragon like this one. It's… a shame," Fishlegs sighed.

"I think there was a fight down here. Long ago," Tuffnut whispered.

Fishlegs apparently thought Hiccup needed comforting because he knelt down and started patting his neck.

"It's ok, this doesn't happen anymore."

 _I know… it's still sad._

Hiccup gave him a grim smile and nod before turning his attention back to the skeleton. He had seen dead dragons before, and the sight had always sickened him. Old bones were somehow less disturbing. Perhaps because they had a certain nobility or sense of tragedy about them.

"We should keep going," Fishlegs told them.

Hiccup hopped over to Toothless who had walked right up to the bones and was staring at the notch in its spine. What might he be thinking?

"Toothless, you sad?"

Toothless did not react for a while and just kept staring at the skull. Then he snorted.

"I do not know it. I do not feel."

They began slowly trotting along behind the four humans as the path continued to slope down.

"Hiccup, what do two-legs do with dead two-legs?"

"They… give them fire. Or put them under ground. What about kin?"

"Nothing. It is too hard to move no-life kin."

They all passed several more skeletons, human and dragon. Some were whole but more of them had terrible wounds the deeper they went. Horns, wings, and necks were completely shorn off while skulls were crushed flat or pierced by spines and limbs were snapped in half. Swords and spears were more and more common. They even found a strange type of arrow with carved dragon-scale sharpened into arrow-tips which were still sharp.

The air also became fouler and mustier.

Then they reached a split in the path. The left-hand path angled up whereas the right-hand path continued downward. The left-hand path looked larger and seemed to have a draft while the right-hand path was somewhat smaller and completely still. There was only one problem…

"I don't remember this on the map," Fishlegs finally said.

"So, we don't know which way to go," Tuffnut bemoaned.

"Hey, if even Tuffnut could understand that…" Ruffnut teased.

Fishlegs kept looking at the two passages in the flickering torchlight without having any clue as to which one they ought to take.

"I don't know guys, which one do you think?"

"No way to tell. Maybe just guess," Snotlout offered.

Hiccup turned to Toothless.

"What way should we go?"

Toothless looked at each path and let out his strange shriek. Everyone but Hiccup jumped in surprise.

"What the?"

Both of them listened carefully and noticed something odd. The right-hand path seemed to widen and open into a large cavern. Could that be where they were going?

Hiccup walked over and nodded toward the path. He paused when he did not hear them behind him.

They were staring at him and Toothless in confusion.

"What happened?" Snotlout wondered.

"I think he made that sound. But why that way?" Fishlegs squealed in excitement.

Hiccup stood up and wiggled his ears.

"You can hear something?"

Yes.

"That makes no sense, but why not. Let's go."

The entire group started moving again. Fishlegs started whispering to the twins.

"They must be able to hear something. Night Furies have much better senses than I thought…"

It was not long before the path widened drastically. They came upon a massive chamber in which even the roof of the cavern was too high to see from their torches. Everyone stared in disbelief at the size of the place. Columns of rock sprouted from the ground. The air itself felt heavy and stale.

Most shocking were the bones and bodies.

Skeletons of dragons and a few men were scattered as far as any of them could see through the darkness. Abandoned or broken weapons lay everywhere. This place had seen true violence and death.

Fishlegs looked up at the tunnels that seemed cut into the rock walls, considered the passageway that the group had just walked down, and realized what this place was.

"It's a nest!"

Nest…nest…nest…nes…nes…esst..esst.. . .tt.t.t.t...

The echoes finally stopped ringing all around them.

"It was a nest," he continued in a whisper, "but these men tried to take it. Gods… how big is this place?"

They continued on slowly and saw more of the same. A ledge appeared in front of them and dropped off into the darkness far below.

"How far down does it go, I wonder…"

Fishlegs flung his torch into the gulch and almost jumped in shock.

A truly massive skeleton stared up at him. The head was as large as most homes and adorned with massive spikes. It was snakelike and had no wings. None of them could even see the end of its body which stretched off into the darkness.

"That… is a big dragon…"

Toothless peered over the ledge and hissed when he saw the skeleton.

"What Toothless?" Hiccup asked.

"I do not like big kin."

"It bad kin?"

"Yes, big kin are bad."

"Why they bad?"

"They eat kin and make kin think bad things."

Fishlegs looked away from another skeleton of a dragon even he had never heard of before.

"Well guys, I think this is Loki's Hollow. Why do you think they called it that?" Fishlegs asked.

"Maybe because they thought the dragons were a curse from Loki," Snotlout offered.

"Everyone who died here certainly didn't help," Fishlegs added while staring sadly at an old Gronkle skeleton.

"They must have been some of the first people who ever came here."

"Guys, I don't like it down here. I think we should go."

Tuffnut turned to his sister.

"What's the matter sis?"

"That," she pointed at a Zippleback skull.

"Oh," he muttered, "yeah, I want to go too. There is nothing good here to see."

"Come on little guys, we are leaving," Fishlegs addressed the two Furies.

"Toothless, we leave now," Hiccup said.

"Good, this is a bad place."

He turned away from the ledge and started back up the path they had come down. None of them, not even the twins, were talkative after everything they had seen. Battles, fire, and blood they were familiar with. Brittle and dried bones in a massive underground cave were an entirely different matter.

Especially when those bones belonged to a person or to their own type of dragon.

They walked in relative silence until Snotlout cursed at his torch in frustration.

"It's dead."

Everyone looked at the torches the twins were still carrying and shared a nervous glance. They were noticeably dimmer and running out of flammable material.

"Let's hurry up."

They all picked up the pace after noticing that. No one wanted to be trapped underground in what had to be pitch black.

Hiccup and Toothless trotted along behind them, barely able to keep up. Hiccup was starting to get winded.

"Wait… for me."

They turned to each other.

"I think he is getting tired," Fishlegs said.

"I guess I could carry him," Snotlout offered.

Hiccup huffed and stomped on the ground once.

 _Oh, no you don't!_

"You don't want to be carried? Hurry up, we don't want to be stuck down here."

"Uh, guys…" Ruffnut whispered.

"What?"

"My torch is dead."

Sure enough, only a few embers were still burning. That left only Tuffnut's dimming torch. None of them knew how much further they had to go. The narrow tunnel was getting very dark and none of them could see more than a few lengths ahead or behind.

"This is bad!"

"Don't worry Tuff, we can get out even if your torch dies. It'll just be slow," Fishlegs reassured him.

"Yeah, but I don't want to step on anything… crunchy… or step into empty space, fun though dying might be."

"Oh, yeah…"

It was only a minute later when the last of the embers of Tuffnut's torch died, leaving the entire group in complete darkness.

"Uh, now what?" Tuffnut asked after dropping his torch.

"Come here everyone," Fishlegs took charge.

They bumped into each other in the darkness and started stumbling blindly up the slope.

"You there little guys?"

Hiccup warbled back to let them know he was there. He and Toothless were walking side by side to not get lost. Then he had an idea.

"Toothless, you show us way? See with hearing."

"Yes, you do it."

"I not know how."

"Not hard. Like flying. Make sound from deep in mouth."

Hiccup took a deep breath and tried to make the same noise that Toothless could make.

What came out was more like a shriek that made everyone jump in alarm. Complete silence followed afterwards.

Hiccup cringed and was glad that no one could see how ashamed he was.

"Bad," Toothless perfectly summed it up. Then he did it correctly himself.

Once again, Hiccup had that strange sensation of seeing a shape of everything around him. This image kept filling in farther up the path.

He also found it easy to remember what he had seen, and roughly knew where all the rocks and ledges were.

He hopped over to Fishlegs and tugged on his leg.

"Was that you Hic?"

Yes, he warbled back. Then he gave another tug.

"You want me to follow you?"

Yes.

"Guys, I think they can see in the dark."

"How? That's impossible." Ruffnut objected.

"I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with the odd sounds they were making. Uh, how will we know where you are Hic?"

 _Oh, the things I have to do for them._

He brushed his tail against Fishlegs's side until he found his arm. Fishlegs gently clasped the tail and understood the plan.

"He will show us the way, let's go."

The motley procession began making its way up the path, the four humans stumbling hand-in-hand and being led by two Night Furies. Toothless kept shrieking every so often so that they could both see. More than once, Hiccup stepped on something that crunched underfoot and was very glad that he could not see any specifics.

And there was the one time that he suddenly saw nothing in front of him. Nothing, as in a gap or a void along the edge of the path. He yelped aloud and stopped in mid-step, almost to be run into by Fishlegs.

They made very slow progress after that point as Hiccup started doubting himself. What if he accidentally led one of them into a pit? What if one of them got hurt because of him?

No sooner had he started doubting himself when he heard a faint wind and noticed a glow up ahead. Could it be…

 _Light!_

"Guys! I see light. We're almost there!" Fishlegs yelled.

The entire group emerged from the tunnel a couple minutes later. It was very late in the afternoon. They had been underground almost the entire day.

"Thor… I hate caves," Ruffnut groaned.

Hiccup collapsed on the ground, glad to be finally on dirt again and to not have every single sound echoing around him. Or to have a hand holding onto his tail for over an hour. It was very different thinking about what he had seen underground now that he was safely above ground and the warm sun was shining again.

It was horrible even though it happened hundreds of years ago. All the skeletons with various degrees of injuries. So many dead people.

 _I hope that never happens again._

His thoughts went out to Astrid, somewhere out there in the wild. She was probably doing exactly what he wished he could do.

Fishlegs stepped over to him and gently patted him on the head. Hiccup didn't even mind it at this point.

"Hic, I don't know how you did that, but thank you. You two are amazing."

"Yeah, thanks for getting us out," Tuffnut added.

"How are we going to get down? Our dragons all left," Snotlout noted.

"Will you go get our dragons Hiccy?"

Hiccup wasn't actually sure he knew how to. Neither he nor Toothless could talk to the other dragons, as far as he knew. Still, he had to try something.

He got back up and nodded once at Fishlegs.

"Toothless, we need get the kin of two-legs come here. How talk them?"

"We show we need help. They come."

 _Not very helpful…_

They leapt off the ledge and flew down the mountain together, Hiccup making sure to practice his maneuvers. It felt truly great to be back in the air again after being in the tunnels all day.

They found the appropriate dragons lazing about on the outskirts of the village. All three of them perked up as soon as they saw the two Furies land next to them.

 _Uh, now what?_

"Help us?"

Meatlug just tipped her head to the side and blinked.

"Toothless, what I say?"

"No, not say."

Toothless then started barking and yowling completely incoherently. Then he turned about, stared up the mountain, and beat his wings. The other dragons apparently understood the message because they immediately took off toward the mountain.

"How you do that?"

"I show them… having fear or needing help. Then I show them where. They know to get their two-legs."

"So you not know words for them."

"No. Only we have words, remember?"

"Yes. That makes me sad."

"Why?"

"I want talk to them. Hear their words and ideas."

"Grr, they only think about fish and have small heads..."

That did not sound right to Hiccup. He had seen how the other dragons behaved around their humans, and they certainly seemed to like being around them. Toothless almost sounded angry or bitter toward the other dragons.

 _Maybe he is just hungry, I know I am._

"We should get food. Come with me?"

Toothless grumbled to himself before nodding and following him toward the Hall.

* * *

"I don't believe it," Stoick whispered.

"It's all true sir, there are dozens of bodies down there. It looks like a war happened down there," Fishlegs answered.

Stoick just sat in his chair and stared off at the wall where there hung portraits of previous Chiefs.

"Find the nest and take it…" he whispered to no one in particular.

He glanced over at Hiccup and Toothless's respective chairs.

"And, how did they behave themselves? Not giving you any trouble I hope."

"No sir, they actually helped us a lot. I think they can see in the dark."

"What?"

"We had a bit of an accident. Our torches went out when we were still deep inside. Those two helped us get out. I'm not sure how, but they guided us out."

"Really?" he asked Hiccup.

Hiccup looked up from his plate of grilled salmon. He had only been paying a little attention to the discussion because some of the details were still disturbing.

Yes.

He thought that his father almost gave him a grin.

"Well, good job. Fishlegs, you did a good job leading your people."

"Thank you Chief, are you going to do anything about what we found?"

"I think we should leave the dead alone to be respectful to our ancestors."

"Ok sir, is there anything else you need from me?"

"No Fishlegs, you may go."

Fishlegs obediently left the table.

Hiccup watched as his father leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed.

"So strange to learn these things about our people, isn't it Stoick?" Gobber asked.

"I know, I wonder why our ancestors put the chest up in the cave. It had to be after the battle."

"Maybe they wanted everything to be remembered."

"But they left the gold too. Why would they do that?"

Gobber just shrugged.

"Who knows? Maybe to honor the dead. I don't really care."

"Fair enough. You two about done Hiccup?"

Hiccup glanced over at Toothless's empty plate. Yes, he nodded back.

"Stoick, I was just wondering, why don't you ever talk to Toothless?"

Hiccup happened to be looking at his father at that moment and noticed how he suddenly stiffened.

"He just… they are not the same. It's not your business."

"Alright, there is no need to get angry Stoick…"

Hiccup sadly looked over at Gobber and could clearly see how hurt he was by Stoick's harsh words.

 _I should talk to him about that._

It was the first thing he brought up when he got back home.

 **Dad, you should not be angry with Gobber**

"I can't have him asking those questions."

 **But he is right, you can talk to Toothless**

"I know, but that is still very strange. Toothless is a real dragon, and none of the dragons talk."

 **I do**

"What?"

 **I talk and everyone knows that**

"You are not really a dragon."

Hiccup pointedly flexed his wings and flicked his tail for emphasis.

"You are not a dragon in here," Stoick pointed at his head and then thumped his own chest.

"You never thought about killing people or fighting. I know they are not like that now, but they used to be."

 **Do you trust me**

"Of course I do. Why not?"

 **Do you trust Gobber**

"Yes, he is my old friend."

 **So tell him the truth about me**

"I… you know I cannot do that. We've already talked about this."

Hiccup turned away with a growl of anger and ran to his room. Toothless hopped up next to him on the bed.

"Why are you angry?"

"My sire not want other two-leg kin know real me."

"Why not?"

"He has fear. Thinks other two-leg-kin… think bad… at me. He want me a two-leg."

Toothless sighed at the reminder of that issue again. It just would not go away.

"Toothless, if I be two-leg again in next season-cycles, what you do?"

It was surely impossible. Making him not a kin made as much sense as rocks that could fly without wings or water falling up.

 _On the other paw though, he made me fly again when I knew I never would. Maybe he could find a way._

It was a terrible thought. He liked having Hiccup as his nestmate, as a fellow Night-Fury-kin. It meant that he was not alone like he had always thought he would be. It meant that he could fly with Hiccup properly instead of having to carry him around.

But Hiccup was still unhappy.

Hiccup uncertainly continued with his question.

"You fly away? You stay here… and be my kin-friend? Us be like other kins and two-legs?"

"I think I stay here for time. You are good to me. I will always remember what you did for my tail," Toothless answered a moment later.

Hiccup sighed in relief that Toothless would not want to leave Berk in that case.

"That good. I happy."

Toothless curled up next to him and shut his eyes with a soft purr. Hiccup was still a bit unsettled though. Something about the thought of changing back was nagging at him. He knew that it was definitely what he wanted, but still…

He glanced at his paws and his tail curled around in front of him. He found himself idly stroking the fins. Then he shook his head and lay down as well.

 _What am I thinking…_

* * *

Stoick remained at his table, looking through all the items brought back from the ancient chests, long after Hiccup had run off to bed.

They were as Fishlegs related, genealogies, stories, and lists of useful plants to name a few. Some of the scrolls were stored in the Great Hall's annex and ones relating to dragons had been put in the the Academy for Astrid. The rest were here with him.

One of the parchments in particular caught his attention. Specifically, the one most yellowed with age that had lain on the very bottom of the pile. The title was faint and covered in dust.

 _On Ragnarok_

He gingerly picked it up and unfurled the scroll. The ink was so old that it had grown faded in places and was hard to make out without holding a candle close to the cloth-paper.

 **What is a god but a being above nature? Above the winds, the seas, and the soil. The gods grew in number and built things worthy of the gods. All the lands, winds, and seas became theirs. Things moved like birds in the clouds and among the stars. The gods captured worlds out of dreams and locked the worlds in living boxes. The gods even shaped the dirt into great and terrible new creatures and breathed life into the dirt. But the gods were always part of the cycle, not above it. The gods gave up their power. They forgot each other, each becoming the gods of their own world, and turned on each other. They hurled stars and engulfed their spire-cities with heavenly flame. Thus was Ragnarok begun.**

He carefully rolled the parchment up while thinking over its strange words.

 _I don't remember that tale from anywhere. Hmm. No wonder why not, there are no heroes. Can't keep interest among the people without giving them a hero._

He returned the scroll to the pile of other works, giving it the respect that an ancient text deserved, even if its meaning was incomprehensible. Then he turned in for the night, although not without feeling a twinge of regret that he had not been able to better handle the Gobber situation.

* * *

Hiccup woke up late that night to a pounding noise. He yawned widely before being enough awake to realize that someone was rapping at the outside door.

That was very unusual. No one ever disturbed the Chief at night unless there was a dire emergency. Sure enough, his father's heavy footfalls began stomping down the hall while he grumbled and groaned to himself the entire way.

 _I wonder who it is._

He was just interested enough to get up and hop out of bed to listen at the bedroom door.

"Do you know what time… Astrid!"

 _Astrid!_

"Sir, we need to talk."

"It's the middle of the night. Can it wait until morning?"

"I just got back, and I haven't spoken to anyone else."

"Fine, come in," he relented.

Hiccup could not restrain himself any longer and ran down the hall. It had been too long since he had seen Astrid, and he desperately wanted to hear her news. He paused outside the living room though when he heard how frantic and disturbed she sounded.

"I'll tell you more in the morning, but you need to know what happened with the Berserkers."

"What happened? Surely Osvald did not give you trouble."

"No, he couldn't because he is dead."

"Dead? How?"

She took a breath and paused before answering.

"Dagur killed him."


	16. I - Integration

" _Man, do not pride yourself on your superiority to the animals, for they are without sin, while you, with all your greatness, you defile the earth wherever you appear and leave an ignoble trail behind you - and that is true, alas, for almost every one of us!" ― Fyodor Dostoyevsk - The Brothers Karamazov_

* * *

Integration

* * *

Stoick stood dumbly for a moment as if not sure that he had heard right.

"What? Dagur did what?"

"Dagur killed his father and is now the Chief of the Berserkers. It's a long story, but I saw it happen."

With a heavy sigh, Stoick fell into his chair.

"Why? Osvald was a good man. Why would Dagur kill his own father?"

"I think it was because Osvald wanted to listen to me. And he also said things that Dagur didn't want to hear."

"I can't believe it."

Astrid yawned widely.

"Sir, Stormfly and I just barely escaped the Berserkers, and I can barely stay on my feet right now. Can I tell you everything in the morning?"

"Yes, yes, please do Astrid. Go get some rest."

"Thank you, sir."

Astrid left for the evening, leaving Stoick alone. Hiccup did not show himself to her and crept into the room to meet his father. Stoick was sitting in his chair, and he looked understandably shocked. Hiccup remembered Dagur from many unfortunate childhood encounters, but he had never imagined that Dagur could kill his own father. How could anyone ever do such a thing?

Stoick finally looked up a minute later and noticed Hiccup patiently waiting for him.

"Well, I never imagined that would happen. Yes, the Berserkers have some customs that we on Berk have never practiced. But to kill his own father to become the new Chief?"

Sigh.

"This is bad. I had hoped that Osvald would be our ally. I don't think that Dagur will be so agreeable."

 **I never liked him**

 **He was not nice to me**

"He didn't hurt you, did he?"

Hiccup slowly shook his head.

 **He only made me feel bad**

 **He teased me for being small and weak**

Stoick breathed a sigh of relief, though he inwardly cursed himself for not knowing about that. He knew that other children on Berk had teased Hiccup, but he had thought that it would be good for him. That it would force him to build up a thicker skin.

"You never met Osvald, but he was a good man. He led his people well and was never especially harsh to us or the other tribes. He was always willing to listen and be agreeable. I don't know what will happen now."

Then he chuckled humorlessly.

"We'll find out more tomorrow. How about you go back to sleep."

 **Will you?**

"Yes, but I need a bit of time to think first. I don't think I'll be able to sleep for a while."

Hiccup nodded slowly and ambled back to bed where he sat in relative silence. It was a few more minutes before his father too walked back down the hall and shut his bedroom door. The only sounds were now Toothless's snoring and occasional calls of night creatures outside.

Something felt off now, something felt wrong. The thought of Dagur now leading a tribe as fearsome as the Berserkers was disturbing in far too many ways. But at least Astrid was back home and safe again.

* * *

Hiccup and Toothless followed Stoick to the Hall in the morning for breakfast as was usual. But Hiccup was very nervous.

Not only was he going to hear more about Dagur's crime, but he was going to finally see Astrid again after over a month! She was surely going to have many other stories to tell besides. She had been on an adventure and had been to different islands. Who knew what kind of things she had seen and stories she had to tell?

He did not have to wait long before she arrived. Everyone started whispering and gesturing in her direction when they saw her.

Stoick stood and gestured her towards a chair next to him.

"Astrid, good to see you. Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, I did sir. It is very good to be back home."

"I'm sure it is. Go get yourself some food, and then come tell me everything. I'm going to find Gobber, he should hear all this too."

He left, leaving her alone with Hiccup by the table. She turned to face him for the first time since getting back. They both regarded each other, very conscious that there were still other people watching her.

Then she gave him a kind smile.

"It's good to see you again. You've grown, Hiccup."

She gave him a soft pat on the head.

"Cove later," she whispered.

He gave her a subtle nod. Then she left to get herself a bowl of soup.

"She is back now," Toothless observed in between mouthfuls of fish.

"Yes, I want hear her."

Toothless just rolled his eyes and returned to his fish.

Astrid and Stoick returned a few moments later, Gobber in tow.

"So good ta see ya Astrid! It's been a long time."

"Thanks Gobber. I guess you both want to hear what happened."

She started talking, describing her experiences with the Volsung and the Vaina. Her immediate audience listened with rapt attention as she recounted the encounters between the other Nords and the dragons.

"So, then we flew to the Berserkers. Osvald greeted me as soon as I arrived. He couldn't stop telling me how beautiful Stormfly was, and he tossed her lots of fish. He even invited me to a feast in honor of the treaty and his tribe's future."

"I remember their feasts; the wild boar was ta die for!" Gobber interjected.

Everyone else at the table glanced at him.

"Eh, sorry," he mumbled.

"So it was at the feast that Dagur showed back up. He had been out hunting or something. He got into a fight with his father when he found out that I was here to show them how to ride dragons."

"What about?" Stoick asked.

"He was saying something about hunting and the thrill of killing. Osvald explained that he wanted his tribe to become like us, to have dragons. Then Dagur went… crazy, deranged. He started throwing things and yelling. Osvald started yelling too, and then Dagur threw a knife."

She paused before continuing.

"I'm not sure exactly what happened after that, but there was a lot more yelling. Then Dagur was there being recognized as the new Chief by everyone. He commanded his men to capture me and to bring him Stormfly's head on a pole. I ran to Stormfly, and we barely escaped."

"And he didn't say anything else?"

"No. I didn't speak with any of the other people in that tribe, and they did not look like the kind of people who care much for words."

"Do you think he might want war?" Gobber interjected.

"I don't know if he knows what he wants. I hope he doesn't want to fight anyone though. His people are not like any others that I saw out there."

"Thank you Astrid, you've done a very good job. I'm very proud of all the work that you've done for me and the tribe," Stoick declared.

She blushed at the praise.

"Take a day off and do whatever you need to do. I have to think about everything you've told me."

"Thank you, I will sir."

She considered herself dismissed and left the Hall with her breakfast.

"Stoick, did I hear that right? Is Osvald dead?" Gobber seemed oddly serious with no trace of his usual wit.

"Aye, it seems so. And Dagur is the new Chief of the Berserkers."

"Stoick, ya know how bad this is. The Berserkers are too unstable anyway. They don't even worship the gods properly."

"I know. They've always been more… bloodthirsty than the rest of us."

"Do you think we should send someone to acknowledge him as the new Chief?"

"Gobber, anyone that we send now is not likely to come back."

"I guess so. What about them wanting war? Do you think they would ever try to attack us? It's been generations since our tribes crossed axes."

"I hope not. I don't think they would be dumb enough to attack us since we have our dragons."

Gobber thought for a moment.

"Or maybe they would see that as the best sport."

They both glanced at the two resident Furies at the table. Hiccup was intently listening to everything that had been said. Stoick clenched his fists and answered very gruffly.

"They will regret it if they ever try."

* * *

Astrid sat in the cove later that morning after walking the distance through the forest. She had secretly made off with several reams of paper and a pencil for Hiccup after telling him her plan.

She looked around the valley while waiting for him to show up. She had chosen to walk here because the woods around Berk were peaceful, and she wanted to enjoy the feel of solid ground under her feet after flying back home. The scant trees that were present in the valley were still fully clothed, but it was clear that the season was nearing its end. One more of the fabled Berk autumns to look forward to.

"Great Odin, I'm glad to be back."

She did not have to wait long before she heard the beat of wings. She looked up and saw one of the little Furies gliding in.

Seeing him in the air again after her being gone for over a month was strange to say the least. He was much larger than she remembered, and he seemed a much better flier as well, faster and more assured than before. He landed smoothly and hopped over to her. Even on a dragon's face, his expression was one of unmistakable excitement to see her.

She unfurled one of the scrolls and rolled it out for him to use. He was also much faster at writing than she remembered him being before, as though he had much opportunity to practice.

 **I am glad you are back**

"I am too. You have no idea how frustrating the world out there is."

 **Tell me about it**

He curled up on the ground next to her and gave her his full attention.

"Well, where to start? It was a long flight with Stormfly, almost an entire day of flying. The mainland though is huge. The people are very stubborn. It was very hard to get them to listen to anything I told them about dragons."

"Some of the younger people in the tribes were the easiest to convince. They didn't seem to have as many bad memories of dragon attacks. You heard everything I told your father about Dagur, right?"

Hiccup solemnly nodded.

"I almost couldn't believe it myself until I was already up in the sky again. It was so horrible. I never thought that a son could do that to his own father."

She paused and looked up at the sky.

"Maybe he didn't mean it. Maybe he just lost control. I never really knew him those few times he came here."

 **I never liked him**

"Well, we don't have to worry about him now. He is certainly never going to come here now. Not after he learned what we are really doing here. Anything happen here while I was gone?"

 _Uh…_

 **I found a treasure**

 **Dad had us explore a cave**

He paused and considered telling her about the Zippleback incident, then decided against it. No reason to worry her unnecessarily.

 **We found bones underground from an old battle**

"Bones? Under Mount Thor?"

 **Dragon bones, spears, shields, everything**

"But why would Nords attack under…"

She paused while staring off in the direction of Thor's Hammer as comprehension dawned on her.

"It was a nest, wasn't it?"

Yes, he nodded.

"I'm not surprised. We've always been on Berk, and dragons have never lived here."

 **Toothless did though**

"He did? Where?"

 **Up Mount Thor**

"Where we couldn't easily get on our own. Of course. It still makes sense why we never saw any dragons that lived here. They did once, and then we… got rid of them."

 **There was a big dragon down there**

"A big one? Like the queen on Dragon Island?"

No, he shook his head.

 **Like a big snake**

 **Almost as big as the Queen**

She couldn't help but wonder how mere Nord warriors could possibly kill such an enormous creature. But they had evidently managed it somehow.

She heard a soft bugle from above and looked up at the same moment as Hiccup perked up as well. Even after being gone for over a month, she recognized the sound and knew who it had to be.

Toothless swooped in and flew around the cove for a moment before landing next to them.

"Hi Toothless."

He looked over at her and acknowledged her with a grunt. Then it struck Astrid that she had never actually tried to talk to Toothless with Hiccup's help. She had no doubt that he actually could do so, she just hadn't thought of doing it until now.

What did dragons even talk about?

"Hiccup, could you talk to him for me?"

Hiccup blinked in surprise but nodded the affirmative.

"Toothless, Astrid want me talk for her."

"With me?"

"Yes."

Toothless turned around and looked levelly at her. She was looking at him differently from how he recalled other two-legs do. She did not look amused or superior. Rather, she seemed to be attentive and eager.

It was perhaps the strongest sign yet that she was a different two-leg, somewhat like Hiccup had himself been before.

 _I wonder what two-legs talk about._

"Toothless, I did not think I would ever talk to a dragon."

 **Or I a two-leg**

Hiccup paused in writing and pointed at himself.

 **Toothless calls us two-legs**

 _Two-legs, I guess it makes sense for them to call us that._

"What do you think of two-legs?"

 **Flightless, no wings, no tails, no scales**

 **Dangerous, clever paws, dragon-killers**

"Not now, we do not hurt dragons now."

Toothless huffed and rolled his eyes. Astrid had no doubt where he had learned that expression from.

"Still makes kin smaller now," Toothless mumbled.

"I not understand," Hiccup answered.

"Two-legs use kin in not only good ways. We not same nest. She want talk more?"

 **He does not like most humans**

"That is fair, I guess. He wasn't treated well by most of us. What about me?" she asked.

 **You are good to dragons**

 **When you are not swinging axes at them**

She actually blushed at the reminder of their first encounter.

"Well, I thought Hiccup was in danger."

"What!" Toothless exclaimed after Hiccup translated.

 **I would not hurt him**

 **You did**

"But… not really."

Hiccup groaned and rolled his eyes at her with an accusatory look.

"Ok… not my best moment, I know. But tell him that I was trying to protect you."

Toothless thought briefly about that.

 **And I was doing the same**

Toothless then chuckled to himself.

"Is he laughing?" she asked.

Yes, Hiccup nodded.

"What is funny, Toothless?" Hiccup asked.

 **It was fun carrying you**

"Oh gods, that was terrible."

She couldn't deny that the flight with Hiccup had been wondrous. The being carried part, not so much. Then inspiration lit in her eyes.

"You are right; finding the nest on Dragon Island was very fun."

She and Hiccup looked at each other and laughed heartily.

"Why are you laughing?" Toothless asked.

"She say laughing-thing."

"Say what?"

"When you fly in Monster-nest."

Toothless did not look amused, nor did he seem to consider it appropriate to laugh about.

"Hiccup, Toothless doesn't look happy. Is it something I said?"

 **He does not like what happened that night**

"When we were in the nest?"

 **Yes**

 **He told me once that he wanted to drop us**

"What!" she exclaimed.

She took several very deep breaths and hastily glanced at Toothless as he sat innocently looking back and forth between them.

"He wanted to… drop us?"

 **The monster tried to make him do it**

"I… I don't understand. It tried to make him drop us?"

Hiccup shrugged.

 **I do not understand either**

 **What matters is he did not do it**

"Hiccup, that is a lot to take in. Your dragon… Toothless almost killed you… us. I don't know what to think."

 **He hated the monster and wanted it dead**

She looked up at the sky without saying anything for a while.

"They all did. How could it make them want to do something though?"

 **No idea**

"I guess there are things we do not know about dragons."

Toothless lost interest in their conversation and flew over to the pond to see if he could hunt any fish.

"Hiccup, I've wondered this ever since I found out that you are… you. Did Toothless ever say what happened to you two? Does he know why you are a dragon?"

Hiccup was not sure what to do. His father had asked him the same question many months ago, and he had not been entirely truthful out of fear that his dad would have done something bad to Toothless.

But Astrid was different and could be trusted.

 **You cannot tell anyone**

"Of course not."

 **Toothless said that he did this to save us**

She stared at the words in evident confusion.

"What? He made you both baby dragons?"

 **I remember falling off him and into the fire**

 **I was hurt very badly**

 **He said he had to do this for me to live**

"Hiccup, are you saying that dragons have magic?"

 **He did**

She was shocked to the core by this revelation. It seemed to change everything. Mildew's absurd claims suddenly did not seem so absurd. Had dragons been using magic during the centuries of battle? Could other dragons do the same?

Might she wake up one morning as a Nadder?

"What about other dragons? Do they have magic."

 **I think Night Furies are special like this**

"Do you think he could change you back?"

Hiccup slowly and sadly shook his head.

 **I asked him**

 **He said the change is only one time**

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

Hiccup just stared vacantly at the cove's wall and shrugged. She was sorely tempted to hug him, but she refrained.

"Maybe we will figure something out. If magic changed you, it has to be able to change you back."

He examined the scroll for any free space to write on but didn't find any. That left only the dirt as an option. He wanted to change the conversation to something more pleasant.

 _Time for the old-fashioned way then._

 **Maybe**

 **Did you see any new dragons**

"No, just the usual Nadders, Nightmares, and Gronkles. There also were not as many of them as I thought there would be out there. There was a Timberjack. I also saw some Thunderdrums from afar. That reminds me, Fishlegs wanted me to tell him if I saw any new dragons."

Then Hiccup remembered a very welcome development that Astrid should be informed of.

 **Everyone knows I am smart and can write**

"What, really! Stoick finally came around to that then."

 **Not who I am though**

"Still, you can now talk freely with anyone. That must be a relief. Uh, it should be around dinner time now."

Now that she mentioned it, he was getting rather hungry. Maybe they should go back to the village. This time, he remembered someone else.

"Toothless, we eat now."

Toothless roused himself from his nap at the promise of food and stretched his wings.

Astrid watched as the two flew out of the cove and off toward home.

"He is getting good at that. Almost like a natural."

She could not help but wonder what Hiccup really thought about his situation. Or more precisely, the possibility that he would be stuck like this.

 _It has to be tearing him up inside; only getting fish to eat, being thought dead, not being able to do anything to help Berk…_

But she knew that there was nothing they could do about it. Talking to anyone else would only be a recipe for disaster. Fishlegs was unlikely to keep a secret as massive as this. The twins… impossible. Snotlout… never.

There was no one else she really wanted to tell either.

 _I need to talk to Gobber, he might be able to help cheer up Hiccup._

* * *

She went straight over to Gobber when she saw him in the Hall. The four empty mugs on the table were a bit out of place for him.

"Gobber, do you have a moment?"

"Eh?" he mumbled.

"What's the matter? Why so much drinking?"

"Oh, these. I was just thinking about Osvald. That was one other Chief who I respected."

He raised his current mug high in a salute.

"He never wanted war, he controlled his… wild people firmly but fairly, and he could tell the best stories at the tribal meetings."

His empty mug crashed to the table a moment later. She glanced around to make sure that no one was near enough to listen in.

"Gobber, this is about Hiccup," she whispered.

"Oh, what is it?" he also lowered his voice.

"I think we should do something for him."

"Do something?"

"He needs to do normal things again. I don't think he is happy."

"What do you suggest?"

"I'm not sure. I just know that he is not happy doing nothing. He wants to be part of the tribe again even if no one knows who he really is."

"But he is a dragon."

"So?"

"It's not like they are treated the same as everyone else," he added.

"No, but at least he should be."

"Hi Astrid, what's going on here?" Fishlegs asked.

Fishlegs, the twins, Snotlout, and Gustav walked up and sat down at the table.

"Oh, hi there guys. I was just talking with Gobber about dragons."

Gustav rested his elbows on the table.

"What about them?" he asked.

"I was just wondering about their place in our world."

"Huh?"

"I mean, they are not really pets. But they are not the same as us either. And there are the Furies. They are different from the other dragons. They can write to us and talk to each other."

"I know, they are amazing," Fishlegs said.

"Think about them in a few years though. What do you think will happen with them? Will we make them get a human rider? Will they have a say in what happens in the tribe? Will they have a voice like one of us?"

Everyone looked at each other in apparent confusion. Fishlegs eventually spoke up.

"Why are you wondering this, Astrid?"

"I… I guess I just saw how the other tribes started treating their dragons at the start. Like they were useful to have around, which they certainly are. It may have started that way for us, but we are better than that now. Aren't we?"

"Astrid, are you sure you are ok?" Snotlout frowned at her.

She looked around at the rest of the young people. They didn't seem to understand her concerns. Then she grimaced in frustration.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about what I was saying."

"Oh, we won't", "Now you are making sense again," the twins interjected.

"What do you say we all eat now?" Snotlout asked everyone.

"I already ate, sorry," Astrid said while standing up to leave. Gobber noticed her getting up and spoke up before she left.

"Astrid, we can talk later about that idea of yours."

"Good."

Fishlegs was the only one who got up and followed her to the door.

"Astrid, I don't mean to bother you, but did you… uh… happen to see any new…"

"No Fish, I didn't see any new dragons. I wasn't really looking for any though because I was very busy. There were a few Thunderdrums, but I didn't get close."

"Oh well, how many dragons did you see."

"Not many really. There are definitely not enough for everyone in the Vaina and Volsung to all have their own dragons. Maybe twenty or so."

"Ok, thanks. What is it really like out there?"

She stared levelly at him while thinking about what description was most appropriate.

"Frustrating."

"Well, I wish I could have been out there too. I would like to get out there and see the world."

"Easy to say when you are here Fish, but once you get out there you understand how good things are here at home."

"If you say so Astrid. I also wanted you to know that I understand what you were saying about the dragons."

"Are we better than the rest of them out there Fish? I don't think I use Stormfly. And she… she is like my friend, but she is not quite like us. We can't talk to each other, but we like being around each other."

"You are right about Hiccy and Toothless, Astrid. They are not very different from us."

"See, you understand that Fish, I understand it, Gobber and Stoick get it, but I don't know about everyone else. They seem rather… simple or shallow. They think that the Furies are just smart and cute little dragons."

"Well, they are."

"Yes, but they are more than just that. They are people."

Fishlegs thought it over for a while.

"I see your point, Astrid. What do you think can change that?"

"Time. A lot of time. It's not the kind of thing that changes quickly. It was hard enough to get people to accept that dragons are not bad. Now for them to really accept that dragons can be people just like them, that will be hard."

* * *

She met Gobber in the morning at the forge. None of the fires were lit this early, so he would probably be working the leather saddles.

Clang…

"Gobber?"

Clang…

"Astrid, come on in. I've… I've been thinking about what you said yesterday."

"I'm glad you can remember that after all the drinks you had."

"Ha! It takes a lot more than that to take me out. Let's sit."

They both sat down at the workbench.

"I think you are right about Hiccup. We should do something for him to get him more active," he began.

She was very glad that he agreed with her.

"Of course, we have to be careful about this. I haven't told anyone about him, have you?" he continued.

"No, of course not. What do you think we should do for him?"

"Well, Hiccup used to help me out here in the forge. Maybe I can find something he can still do here."

She thought for a moment.

"Hmm, I can have him help at the Academy. There are a few people who are still a bit nervous around dragons. Talking with one will definitely help them. And I could have him join me and the other riders when we do things around the island."

"Good idea. There is something I've been wondering about them. Hiccup is… well, Hiccup, and Toothless is the Night Fury that we saw years ago. And they can actually talk to each other?" Gobber asked.

"Yes, and I also know that Toothless understands. I actually talked to him with Hiccup doing the translating. Toothless looked at me when he spoke."

"But he doesn't know how to write."

"Right, only Hiccup does."

"What about all the other dragons? Are they like Hiccup and Toothless?"

She looked over at all the saddles that Gobber was working on adjusting.

"I don't know. Hiccup said he doesn't talk with them. They do seem to understand how we feel. Sometimes Stormfly comes over and nudges me or wants to go flying when I'm upset. But they are not like those two. The others don't try to talk to us."

"And any word from Stoick about this? Does he know what we'd like to do?"

"No, I haven't said anything to him. Do you think we can do this without being too suspicious?"

Gobber rubbed his chin in thought.

"Let me handle it. I think I can convince him to go along with it. Let's just not tell Hiccup about it in case Stoick doesn't allow it. Can't see why he wouldn't though."

"Alright Gobber, just let me know how it goes."

* * *

"Stoick, I've got a crazy idea for you."

"What is it today, Gobber?"

"It's about your dragons."

"What about them?"

"Well, what do you think about giving them something to do in the tribe?"

"Something to do?"

"They are different from the other dragons after all. They can talk with us in a way no other dragon seems to."

Stoick paused before answering. He always had to tread lightly about this matter just to be safe.

"Here is what I was thinking. You could have those two help Astrid out in the Academy. They could help with the remaining people who are not completely comfortable around dragons. Just have those people talk to them. We can't expect to treat them the same as the rest of the dragons when they are grown up either. I think it would be a good idea to find something that they can do in the tribe," Gobber continued.

Nothing Gobber was saying was unreasonable. It was just rather dangerous since it left open too many chances for the secret to be revealed. Just how much did he trust Hiccup to keep quiet or be able to keep the truth hidden?

 _He's done well so far._

"Ok, that sounds like a good idea. I'll talk to them and tell them what to do."

Gobber chuckled heartily and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Aye, imagine it Stoick, we are going to have a dragon helping to teach in the Ring now. Who would have ever imagined it just a few years ago?"

"I know, Gobber."

The matter of Hiccup's future kept bothering him long after Gobber had left. Everyone else could easily imagine the two Furies growing up, taking people for rides, or maybe even working for the tribe and being useful. But to imagine that future for Hiccup was unthinkable.

The worst part of finding a way to save Hiccup had to be the waiting. He was powerless on his own and was reliant on someone else's mysterious ways. There was no telling when Johan would return with news if he was able to find anything at all.

 _Might as well find something for him to do until I can fix him._

He marched into Hiccup's room.

"Son?"

The Fury still sprawled out on the nest-like bed lifted his head, but did not react like Hiccup. That had to be Toothless.

So where was Hiccup?

 _Blast it, he already left. Oh well, I'll run into him eventually._

* * *

Hiccup was waiting in the Great Hall for Fishlegs to finish his breakfast. Something that Astrid had said the other day had intrigued him. Fishlegs had been working on a new Book of Dragons, a better one than the old version that instructed on how to kill dragons.

He wanted to see this new Book if possible.

Fishlegs finally finished his food, so he went over to Fishlegs and stood before him. As usual, Fishlegs had a stupid little grin when looking down at him.

He didn't really consider it endearing anymore.

"Hey little Hiccy, what do you want?"

As there was no paper to write on, he just got up and walked over to the alcove where the community items were kept.

"What's over here that you want?"

He pointed at the Book of Dragons.

"Oh, I see. You saw that this book is about dragons, right?"

Yes.

"You are so smart."

Another rub under the chin followed, which made Hiccup wince in embarrassment at such treatment. But it also made him feel oddly happy and also sleepy.

Fishlegs picked up the book, and they both headed over to the Chief's table.

Hiccup's gaze never left the book in Fishleg's hands. He could barely contain his excitement. The new Book of Dragons! The Book that would truly tell people about dragons and how to live with them instead of how to kill them.

Fishlegs sat the book down on the table, and Hiccup stood up and inspected the book. It looked far fresher, which made sense because it was newly-written, and the cover had a conspicuous lack of an angry, axe-bearing Nord warrior.

Throwing aside his usual sense of decorum, he hopped up onto the table, carefully opened the Book's cover, and looked at the index. The order of the book seemed similar with different classes of dragons.

But one category and page held the most interest of all for him.

He tried to flip the pages, but his claws made it difficult as he did not want to tear the pages.

"Need help?"

Yes.

He pointed to the mystery section. Fishlegs grinned slyly.

"Oh, I know where you want to go. I wonder how you knew…"

Fishlegs turned straight to the Night Fury page. There were two drawn pictures, one of an adult and the other of a hatchling, and a paragraph of writing.

Hiccup recognized the adult drawing as one of his own of Toothless. There was no chance he could mistake those expressive eyes and the shape of his wing.

 _Night Furies are the rarest and most intelligent of all dragons. They are as smart as a person and can learn how to read and write even as hatchlings. They hatch very small but grow quickly. Even as adults they tend to be smaller than other dragons. They are the fastest and have the most destructive fire of all known dragons. They are fiercely protective and loyal. They eat mainly fish but never eel._

"Can you read all of it?"

Yes.

"What do you think? Is it good?"

Hiccup nodded once. That description seemed to address the most important points.

"Good, I wrote it myself. I wonder, when are you going to get your brother to learn to read and write?"

He just shrugged and huffed once. It was rather frustrating that Toothless never bothered to learn how to read or write. But there was no way he could convince him to learn if he didn't really want to. Toothless truly didn't care about talking to anyone other than him or maybe Astrid. None of the humans were interesting enough to him.

"Fishlegs!"

Snotlout walked over to them and looked down at the strange sight.

"What's he doing?"

"He wanted to see his own page in the new Book of Dragons."

"How does he know about that? I don't get it."

"He is very smart, that's how."

"Sure, sure."

Snotlout sat down at the table and stared at his hands for a while before saying anything else.

"Do you think I should talk to her now?"

"Man, you should probably wait. She just got back from traveling to the other tribes. I don't think she wants to hear anything about… relationships now."

Snotlout groaned and leaned on a chair.

"It's been two years now."

"What?"

"Two years since he died. How long do I need to wait?"

"Why are you asking me? I certainly don't know."

Stoick entered the Hall and walked straight to them.

"Nephew, Fishlegs, have you seen… oh, there he is. What is going on here?"

"He wanted to see the new Book of Dragons, sir."

"Oh yes, you finished that, right?"

"Yes sir, feel free to read it sometime."

"I will Fishlegs. Come Hiccup."

Hiccup hopped down from the table and followed his father outside. Neither of them said anything as they walked through the village and back to home. Stoick turned to him after he closed the front door.

"I need to talk to you."

Yes?

"I've been doing some thinking, and I want you to start doing something for the tribe."

 _What! Really?_

Stoick even seemed to grin at seeing his youthful enthusiasm.

"Yes, I don't want you to sit around doing nothing all the time. It's good to do work for your people. I want you to help Astrid at the Academy. You can do things that no one else can."

 **Like what?**

"You can talk for the dragons. You can talk to people who may still be hesitant or have doubts about dragons. It isn't hard, you would just have to be yourself. Just without anyone knowing of course. What do you think? Do you think you could do this?"

Could he indeed! This is just what he was hoping he could do! He would have more time around Astrid, and he could have something meaningful to do with his life, specifically helping resolve remaining tensions between humans and dragons. It was something that he was in the unique position to be able to do.

 **Yes**

"Good. Who knows, I may be able to find more work for you later. I'll go tell Astrid that she can expect you to show up."

He watched as his father left to go about some other chores and presumably to tell Astrid. It was very hard to contain his elation. He leapt in joy and bounced around the house for a couple moments.

 _Yes!_

He was finally going to have some semblance of a normal life. Working for the tribe in some way, specifically in a way relating to dragons, was something he had hoped to do for a long time.

Toothless was nowhere to be found.

 _Maybe he can join me too._

He wanted to tell someone about his newfound responsibilities. The only person he could go to appeared to be Gobber. So he slipped outside and made his way over to the forge.

But Gobber was not there. Oddly enough, Tuffnut was inside, and he was fiddling with the forge.

 _What is he doing here?_

Tuffnut must have heard him push open the door because he turned around.

"Oh, hey Hiccy. I don't suppose you know how to work the forge, do you?"

 _Funny you should ask Tuff, I do indeed._

But he could not say that. How could a young dragon possibly know anything about forgecraft? So instead he just shook his head.

"Oh well, I'll figure it out eventually. Gobber wanted me to try to work the forge since he needs a new apprentice."

Tuffnut looked very oddly pensive. Then he gestured toward the table. Hiccup hopped up onto the table and waited as Tuffnut sat down and looked at him.

"Do you know where your name came from?"

No, he shook his head.

"It's a bit of a sad story. Stoick had a son named Hiccup. That's where your name came from."

He made a point of looking interested and of wanting to hear more.

"Hiccup was an odd kid, very small and smart. We were all jealous of how clever he was. That's why we teased him a lot. And he did something no one else imagined. He made a friend of a dragon. A Night Fury just like you. He named the dragon Toothless."

Hiccup looked at the nearest piece of paper and nodded at it. Tuffnut understood his point and grabbed the paper for him as well as a pencil.

 **I and my brother are named for them?**

"Yes, you are. I guess you don't know what happened to them. They both died to save the rest of us. It's because of them that there are dragons here in the village now. Did Stoick ever tell you what it was like before then?"

No.

"It was bad."

Tuffnut glanced over at a pile of old spears and axes that lay in disuse inside the forge.

"Humans and dragons used to fight each other. It's good that you don't know what that was like."

Hiccup was quite surprised at seeing Tuffnut so… reflective, so thoughtful. Not that he seemed at all close to getting emotional, but it was still very different from how he remembered Tuffnut.

 _Amazing how people change._

"Ah! This is silly of me. Why are you going so soft Tuffy-Wuffy, why? I'll tell you why, it's because I'm here and learning to do what he did."

 _That's more like him. A bit crazy, but he is still different now._

 **Where is Gobber?**

"His home. He told me to figure out how to use the forge and to wake him up when I did. That's his idea of training. Learning on the job..."

Tuffnut turned back to glare at the forge.

"It might be after the feast of Jól before I figure this out!"

Hiccup chuckled at Tuffnut's difficulties. Though he could easily point out what he was doing wrong, it would be best for Tuffnut to figure it out on his own. That was very much the great educational method that Gobber had used in his own case.

He hastily scribbled down a farewell note and hopped down from the table to head outside. A quick flight across the village brought him to Gobber's house, where he landed in front and hopped up to the door. As usual, the door was left just slightly ajar, allowing him to let himself inside. Once inside, he rang the bell that they had agreed upon his using to let Gobber know he was there.

"Hiccup! What brings you over to my humble abode?"

 **Dad is going to let me help Astrid**

 **I'm so happy**

"Well, cool your tail kiddo, I see that you're happy."

He stilled his tail since he had gotten a little carried away. Gobber still grinned regardless.

"That's good news. I was wondering when he would come around. I talked with him a while back about getting something for you and Toothless to do. Everyone knows that you are not normal dragons, and it wouldn't be right to treat you like them. Did he say what you will be doing?"

 **Helping her in the Academy**

 **Talking to people who might not like dragons much**

"Good. I think you will like doing that. There aren't many, but there are a few you might be able to work your charms on. Who knows, you might eventually get to go on some adventures. Would you like to help at all in the forge? I don't know what you can do now, but maybe in a few years when you are bigger you might be able to do more."

While it didn't completely kill the mood, being reminded of that did bring back some melancholy thoughts.

 **Do you think I will ever be fixed?**

Gobber stared evenly at him for a long while before answering.

"Who said anything about you being broken?"

 **I mean will I be a human again?**

"I don't know, Hiccup. I really don't know. We've all had things happen to us that we wish would never have happened. Things that we cannot undo on our own. But as I always used to say, 'Hope for the best and prepare for the worst.'"

 **You never used to say that**

"Eh, recent saying of mine then. Actually, I guess I just thought of it. The point is that you are still you Hiccup. So what if you have wings, a tail, and you like fish a lot more now? You are still you where it really matters, in here."

Gobber then pointed at his head and chest.

"If you are going to be like this for a long time, you might as well learn to accept it."

 **Dad might not agree with that**

"Hiccup, did you ever learn about the night your mother died?"

 **It was a dragon**

 **But he never told me anything else**

"He wouldn't have. It was the worst day of his life. A raid like any other, only he saw that his own home was burning. He told Valka to stay indoors with you, so of course he ran straight home. All that I know happened is that he saw a four-winged dragon carry your mother off into the night. The dragon must have attacked you too because that is how you got that scar that you used to have."

 _So that is where it came from. Odd, wouldn't a dragon do more to a baby than just a little scar?_

"He came out of that burning building with you crying piteously. He blamed himself for what happened; that he was not there to protect both you and your mother. But he still did the best he could for his people and for you. I remember that you were also a very sick baby. He never gave up on you or thought that you would not survive. If there is a way to change you back, I am sure that he will do everything he can to find it. Until then just remember that we thought you were dead and gone to Valhalla. That you are alive at all is good enough for me."

It was not surprising that talking to Gobber always left him with a warm feeling inside.

"And I guess if you had to choose which dragon to be, you definitely got the best one. Try to imagine being a Gronkle instead, such lovable oafs that they are."

They both started laughing at the thought. That was one way of thinking about this that he had not really considered before. For one, Night Furies actually had paws that could grab things, unlike most other dragons he knew of.

"Oh well, I should probably go see if Tuffnut has managed to melt the forge or something. I'm not sure if you know, but I have him training to be a blacksmith. Village needs one for after I'm gone you know."

Hiccup gave him a very knowing look.

 **Is that a good idea to have him in the forge?**

"Both of them have been rather good recently. Maybe giving them actual responsibility is just what they need. Something that they can take pride in and give them a way to work off their energy in a good way."

Hiccup stepped forward and touched Gobber on the shoulder.

"Yes?"

He spread his arms and looked plaintively.

Gobber did not waste a moment before he hugged him back.

"You sure are growing by the way. I remember when Stoick first showed you to me. You were so small back then."

Hiccup hopped down to the floor and stretched himself out. He realized that he was as long as Gobber's table. It wasn't something he had really paid much attention to in a long time.

 _And to think that I fit in a basket last winter. I guess Night Furies grow very fast after all._

* * *

Stoick led the four other tribe members down to the Academy. He had shared his plan for Hiccup with Astrid, and she had naturally agreed.

Einarth, Hroggar, Roggvir, and Nien.

Each of them had rallied around their Chief in the clash with Mildew. Still, everyone noticed that they never interacted with any of the dragons. Einarth and Hroggar were both older fishermen and had certainly seen bad things in the past. Roggvir and Nien though were both younger and didn't have a clear reason to still be suspicious of dragons.

"Everyone, thank you for coming here this morning," Astrid greeted them.

"Astrid," "Ms. Hofferdottir," the four guests curtly greeted her and made their introductions.

"You know why the Chief wanted you to come down here, right?"

They each looked around at each other, clearly having an idea as to why.

"I'm not going to tell you to get dragons of your own. It doesn't work that way. But I do want you to meet one," Stoick began.

"We've seen plenty of them the last couple years," Einarth answered.

"But have you spoken with one?"

Hiccup then stepped forward with a scroll and pencil clutched in his hand.

"I know you've seen him in the Hall before. You know that he can talk. I want you to talk to him now."

No one moved for a while. The four of them looked away and at the ground. Hiccup made the first move.

 **Hello**

"Go on, talk to him," Stoick encouraged them.

"I don't think we have anything to say to it," Einarth finally whispered.

"It? He has a name," Astrid objected.

Hiccup nodded in encouragement while calmly looking at them.

Stoick took a deep breath to avoid getting angry. Yelling was not likely to help with them.

 **Why do you not like me?**

They all looked at the writing and considered what they saw. Among the guests only Nein looked at him and seemed like she wanted to say something.

"It… he is not a human. He is not like us," Einarth finally said.

"Why does that matter?" Astrid exclaimed.

"Because we are more than the dragons."

"What?"

"We know the stories about history, we understand the wishes of the gods and know what will happen at the end times. They are just beasts, not the terrible beasts that we thought they were once, but beasts all the same," Einarth explained.

"He is smart enough to talk to us and learn from us. He can do anything that we can do. Why do you think he is a beast?" Astrid rebutted.

Stoick stepped forward and addressed the other four.

"I know that you are all loyal to this tribe. As I said before, I'm not asking for you to get dragons. But I do want you to learn and accept them as a part of your tribe too. You can start with him. Good day."

Stoick left them alone in the Academy.

"So, what are we supposed to do now?" asked Roggvir.

Astrid answered him.

"Do what your Chief told you to do. Talk to Hiccup. He is part of your tribe."

Then she stepped back and started waiting.

Nein finally approached Hiccup and spoke to him.

"Are all dragons as smart as you?"

 **I do not know**

"And how did you learn to write like this?"

 **My dad taught me**

"Your dad?"

Hiccup almost felt his heart stop. He had written that without thinking. The pencil trembled in his paw. Had he just ruined everything?

"I think he means that Stoick has been like a father. Stoick found the egg on Dragon Island and raised them both in his house last year. He must have taught Hiccup how to read then. That is why you think of him as your dad, right?"

Astrid had wasted no time in explaining what he should have said.

Yes, he nodded before looking up at the four guests. None of them looked suspicious. Disaster had been averted.

"I didn't know that dragons have families," Nein continued.

Do they have families? Toothless had seemed to have spoken of his previous family before, though that was clearly a painful memory.

 **We do**

 **Night Furies at least**

 **I do not know about others**

"Why not ask them?"

 **I cannot talk to them**

"Show us your talking. Talking in dragon, I mean," Hroggar said.

Hiccup recounted one of his recent discussions with Toothless. Then he looked up to gauge their reactions.

"It only sounds like rumbling and hissing to me. But… I'm not sure," Nein pondered.

 **Your ears cannot hear it all**

"I don't think he is lying," she eventually said.

"I know that he is not. He talks to his brother the same way, and they are clearly listening to each other," Astrid added.

"This is not what I thought it would be. He is actually… different from the other beasts," Einarth begrudgingly admitted.

"Can we talk to your brother?" Nein asked him.

 **He does not know how to write**

"No? But I thought Chief Stoick taught you both."

He shook his head.

 **Only I learned well**

 **He was not interested**

"Sounds like my brother. No matter what my parents tried to do he never wanted to pick up a scroll and learn his Norse," she laughed.

 **You can talk to him with me though**

"Don't worry about it. I was just curious."

Astrid happily watched as all four of them gathered around Hiccup and sat down on the ground to start asking him all manner of questions. Hiccup seemed to greatly enjoy telling them all about dragons, what they eat, what it feels like to fly, and some of the adventures he has already been on.

Einarth and Hroggar stood up and approached her after a while.

"Astrid, I guess I see what you meant. Dragons can be more than what I thought, what we thought," Einarth admitted.

"It takes a while to get used to. It did for me at least."

"We still have a question though. He is definitely more than an animal or a pet. But I'm still not sure about the other dragons. Even he says that he cannot talk to them. They are definitely not the monsters we thought they were but they are not like him."

"I understand what you mean, Einarth. I wonder that about my Stormfly. I know she likes being around me and she can understand some of what I say or want her to do. But she doesn't try to talk to me. Maybe with time that will change."

"But you don't think that your dragon is your pet, right?"

What did she really think? There was no question in her mind with respect to Hiccup and Toothless. But it would be a lie if she didn't admit that she had some doubts about the other dragons, Stormfly included. Stormfly would do things that reminded her of pets like wolves. But she also seemed more aware and conscientious than any wolf or dog she had ever seen. She herself certainly felt a duty toward her dragon to keep her clean, well-fed, and happy. But that old question of what makes one a person kept gnawing at her as she had not yet found a compelling answer.

"Even if she is not as smart as we are, it won't change how I treat her or any other dragon."

Einarth seemed impressed and nodded at her.

"You are wise beyond your years, Astrid."

"Thank you, sir."

Roggvir, Nien, and Hiccup walked over to them, their discussion apparently finished as well.

"Well, I think that is everything the Chief wanted us to do. Good day."

The four guests dutifully left the Academy, though not without waving to Hiccup. Then Astrid turned to him once the others had departed.

"Not bad. I think they were quite impressed by you."

Hiccup tried to hide his smug, dragonish grin. Watching them gradually warm up to him and start asking questions had been very satisfying.

 **I could get used to this**

"It is not normally this serious. Usually I just help children learn how to behave or teach them about the different types of dragons. Umm, do you want to come over to my parents' house for dinner? I promise no eel this time."

He grimaced at the miserable memory but nodded yes regardless.

"Toothless can come too. Just be sure he behaves himself."

 _Oh, I will, time for Toothless to learn some table manners._

* * *

Toothless stood tall on highest point of the rock-spire with his wings fully outstretched. They rippled and blew with every gust of sea-wind. The glorious warmth of the sun's fire left him feeling very sleepy, but they helped make the soreness in his wings feel better

He had spent all the time from the sun's highest flight until the present flying. Alternating between flying on his own power and gliding on the winds with only very short breaks. It was the longest he had been able to stay aloft in a long time.

Still, it was good that he was able to fly as well as he could since he was not yet one full season-cycle out of the egg. Knowing the technique definitely helped, but his success was due to more than just that. He was much bigger and stronger than he had been the first time.

 _It must be that I've been eating a lot. Sire and dam did not always have fish or four-leg meat for me._

In fact, he could not remember a single sun-cycle when he had gone without any food.

 _That is a good thing about two-leg nests. Maybe the best thing. They have a lot of food._

On the ever-present matter of food…

He leapt from the ledge and glided back to the nest. Hiccup found him before he got to the large wood-cave-den.

"Toothless, we eat?"

"Yes, I am hungry."

"We eat at Astrid's cave."

"Her cave? Why?"

"She make food for us."

He didn't really care where the food came from. He did wonder slightly what a different two-leg nest-cave was like on the inside.

"Good."

They took off together and flew to Astrid's nest-cave. He already knew which one it was because it had a smaller cave-den built next to it just for the spine-tail that she had named Storm-Flier.

Hiccup landed first and hopped up to the mouth of the cave. Then he turned on him.

"We need talk now. You be good. Not make mess when eating."

He stuck his tongue out at Hiccup, to which Hiccup growled back.

"Be good."

Hiccup turned around to knock on the door. Toothless was very tempted to pounce on Hiccup's tail, but then he thought the better of it. This was an occasion to be serious.

The door opened shortly after he knocked on it. Toothless noted that it was Astrid's dam.

"Oh, there you two are, Astrid told me that you would be coming over. Come on in," she beckoned them inside.

Toothless took his time as he looked around the inside of the den. It was laid out similarly to Hiccup's sire's den. But this one had different animal skins and images on its inside. There were different sharp metal teeth and two-leg things.

The room was much as Hiccup remembered it. The only difference was that there was a large cooking pot over the fireplace. No doubt it held tonight's supper.

"Astrid! They are here!"

"Coming mom."

Astrid hurried out of the kitchen to greet her guests.

"Hey little guys, I almost have dinner ready. Mom, how about you talk with them?"

Her mother nervously came over and stood next to him. He knew that she had never before spoken to him.

"So, which one of you should I be talking to?"

Hiccup raised a paw and looked right back at her.

"This is strange to be talking to a dragon, but I know you understand us. Astrid said that you are helping her with her work."

Yes, he nodded.

He saw that she was slightly giddy to be talking to him.

"Amazing…"

"He did a good job too," Astrid shouted over to them.

"Of course he would. Who could be difficult with him?"

"You'd be surprised mom. People are still idiots."

"Idiots? Isn't that a bit harsh?"

"Mom, we are still Nords, what do you expect? We have stubbornness issues."

Hiccup laughed at that.

"Are you ok?" Vidarr looked concerned.

"He is laughing!" Astrid replied.

"Oh, it sounded like he was choking or something."

"Nope, that is how they laugh. And the soup is ready!"

Astrid brought several bowls of soup and set them out on the table. Hiccup turned to Toothless with a stern warning.

"Sit and be good."

Toothless considered pouncing on Hiccup then and there to teach him a lesson. But this was Astrid's cave-nest, and they were the ones providing the food. So he followed Hiccup's example by hopping up and standing on the chair. It was not as easy as it had been last time because he was much bigger this time.

"Well, look at that. So well behaved."

Hiccup investigated the stew. Plenty of vegetables and salmon. And no eel.

Toothless wrinkled his nose at all the plant parts in the food. But there was still enough fish that he would be satisfied.

Hiccup was about ready to eat when Astrid came back out with a plate that had a couple de-scaled and smoked fish.

Toothless started drooling when he saw the fish.

"Toothless, no! Bad!" Hiccup barked.

Toothless closed his mouth and started carefully picking at the bits of fish in the bowl.

Seeing that Toothless was eating properly, Hiccup started on the soup as well. Unlike Toothless though, he used the spoon that Astrid provided him. That was sure to impress her parents. Just as last time, he did not think that the vegetables tasted good. The bits of hard bread soaked in the soup tasted bland.

 _Definitely not something dragons normally eat._

"Amazing, he uses a spoon. Stoick trained him well. What did he help you with today dear?" Vidarr asked.

"There were four of us who still didn't like dragons very much. Hiccup helped by talking to them by writing. He told them all about flying, about what dragons eat, about some of his adventures..."

A quiet period ensued in which there were no sounds except for the slurp of soup and chewing of food.

"So dear, what did you learn about the world out there? You were going to tell us all about it," her father Sigurd asked.

She stirred the soup for a few seconds before answering.

"That people will do anything for power. That most people will try to use dragons for their own purposes. And that we have it very good here on Berk."

"No one tried to do anything to you, did they?"

"No dad, I never gave them a chance. Stormfly stayed very close the whole time."

Sigurd hummed gruffly.

"I knew she would, love that Nadder."

"When do you think you might need to go back out there?" Vidarr asked.

"I hope no time soon. Maybe not even until spring."

Toothless chirped at her and showed her the bowl filled with vegetables but no fish.

"Alright Mr. Picky, here you go," she handed him one of the fish.

"Do you not eat any vegetables?"

Hiccup tried to convey his willingness to eat but lack of desire because they just didn't taste good.

"Uh, you don't look excited. I guess dragons don't like them?"

He slowly shook his head.

"Makes sense. I'll keep that in mind."

He wiped his muzzle on his napkin and turned his attention to the smoked fish. While it was possible for him to eat soup using a spoon, the only option for cutting up the fish was with his claws. So he did.

The fleshy taste of the smoked fish was absolutely delicious.

"Astrid, have you given any more thought to… the future?" Vidarr asked.

Astrid seemed to stiffen at the question.

"Not really, I am happy with what I am doing now."

"Ok, good…"

The silence that followed was definitely an awkward one.

Hiccup swallowed the last bit of fish. Toothless had done likewise and was sitting calmly on his chair. Toothless had managed to not spill anything on the table during the entire meal.

 _Good job bud._

"Are you two done?" Astrid asked him.

Yes.

"Ok, I am going to go see to Stormfly."

There was no paper on the table for him to write on to show Astrid's parents his thanks. He hopped to the floor and gave Vidarr a quick bow.

"Thank you Hiccup, you are both always welcome here."

Sigurd came forward as well and kindly patted him on the head before Astrid walked them both to the door.

"Good night you two, I hope you liked the food… the fish at least. Tell Toothless he did well tonight."

Yes.

 _I will._

Astrid smiled at them and closed the door. It was past sundown and everything was slowing down for the night.

"She say you were good, Toothless. No food mess."

"Did you eat plant stuff?" Toothless wondered.

"Some. Not taste good."

"Some plants good for kin but not those. Astrid's nest-cave is different, is happier than your cave-nest. She has her sire and dam. Why she not have nest-mates?"

"Some two-legs pairs cannot make more than one hatchling or do not want more than one. Maybe that is why."

A question that had been on Toothless's mind for a while now seemed appropriate to finally ask.

"Where your dam, Hiccup?"

Hiccup stopped walking and looked toward his home.

"Dead."

"How?"

He had been too young back when it happened. It was only a story to him. A story that explained why he had no mother and other youths did. Naturally, his dad had never spoken of the matter to him. What Gobber had only recently shared with him was the most he had learned about that fateful day long ago.

"A kin killed her."

Toothless's head slumped at that, and he gave a sad rumble.

"Bad. Two-legs killed mine," he eventually mumbled.

They were both very aware of the parallels between them.

"I was her only hatchling then and do not remember her," Hiccup added.

"That is sad. You not have nestmates."

"Yes, I do Toothless."

Toothless rumbled his confusion.

"Two-legs have different word. I make word now… brother."

"What does… braughthr… mean?"

"Means male young from same sire and dam. Means a word for like-kin who learn with, play with, fight with, and trust each other. Who... fly the same air in the skies of life."

"Almost sounds like us," Toothless teased.

"Yes, us."

Then he realized what Hiccup was saying.

"But we not have same sire and dam."

"Not important. Could have been since we egg-mates. You said you stay my nestmate, my egg-mate, my brother, even if I become two-leg."

Toothless considered these words. For Hiccup to say that he was his closest kin and wanted to stay so even if he became a two-leg again gave a warmth to his liver. They resumed walking without any further words and looked up at the stars together. The lingering warmth of the meal and their shared words helped to protect against the chill that was starting to fill the nightly air.


	17. I - Frostfall

" _If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world." - J.R.R Tolkien – The Hobbit_

* * *

Frostfall

* * *

It was late in the fall when Hiccup noticed the change. Something was in the air. The trees were already well on their way to shedding their leaves, and the clouds had started to change to a duller color. The mornings were colder, and the households were regularly burning firewood for warmth at night. He had awoken on several mornings and found frost on the grass outside or puddles frozen over.

Despite all this, the change in the weather was not directly what was bothering him.

The problem was that he had almost no energy. He felt himself getting sleepier with every passing day. He woke up later and later every morning and started to get concerned that something was wrong with him. Especially after he spent an entire admittedly dreary afternoon inside doing nothing but dozing on the bed.

He also realized that he had been eating a lot in recent weeks. Enough that his belly even had a rather unseemly bulge to it. In his defense though, even Toothless was looking very well-fed.

He finally worked up the courage to broach the topic with his father after struggling out of bed late one morning.

 **Do dragons get very sleepy in the winter**

His father rubbed his beard while considering the question.

"I suppose so. At least, that is what other families have said about their dragons, that they tend to do very little other than sleep during the winter. Why do you ask?"

 **I am very sleepy**

 **All the time**

Stoick had certainly noticed that Hiccup had been staying around the house a lot more recently.

"You are getting enough to eat, right?"

Hiccup pointed at his own belly and gave him a look that clearly said 'Are you serious?'

Stoick thought for a few moments, trying to figure out what might be the matter. This was not a problem that he had foreseen. He had noticed that both Hiccup and Toothless seemed to be sleeping and eating more recently. But why?

"Well, bears sleep all through the winter and eat a lot of food in the fall. Maybe this is something like that."

Hiccup did not especially like that explanation. He would have to sleep for months straight? That would mean missing far too much.

 **I hope not**

 **I will ask Toothless**

 **He should know**

"Ok, let me know what you find out."

Hiccup wandered down the hall. Toothless was naturally splayed out on the bed without a care in the world.

"Toothless, do kin sleep much in cold-seasons?"

Toothless yawned once before answering.

"Most go to warm-places. Dams heavy with eggs go to egg-island. Any kin that stays in a cold-place in cold-season would need sleep much."

"Why?"

"Because we should. It is bad to use life-fire when there is little food. Why do two-legs not go to warm-places in cold-seasons?"

"They not fly. They want their den-caves. If they leave, others may take their nests… like your old cave in big mountain."

Toothless growled at that reminder.

"Grr, I will get it again after I get big…"

He still did not understand why two-legs would not go to warmer places and get away from the cold. It seemed much easier than building the nest-caves out of dead trees. Especially since two-leg bodies did not have any natural protection from the cold.

"We sleep much?" Hiccup asked him.

Hiccup seemed worried by the thought.

"Why are you afraid?"

"I not want sleep long. Bad."

"No Hiccup, not bad. Good. Sleep makes us get big."

"Toothless, I want do things. Not sleep much," Hiccup huffed.

He thought back to last cold-season and life in the two-leg nest-cave. It was warm with the place of fire always burning and the animal skins to snuggle in. It was like its own warm-place. There had been no lack of fish, even during the deepest parts of cold-season. And they were both beyond being mere hatchlings that need only food and sleep.

"I think we not need only sleep. We have fire and much fish."

Hiccup thought about that, gave a sigh of relief, and ran back to relay the message.

 **He says that we can sleep a lot**

 **But we do not need to**

 **He also said that most dragons go where it is warm**

"That makes sense. Last winter it seemed like all the wild ones left but came back in the spring. Ours stayed here, of course. Did he say where they go?"

 **Only somewhere warm**

 **And some go somewhere to lay their eggs**

"Hmm, I've wondered about that. They never lay any eggs here. Why would they need to go somewhere else?"

Hiccup shrugged.

 **Maybe have Astrid and some others follow them**

"No, that is too dangerous. What if the wild dragons got afraid and attacked them? What if a snowstorm hit while they were out flying? They would not live. No human could survive such cold for long."

That was certainly a fair point. Berk winters could be very dangerous even for people who knew what to expect. An accident at sea was a likely death sentence. Dragons defending their nests could probably be as vicious as a mother bear defending her cubs.

No human did not mean no dragon could go though.

 **I could**

"What!"

 **I can fly with them and find out**

"Hiccup, that is crazy! You… sure you have grown a lot in one year, but you are still very small. What if you cannot fly far enough and crash into the ocean? What if another dragon thinks you would be a tasty snack? No Hiccup, I will not allow it. Do you understand?"

Hiccup sighed.

 **Yes**

"Good."

Hiccup grumbled to himself, slightly put off by his father's objection, as he wandered back to his room.

On the one hand, he was eager to get off the island and see something new. To do something like what Astrid had been able to do. Finding the place where dragons go to have their babies would be amazing. But even he knew that his dad's concerns were valid. He had no idea how far he could actually fly before his wings gave out. As to the other fear, the mountainside attack by the feral Zippleback still gave him occasional nightmares. Maybe next year he would be big enough that it would not be a serious concern. There were other questions though that needed answering.

"Toothless, why kin need go to other place for eggs? Why not here?"

"They go where they broke their egg. It is what they know. They feel their eggs are safe there."

"Why safe there and not here?"

"Their sire and dam had them there. That is why."

It made some sense that a dragon would feel most safe with its babies in the place where it itself was hatched.

"How long they stay at that place?" Hiccup wondered.

"Different for different kin. Stay until hatchlings fly away or they take with them."

"How take with?"

"In mouth."

Hiccup could not help but shiver at the thought. Being carried around in a dragon's mouth just felt wrong even if the dragon did not mean any harm. The hatchling probably wouldn't think anything of it though.

"Where you break your egg, Toothless?"

"In nest-cave. Nest-cave far away where sire, dam, and nestmate dead."

That killed the chipper conversation.

"Bad," Hiccup muttered.

"Yes, much bad."

Hiccup still wondered about the happier topic of the egg-hatching place. How far exactly would it be to where the other dragons fly? He stretched his wings and rolled his shoulders. If only there was some way to know how far it was in comparison to something like Dragon Island.

"Toothless, how many season-cycles were you?"

"Before we break new-life-egg?"

"Yes."

"Ten and four."

Hiccup blinked in amazement.

 _So was I! Wow, we were the same age. Still are actually!_

"How many for you get big? For me get much big?"

Toothless hummed in thought for a moment.

"I was biggest after five season-cycles. We get big fast next season-cycle."

Hiccup hummed to himself.

 _That is reassuring, I guess._

Depending on how much they would grow, he might not have to worry about his safety again. He would certainly be able to fly much further too.

He wandered outside and flew up on top of his roof to soak up some sunlight. Only five years? It seemed a very short time in which to become a full adult, if that is what Toothless had indeed been. That was obviously far faster than humans could grow up. But there was a winter to make it through first. Not that surviving was a real concern. Boredom was more likely to kill him than the weather. Being stuck inside for the entire winter was not something anyone looked forward to. At least last winter he had an entire language to learn. There was nothing to occupy his time like that again.

 _Maybe dad can get more scrolls and books for me._

He saw a Nadder soar by far above with a happy trill, and it gave him an idea. There were other people who likely knew more about dragons than his father and could tell him what to expect from the winter.

* * *

"You are worried about what?" Astrid exclaimed.

He pointed to his previously-written concern and ignored her incredulous look.

"They did sleep a lot last winter. At least Stormfly did."

 **Tell me everything**

"They basically stopped flying after the first freeze. Stormfly helped a little with fishing, but she mainly wanted to stay inside near the fire. She only really went outside… when she had to. It helped that my parents built a big enough door inside the stable for her to use."

 **Not a problem for me**

"Not yet, no. Umm, I see that you've been… eating well."

She sheepishly grinned and looked away when he gave her his best withering glare, punctuated with a grumble.

 _How could she bring that up?_

 **I noticed**

He grumbled and bounced in place.

 **I just want to eat and sleep**

Grr.

"Hiccup, don't worry about it. I'm sure it is something normal."

 _Easy enough for you to say, Astrid. It's not happening to you…_

 **Did any of them fly away last winter?**

"Did any of our dragons fly away from Berk? Not that I know of. The wild ones did though. Why do you ask?"

 **Toothless said they fly to an island**

 **To have their babies**

"Oh… no, I don't think any of them did. None of the wild ones brought back any babies. I think we would have noticed if they had. That is one thing that we still don't know about them. Maybe we will find out this time."

 _Now time for the real request…_

 **Can you get books for me to read?**

 **I want something to do**

"Of course I will. There is normally another trader who stops by before the winter; maybe they will have something I can get."

He gave her a small grin.

Thanks, he nodded.

He returned to lounging on his roof and relaxing in the sunlight. People were coming and going about their usual business. There were several dragons flying out above the bay or around the snow-capped peak of Mount Thor. As usual, the sight was stirring and touched something deep inside. A yearning that in hindsight he had always had to fly, only made stronger now.

He looked up at the clouds far above. Despite being a cool day, it was not a bad day for flying since there was very little wind. In all his flights with Toothless before and after, he had never come close to touching the clouds themselves. With an entire free afternoon though…

 _Maybe I should try. Might not get another chance soon._

He got up and stretched his wings. The urge to fly was becoming too great to resist, an itch in his wings that only flight could relieve.

 _I don't need Toothless to be able to do this. I can do it myself._

He took a deep breath and perched on the edge of the roof. A moment of hesitation followed and then he was off.

Swimming through the air was a useful way to think about it. Especially after he angled himself into what little wind there was. Keeping his lessons in mind, he kept his limbs tucked tightly and allowed his tail and wings to act naturally.

His ascent traced out a spiral as he soared. When he finally looked down he was shocked to see that he was already above the highest peak on the island.

It was also getting steadily colder, and he had not yet reached any of the clouds.

 _No turning back now._

It was harder going without the thermals and ascending winds to help him. He had to pump his wings harder to keep ascending towards his goal, a puffy white cloud.

A couple minutes later and he ran into an obstacle that he could not have foreseen, literally.

The wind was far stronger up here. It certainly helped to push him higher after he turned into it, but it also began to push him out to sea. Further, it was getting colder.

He paused to catch his breath and looked down towards Berk. The buildings that made up the village were far too small to see. None of the island's inhabitants were large enough either except as a spot of color.

This was certainly far higher than any dragon would normally fly. They would have no reason to do so. And with how cold he was already feeling, it could hardly be pleasant for a human up this high on dragon-back.

He pressed on with belabored breath and aching wings. It was several more minutes before he caught up to the level of the cloud that was floating right toward him.

His heart thrummed in anticipation.

He stretched his wings to their fullest and glided smoothly into the white fog, the roar of the wind dying somewhat as he only glided. His vision cut out and was reduced to only a few lengths ahead at best.

Clouds were cold and wet.

His wings traced a visible cut in the mist which he saw outstretched behind himself. Who knew that clouds could flow?

 _This is amazing!_

At least, it was amazing until he noticed something strange on his wings. Something sparkling.

Ice.

The mist was freezing on his wings.

It didn't seem to be hurting his ability to fly, but something still felt a bit wrong as he emerged from the other side of the cloud. The faint concern was briefly forgotten by the fleeting sight of a rainbow seemingly all around him. Then the glorious spectrum was gone as fast as it had appeared.

He tried to flap, but found his wings too painfully stiff. One more time he tried before he realized that something, possibly the height of his flight, the extreme cold, the water on his wings, his exhaustion, or maybe the combination of all of these together, had left his wings cramped.

 _Uh, that can't be good._

His breath caught when the horrible realization struck him. He was far out over the ocean and unable to fly well, if at all.

He angled himself back toward Berk. Too steep of an angle of descent and the wind would push him straight down while trying to glide in belly-first would send him tumbling head over tail with every gust. It took every bit of concentration to avoid either extreme.

Several minutes were spent in this manner before he tried his wings again with a growl and a whimper of pain. It felt as though hundreds of nails were piecing every tendon at once as he stretched his muscles.

It was going to be close, very close. The tempestuous waters of the north seas around winter almost surely promised a watery grave for any small dragon that fell into their clutches.

Despite the cold air, the direct sunlight and lower elevation were slowly warming his wings.

 _Please…_

By the time he was only a mast's height above the water though there was no choice. Fly or die. Either the waves splashing water on his belly or the frigid sands of the shore only a stone's throw away, one of them would welcome him.

Surely his wings were being ripped from their sockets.

The yelp of pain could not have been his.

His muscles, completely spent, stopped.

And he was tumbling in the ocean, being pitched head over heels over tail. His eyes were tightly shut, but the roar of the surf and crashing waves echoed all around him, muffled slightly by the water itself. It was impossible to tell up from down. Was the water rushing inward toward land or dragging him out to sea?

His wings hung limp in the water, completely unresponsive. The frigid waters were quickly sapping all remaining strength from him.

The need to breathe was so strong that he inhaled freezing water in his panic.

It would be easy to sleep, to close his eyes and forget…

So easy to sleep…

A strange blue light seemed to look at him through the gathering haze.

 _No!_

Without knowing up from down, he kicked and struggled toward the blue light for what felt like an eternity.

He broke the surface of the water only for an instant before being dragged back under. Too short a time to breathe. Had it happened at all?

Everything started to fade to black.

And then he could feel sand dragging across his back as the current was sucking him back out to sea.

Land.

He quickly rolled over and dragged himself a couple steps up the shore with the last of his strength.

Then he vomited out all the seawater he had swallowed along with most of his lunch.

He lay on the shore like a dead thing.

One deep gasp of life-giving, glorious air after another.

He didn't even bother getting up when the surf roared behind him and tickled his tail. He just stayed still, drew deep breaths, and cherished the fact that he was still alive.

He shivered and glanced back at the water that was gently, almost innocently, lapping at the shore. It had felt like a true tempest, but it was only the normal surf.

A humbling reminder of how helpless he still was.

Then he got up, shook himself of the seawater as best as he could, painfully folded his wings away, and began the very slow task of walking back to town, his tail dragging from exhaustion as he went. Flying was completely impossible and would be for a long time, judging from how much he had strained his wings.

Maybe flying through a cloud was something dragons knew not to do. Maybe he had just flown too much in the cold and overexerted himself.

But he had gotten back home in the end. It had not been glorious or a flight worth telling about, but it had been his own little misadventure. Certainly there was no chance that he would be telling his father that he almost drowned in the ocean while trying to fly. Dad was sure to ground him for good if he heard about that.

By the time he got back home a couple hours later and nudged open the door, his paws were themselves hurting from walking so far. He should have been hungry by this hour but had no appetite. He dragged himself over to the fireplace, as it was still burning with a small, flickering flame, and eagerly collapsed next to it.

The heat warmed him like nothing else could. He could almost feel the knots and strain in his wings and joints loosening by the minute. The crackle of the fire was the only sound echoing in the house.

He cried himself to sleep without shedding a tear.

* * *

Stoick could feel it in the air and see it in the clouds. After decades of living here on Berk, it was an unmistakable feeling. The dark bellies of the clouds far above threatened to coat the land with ice and snow, and the frost coating the grass was merely a harbinger of what was to come.

As was almost second-nature to him by now, there were several things he had to attend to as the Chief before the weather turned in earnest.

He put on his Chief's cape. He had killed and skinned the bear himself shortly after becoming Chief in order to prove himself to his people. It was very comfortable and kept him very warm in even the coldest conditions.

The storehouse was the first thing to check on. He ran into Sador carrying an empty basket back from the storehouse.

"Sador, how does it look?"

"Our best haul ever this year, Chief."

"Do you think we have enough for the winter?"

"As long as all the beasties don't stay here, sure. I'd guess that they helped put over half the fish in here. It'll definitely be better than all other winters were."

"Good to hear, man, carry on."

"Yes, Chief."

Frozen and salted fish would fill the storehouse and be gradually drawn down through the winter. The first freeze would ensure that they would keep from spoiling.

He made his way over to the farm stables to check on the livestock. All the goats, sheep, and fowl were already stowed safely inside or were having their stables worked on. It had been a good year with the goats and sheep not being terrorized, and as a result there were many new lambs and kid goats.

It was good to see that his people were already attending to their tasks without being told. Each task attended to was one less thing for him to have to worry about.

He found Astrid heavily bundled up and leaving from the Hall.

"Astrid!"

"Chief! What can I do?"

"Relax, I just wanted to hear about the dragons. How are they doing? Any idea how many of them will stay here?"

"Hmm, they seem fine to me. They were all eating a lot this last month. And I think a lot of them have left too. It's only ours and a few of the friendlier wild ones here now."

"And where are they going to stay? Do we have any stables for them?"

"Well, the families all have stables for their dragons near their houses. Some of those with smaller ones keep them indoors. There should be enough extra stables for those others that stay."

"Do make sure of it. Gods, such a strange thing to plan for even now," he gruffly added.

"One of many changes we have made sir. I'll be sure to show the wild ones to the stables, maybe they will like them and will stay there. Your dragons are going to stay with you, of course."

"Yes, they will," he answered curtly.

She turned to leave, but then she paused and reconsidered something.

"You don't happen to have any extra books, do you?"

"More books? Is this one of Fishleg's plans?"

"Uh… yeah, you know how he likes to read," she stammered.

"I'll see what I can do, Astrid."

He left her and returned home to attend to some housework that needed doing.

Both Hiccup and Toothless had initially slept on the ground near the fireplace. Indeed, it was the warmest place in the house when the fire was burning.

He went into Hiccup's room and began to collect the pillows and blankets. Then he rearranged them in the same nest shape next to the living room fire pit but far enough away that they couldn't catch fire.

 _They'll be more comfortable now._

As for himself, he would move his bed into the living room eventually. There was no great rush.

How did dragons fare in the winter? It was something that he had wondered about. They had never been active at all during the winter back when they were still at war. Could they survive out in the open by making their own warmth, or did they need to seek shelter?

It was just one more question that no one had thought to ask before.

With that taken care of, he had some free time to kill. He walked outside and wandered over to the sea cliffs from where he could look out over an entire horizon. It was one of his favorite places to go to think and escape the activity of the village. The wind coming off the sea was just cold enough to make him shiver, but the solitude was still pleasant enough.

He also liked this location because he hoped that he might see a ship approaching. As a part of the treaty negotiations, he had arranged for a few essential supplies to be shipped. And there was also the possibility that a different ship may arrive and carry news of some arcane hope for Hiccup.

* * *

"Hey there big guy."

The Nightmare regarded her calmly and allowed her to approach and rub its chin.

"You want somewhere to stay for the winter? Somewhere warm probably."

It blinked at her. She stepped back and beckoned it to follow.

"Come on, I'll show you where you can stay."

It rumbled curiously for a moment and began slowly following her. Stormfly saw her leading the other dragon and hopped over to her, only to begin squawking at her in annoyance. The Nadder did always get a bit jealous whenever her human gave attention to another dragon.

"Don't you worry about me, miss bossy. I'm just showing him the stables."

Stormfly glanced at the Nightmare and kept a close eye on both of them.

Astrid led the wild dragon to the stables that they had built to initially house their own dragons. They were old storehouses that had no further use, or they had been homes of those who were no longer welcome on Berk. She swung open the door to the stable and stepped aside. It was easily large enough to accommodate any of the dragons on Berk.

The only complaint that she could have was that the stable was necessarily made of wood.

The Nightmare looked around suspiciously, sniffing at the ground before looking back at her.

"Go on," she encouraged it.

It rumbled at the ground and slowly slunk into the stable where it sat down and looked around. It was only after it started rolling around and rubbing against everything possible to mark its territory that she was sure that it decided to stay.

Stormfly started nuzzling her from behind.

"Hey girl, just showing him to his new home."

Purr.

They walked back to home with Stormfly casting the occasional suspicious glance back toward the Nightmare.

* * *

It was the fourth of Vetr.

Stoick stood down at the docks and supervised the unloading process. The last of the trade vessels had finally arrived, and it carried with it special cargo. Golden cargo that was essential to the survival and existence of any northern people.

Barrels of mead and ale.

It had relieved him that the captain had not been too afraid to come to the island. It turned out that the vessel was coming from the Vaina and the captain knew in advance what to expect.

Not only that but the ship was carrying letters from several other tribes. Letters for him no doubt as they carried the seals of the Vaina and the Berserkers.

He thanked the captain and paid him for his services and wares. The captain finished unloading everything and turned his ship for the south.

Just in time too.

Everyone could see the dark clouds billowing in from the north. There was no mistaking what clouds like those portended. The fabled Berk weather would not hold off any longer.

"Get those barrels up to the Hall, not a drop for any of you. Make sure it gets there!"

"Aye sir!"

"And hunker down! Winter is coming."

He brought the letters along with him back to home, sat down at the kitchen table, and lit a candle.

The first letter was from Svana of the Vaina.

'Chief Stoick, things are much better now since you sent Miss Hofferdottir. We now have four Deadly Nadders. Astrid showed us how we can train them to help us catch more fish. I'm even working on winning over one of them myself. I won't say that everyone here has been happy with the changes, but no one wants to keep fighting the beasts. One of my men, Grommash, got angry and kicked at a Nadder. Helgrid's Nadder burned his rear. Helgrid was so worried that I would punish her dragon. Grommash got what he deserved, I say. I'll send someone to Berk in the spring when the weather gets better. I heard about Osvald. Real shame. It would have been better for both of us if that had not happened. Svana.'

He put down the letter and sighed.

 _Well, they seem to be doing well. Svana is a reasonable sort._

He was a little more nervous about the Berserker's note. Sure enough, it was not Osvald's writing.

"Oh great Stoick, surely you have heard that I am now the Chief of my tribe. My father's time came for him after he decided to abandon the old ways. Well, I am not going to abandon the old ways. What old ways? Hunting ways. Dragons hunt us and we hunt them. That is the natural way. Don't you ever think of stopping us. If you do… you will learn where our name comes from. I'll invite you over to celebrate after I kill my first Night Fury. Oh right, you wouldn't be happy about that. Too bad! I don't care. Sorry about your lad, I really miss playing with him.'

He crumpled up the letter and hurled it into the fireplace. Vivid images of a young Dagur tormenting Hiccup in secret assailed his conscience. Far worse though was the apparent obsession that Dagur seemed to have with killing a Night Fury. What would happen if Dagur could get his hands on Hiccup now was too terrible to think about.

Surely Dagur would not be dumb enough to actually make an incursion onto Berk. Making the threat of violence was one thing, but actually carrying it out was another matter.

And what was he supposed to do if he learned that the Berserkers were killing off dragons for sport? Was it any of his business what they did on their own lands and seas? Was it right to force his own beliefs and ways on those of other tribes?

The door swung open and both of the dragons walked inside, Hiccup only pausing to close the door behind him. Then his son hopped over to him.

 **This is it**

"Yes, the first snow of the year. Should be a big one too."

 **Guess we better get used to staying inside**

"It will be the usual fun that we have every winter, I'm sure."

Hiccup blinked in surprise.

 _Was that my dad trying to be sarcastic?_

 **Get anything from the ship?**

"Some leather, lots of paper and ink, a few books, and… I actually heard from another tribe."

That really got Hiccup's attention, judging from how his ears went up.

"It was a message from the Svana of the Vaina, they are the fishing tribe I told you about. They now have several Nadders in their village. I'd say that Astrid did a very good job with them."

 **That is good**

 **I like that they are changing**

"They… did, yes. I don't know if everyone will be like them."

 **They just need to see dragons are not bad**

 **I will help with that when I am bigger**

"We will see about that. Hiccup, I know you won't try to do anything, but don't go near any Berserkers if you see them. They are… very good dragon hunters."

 **But**

"No. Just promise me, Hiccup."

Ok, Hiccup glumly nodded after a moment of consideration.

"Good, I'm going to go grab a bit more firewood while I still can. Get comfortable."

His dad left the building a moment later. The wind was starting to whistle outside as the storm front moved in.

Toothless was standing in front of the fireplace with his head tipped back and wings unfurled. He was purring very happily.

 _That looks nice._

He hopped down and went over to the crackling fire. Basking in its warmth was one of the more relaxing things there was to do, even if it did make it hard to keep his eyes open.

Relative silence ensued. There had to be some way to pass the time.

"Toothless, you tell me a story."

Toothless just warbled his confusion.

"Two-legs talk about what they or others did in past. Do for fun or learning," Hiccup explained.

"My sire and dam did not give me many other-kin-stories. But they did give me one for where all kin come from."

That definitely caught Hiccup's interest.

"I want hear it."

"All things are on the shell of a great-all-kin-egg. The all-kin lives under the ground and waters, trapped by the shell of ground. It breathes out of the ground and makes the living winds. Many living things were, but no kin were. Water and ground wanted living-kin. The water and the ground were good... and had many eggs. Much life."

"But air was angry that it had no mate, so air sent winds and blew the eggs across the lands. Some went into the waters and made water-kin that do not fly, but most became the flying-kin you know about. Fire-scales-kin's eggs landed in mountains of fire-water-rocks, Sharp-big-wing-kin's eggs fell in very big trees, and Rock-belly-kin's eggs fell in piles of rocks."

"What about Night-Fury-kin?" Hiccup asked in fascination.

"We were different. The night-sky-rock looked down at all the kin and saw that they were good. But they never looked up at her and wondered. Night-sky-rock wanted a kin that was new and could see her. The night-sky-rock and the cloud-storms made a new egg, an egg for a new kin."

"Water was not happy that there was a new kin that it was not sire to, but there was nothing it could do to us since we are not water-kin. Water did not like that Night-Fury-kin were different, so it made more new-kin to be Alphas of nests. Kin like the monster and the Big-mouth-horn-great-tusk-Alphas."

"What are Alphas?"

"They are the biggest and most dangerous kin in nests."

"You see these kin?"

"Only the dead monster. They much dangerous."

"Why did water make other kin to be Alphas?"

"So we would not be Alphas."

"We could be Alphas?" Hiccup wondered aloud in surprise.

"Not like the big Alphas. Do you remember when I said that the Monster tried to make me… do bad things?"

"Yes, I not understand that."

Toothless hummed in thought.

"Hiccup, close your eyes and do not move."

Hiccup complied.

"Now you hear and feel something in your head. Telling you to do, pushing you to do. And if you do not do, then it will gnaw at you like a crawling thing under your scales. With enough time, you want to do what you did not want to do. And you just flew out to attack a two-leg nest and carry off the four-legs to bring back to Alpha. The thing in your head stops for some time and you can sleep. You are happy and have good night-visions. Then you wake up and feel the gnawing, crawling thing again."

.

"Open your eyes."

He did. Toothless was looking right at him with a very solemn look.

"That is what big-Alphas can do."

It was quite disturbing how vividly Toothless described it. To seemingly not even be aware of ones actions, or to imagine that something else was influencing ones thoughts was terrifying to think about.

"Not us. Night-Fury-kin do not have that life-will-power. We could only be nest-Alphas if the other kin bow to us and want us. We could be Alphas that are wanted by the kin but not forced-Alphas."

 _I imagine that would be a sight to see. A bunch of dragons all bowing to another._

There was one rather significant element that Toothless had seemed to have left out of the story so far though.

"What about two-legs? Where they come from in story?"

Toothless grumbled and thought for a moment.

Stoick chose that moment to hurl open the door while carrying several large blocks of firewood over to the corner of the room. The door swung in the wind, allowing a barrage of snowflakes to blow inside on the rapidly-freezing air.

Stoick ran back and pushed the door shut, shivering in the process. His bushy white eyebrows and red beard began to visibly thaw by the second.

"Not going back out there today," he muttered to himself while taking off his excess layers.

He picked up the pile of papers from the desktop and set out for his room when he noticed that both of them were looking at him from their places by the fire.

"Let me put one more log on for you two… there, should last all night. I'm going to go to bed now, staying warm is hard work," he added with a yawn.

Hiccup nodded once in acknowledgment and waited as his father left. Only after he was gone did Toothless answer.

"Two-legs were the great not-kin. Prey and predator. Clawless and with false-made-claws. Furless and with taken four-leg fur. The story I know tells not what sire and dam two-legs hatch from, only that they were. Water, ground, air, night-sky-rock, and cloud-storm all knew that two-legs were smarter than kin and had cleverer paws, so they gave some kin life-will-powers."

"Like Night-Fury-kin and the big-Alphas?"

"Yes. Only a story though. No reason to think it real."

It certainly sounded like a tall tale indeed.

"Is there more?"

"No more."

Toothless got up and hopped into the bed, wiggling himself under the blankets.

There was another question that Hiccup had been meaning to bring up again and that he probably needed to ask now before Toothless nodded off.

"Why you not want learn two-leg-picture-talking?"

Toothless wiggled his head back out to face him.

"I do not want that. Why do I need to talk to them?"

"Some of them want to talk. Legs-of-fish is good to kin. You know Astrid."

"What can they say that I want to know?" Toothless wondered.

"Still good hearing them. And it is way of showing two-legs you smart."

"You do that. I do not care what they think."

Toothless hid himself back under the covers, effectively ending the conversation.

There was something admirable about not feeling beholden to others. It made sense for a dragon who had apparently been solitary for many years. On the other hand though, it was not helpful to keep avoiding interacting with humans. To not think that learning how to communicate was worth the effort was disappointing. Even aside from learning, being able to talk could be a lifesaver.

Maybe he could eventually change Toothless's mind. But that dragon had a very Nordic stubborn streak.

He climbed into bed and looked around the room. Up at the rafters, to the pile of books and paper in the corner, over at the hanger where his dad hung his coats and capes, and the furs from old hunts hanging on the walls, all of this being cast in a red glow by the light from the crackling fireplace.

 _I better get used to this._

Then he snuggled under the covers alongside Toothless. The whistling wind, the crackle of the fire, and the warmth from the fireplace quickly took their course and had them both sound asleep shortly thereafter.

* * *

The next few days fell into a predictable and very boring routine. Wake up at dawn and stay under the warm covers for as long as possible. Hiccup didn't even mind snuggling up against Toothless if it meant that they stayed warmer. Wait for his father to rise and put frozen fish or salted meat in a pot to cook over the fire. Eat. Look out the window at the whipping wind or the snowbanks. Crawl back into bed and do… nothing. Toothless seemed content to do nothing but eat, sleep, and flap around a little whenever Stoick was away. As for himself, the most exciting thing he could do was reread some of the books already in the house. Beyond that, there was nothing to do.

The same awkward matter arose again, though in a slightly different way this time. He and Toothless had to be able to come and go when nature required, but the weather did not always cooperate and Stoick was not always there. There was one day in particular which was so bad that all they could do was hop a short distance away from the house through the snow, quickly do their business, and run back inside. It left Hiccup feeling absolutely mortified even though no one was there but Toothless, who unsurprisingly appeared to feel no shame about it.

It was not the first time that the harsh Berk winter required hard choices to be made and it certainly would not be the last.

He spent far too much time staring out the window. He never saw anyone walking outside, except for when his father went to the storeroom.

The days themselves were very short with the sun, when its light could be seen at all through the clouds, only rising partway into the sky. It never even came close to being warm enough to melt the snow. It was as though the island itself and all life on it paused. Toothless certainly seemed to.

The sky looked exactly the same from day to day. It was all very depressing.

 _If only Astrid or someone else would come and visit._

* * *

"Hello sir, mind if I come in?"

"Sure Astrid, get in here," Stoick answered.

He shut the door against the swirling wind. Astrid was completely covered from head to toe in a thick bear-pelt coat and a wool scarf around her head. Such extremes were necessary to endure the Berk winters.

Both of them went over to the fire to warm their hands.

"Can I get you anything, Astrid?"

"No, I'm fine right here by the fire."

"What can I do for you?" he asked.

"Just wanted to let you know how things are going out there. All the dragons are basically sleeping all the time. No one has had any problems."

"Even the wild ones?"

"Sleeping like logs, sir. The only problem was that they were not as well trained as ours to go out when they needed to."

"Well, I'm not surprised. You're doing a good job as usual."

It was impossible to tell if she was blushing at the praise or if her red cheeks were only the result of the weather.

"Thank you, sir."

Hiccup had been awake the whole time but hadn't given any sign of it. He chose that moment to get up and let them know.

"Oh, hi Hiccup."

She knelt and slowly stroked his neck, to which he purred in content.

"Are you two doing ok?"

Yes.

"You are both getting big."

He grumbled, slightly abashed. Though now that she mentioned it, they were both noticeably larger than they had been even at the start of winter. He had to always curl his tail in to keep it within the blankets.

"It must be very boring being stuck here with nothing to do."

He slowly nodded.

"Well, I'll see if I can get you some new reading."

She stood back up and addressed her Chief.

"Sir, the midwintersblott is coming up soon."

The ceremony marked the deepest part of winter. It was a celebration of toughness and defiance, that the worst that the elements could throw at them would not break their northern spirit. Everyone would drink, be merry, tell stories, and honor the gods for protecting them through the year. And of course they had to choose the worst possible time in the year for the feast precisely to show their defiance.

"Yes, I had some special ale brought up here from the last merchant. That should help everyone."

"I'm thinking we can bring some dragons this time. Nothing special, just let them inside and sit. I really doubt that Stormfly or some of our others will be a problem."

Stoick considered the suggestion.

"I think we can do that. No reason why not. Eh, especially these two here."

"Everyone would like that sir. Actually, there is something else I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh, what is it?"

She gave him a solemn grin and glanced down at the Fury contentedly resting by the fireplace and watching their discussion.

"Something we should have done long ago."

* * *

Hiccup woke up with a start to a strange hacking sound and struggled to throw off the blankets before he saw the cause of the noise.

Toothless was facing the smoldering remains of the fire with his mouth open. It sounded like he was trying to hiss at the fireplace but was only managing to cough at it.

"What are you…?"

Toothless growled at the fireplace in apparent frustration.

"Want to make fire."

 _Oh, obviously._

Of all the strange and wonderful things about being a dragon, being able to breathe fire was easily the most difficult for him to imagine. Wings and tails he could see, feel, and therefore understand. But whatever inside body parts were used for that action were completely unknown to him. Though, knowing how to make fire could be very useful in many situations.

"How you do it?"

Toothless sighed and considered how to explain it. Just like flying, this was something that it was hard to explain since kin know without being told.

"We have can-be-fire-air in our bellies. We can let that air into our mouths and make it fire."

"How? I not know."

It just happened. He wanted the can-be-fire-air to be fire and it would happen. He could not explain it any other way.

"Just do, like flying."

Hiccup thought that over, his tail swishing as he thought. No amount of Toothless explaining it would help with this. He would have to experiment on his own eventually.

"What is your problem now?" Hiccup asked.

"It is not something little-kin can do. Need more season-cycles."

So they would have to wait before it would even be possible.

"Why you try if we are not big enough?"

"I not know we still much-small for this. It is different for different kin, and I do not remember when I first made fire."

 _That makes sense._

He settled back down exactly where he had been sleeping. More of the same to look forward to. Except that he was now reminded that there was a chance he would eventually be able to breathe fire just like Toothless.

* * *

"Rise and shine!"

Both of them groaned and grumbled. Hiccup at least forced open his eyes enough to see his father.

"Get up, we can finally go outside. The worst has passed."

Now that he mentioned it, there was no whistle of wind outside.

"It's still going to be cold but not as bad. No idea when it will start snowing again."

He reluctantly followed his father to the door and shut his eyes against the dazzling whiteness that greeted him.

Everything was covered in snow. The winds had piled up snow in drifts that reached all the way up to the tops of buildings while leaving the paths barren between the buildings. In contrast to the last few weeks, there were some people up and about. The men were heavily bundled and were either hauling firewood or were heading to the forest to chop down firewood. There were a few women carrying baskets, presumably of fish since they were coming from the storehouse. None of the dragons were out though.

He followed his father outside.

"What you doing?" Toothless called.

"Come Toothless."

Toothless hopped over and followed him outside.

"Why you want be cold?"

"I want get out of home-cave."

Toothless couldn't really argue against that. It was refreshing to get out of the two-leg-den and be out under the calm, blue sky again. And not just because he needed to dart outside to relieve himself from time to time.

One way to stay warm in the cold was to be active, to be on the chase. And he did feel like he had a lot of built-up energy.

"Hiccup, I am monster! You run."

"What?"

Toothless roared and pounced. He barely missed Hiccup's tail as his prey leapt away just in time. And they were off.

Hiccup jumped over a snowbank and turned to dart between a couple houses. The tightly-packed ice where people had been walking made him slip and slide. He looked around wildly, but his pursuer was nowhere to be seen. Knowing Toothless, that did not bode well.

 _Where would he be? Would he fly on the roof?_

He heeled and came to a stop. Maybe it would be better to set a trap instead of walk into one.

The snow piled on the sides of the path was very deep from being shoveled there, but it still looked fluffy. He quickly dove into the nearest pile, worming his way into the man-made snowbank. He dug until he felt his nose reach the open air at the other end of the drift, then he wiggled in just enough to be able to see out the other side too. He pulled his tail inside his snow-den, trusting that the snow which collapsed in his wake would hide his entrance.

Time to wait and listen.

 _This is what it is like to hunt, I guess._

He waited, perfectly still, for several seconds before he spied a black shape approaching from in front of him. Toothless was supposed to come from behind him! He would be able to see his head if he looked to the side.

He slowly pulled his head back inside and winced when a small chunk of snow rolled down right where he was hiding. It was too close to tell whether or not Toothless could have seen that.

Toothless's padded footsteps drew nearer and nearer until he stopped right next to the same snowbank. Something was making him suspicious.

 _Maybe he can smell me but he can't see me._

He heard the whoosh of Toothless taking off.

 _Whew, I can't believe that…_

Something big crashed into his hideout, and a set of jaws clamped down on his neck. A tangled and thrashing mass of limbs, they rolled down onto the barren, frozen ground as snow chunks tumbled down around them.

He tried pushing Toothless away, but there was no escaping the vice-like grip Toothless had on him. Especially when Toothless growled and started softly shaking him.

It was just real enough to be a little bit scary.

"No! You catch me."

Toothless let go of him and stood proudly. He waited as Hiccup rolled over and got to his feet.

"Why you go in snow-trap?"

"What?"

"You go in trap there, you not able to move. Easy catch."

"I try make trap for catch you."

Toothless gave him a look between amusement and disappointment.

"Bad. Do not go in trap. Need to be able to run or fly."

 _Ugh… he's right. That was rather dumb. But how did he know?_

"How you know I there?"

Toothless just grinned.

"You see thing that show I there?" Hiccup asked.

If he thought that Toothless had seen a disturbance of the snow, he was surprised when Toothless shook his head.

"No? How?"

Toothless opened his mouth as if to speak, but he then paused in obvious thought.

"You still need to learn about Night-Fury-kin. Now you are monster!"

With that cryptic message and declaration, he turned tail and ran. Hiccup lost only a moment before he ran in pursuit.

He never really had a chance. Toothless was far too fast and too agile. He knew how to turn corners very tightly with a single flap, never seemed to stumble on ice, and had a longer stride with each jump.

The only thing he took some heart from was that Toothless did look very exhausted by the time he gave up a couple minutes later.

"You did not…" pant "catch me…" Toothless sighed.

"No, you much fast."

"Hiccup, you need learn how to fight."

"Fight! Why?"

"Because I would have eaten you if I was bad. You need be able to fight."

Hiccup's pace slowed as the implications began to catch up to him. What Toothless was saying went against much of what he believed in. Was it really necessary that he learn violence?

"If I was fighter... you would not be here Toothless."

Even Toothless seemed struck by having that pointed out to him. He remembered it all very clearly. Hiccup had not had a fighting-two-leg's courage. His strength was of a very different kind as it was mixed with other-feeling.

"Still, you need to learn how to fight for yourself now. I will show you when we bigger."

Panting and heaving with every breath of frigid air, they made their way back home together. Not wanting to wait to see if his dad had returned, Hiccup stood up and opened the door on his own. Properly securing it against the weather was something that only his father would be able to do, but for now closing the door behind him would be enough.

Both of them collapsed right at the fire's edge without even bothering to crawl into bed. Blissful, warm sleep took them in seconds.

He heard his father storm inside a while later while calling out for him. Apparently, Stoick saw them both because he didn't say anything else.

 _I need to find out how Toothless saw me._

 _After more sleep… and food._

* * *

Another dull week passed with only the promise of the winter festival to look forward to.

Then it was time.

His father got bundled up and waited at the door.

"Hiccup, are you two coming?"

Hiccup practically flew out of bed and to his feet in his excitement.

"Toothless get up! We go now!"

Toothless just opened an eye and blinked at him.

"Why? Where?" he grumbled.

"Go to biggest two-leg-cave."

"You go."

"We eat much food!"

The promise of a large meal was encouragement enough to get Toothless off his behind and ready to brave the winter outside. Stoick opened the front door, and the frigid wind started whipping and blowing snow inside. The three of them made their way through the snow drifts and to the Great Hall with Stoick leading the way.

The cold was as uncomfortable as expected. However, his thoughts of the cold were driven away the moment he saw the Great Hall. It was the most bizarre sight. The massive building was practically glowing from inside, and it had great patches where there was no snow on its roof, the snow having been melted away. Even before they entered, they could hear the sounds of revelry from within.

Stoick threw open the door and the three of them quickly slipped inside.

"There they are!" "Here's to the Chief!"

It seemed that the entire community was gathered here in the glowing warmth. Men and women were interspersed at the tables and mugs were everywhere. The firepit in the middle of the Hall had a massive boar slowly turning on a stake. Plates of fish, lamb, chicken, and venison were at every table.

Hiccup could remember previous festivals that he had been compelled to sit through in the past. He had never really enjoyed them before. This one looked more carefree, more jovial than any one before.

Perhaps the greatest difference though was that some of the other people had brought their dragons too.

Flame was curled up in a ball next to Gustav and Snotlout while gnawing on an old bone. The Nightmare had grown several feet since joining the Berk family but was clearly still a juvenile.

Both Fishlegs and the twins brought their dragons as well, but their beasties were very busy dozing in the heat of a bonfire.

Stormfly was stealing the show though. The Nadder was carefully prancing about the entire Hall while nudging at people to get scratches and sniffing at the cooking food with a happy gurgle but never trying to eat. Astrid was making sure of that. It was made easier that Stormfly didn't have to with all the thawed fish that people were gladly hurling at her.

"… I tell you all. I really saw it!"

"Gobber, you don't think we actually believe that, do you?" Tuffnut asked.

"Yeah, a dragon that wears bones and has a personal vendetta against you? Sounds like one of our stories," Ruffnut teased.

 _That sounds like quite the story…_

"It's true! It needs just one more bone to complete its armor and then…"

Both he and Toothless quickly forgot about everything else when they arrived at the Chief's table. Their two special seats, usually only with a bowl of fish soup or a plate of raw fish, had plates with several kinds of juicy meats. Goat, chicken, and fish as well. The smell was absolutely captivating.

So much so that Toothless started drooling on the table.

"Toothless, no! Bad!" Hiccup yipped.

Toothless closed his mouth.

"Why do we need to wait? I am hungry now!"

"It two-leg thing. If you eat when Alpha not eat, it is a bad thing to do."

Toothless just grumbled and fidgeted in his chair, his tail swishing back and forth on the floor with impatience.

Stoick took his place at the head of the table and raised a cloth-covered hammer to the gong that had been rolled out for this very purpose.

Clang… clang… clang…

All the conversation ceased, and all eyes went to the Chief.

"By the will of the gods and the All-Father, we have endured another year! Now, we give thanks and celebrate! Let the Blótt begin!"

Everyone grabbed handfuls of the meats from their plates and started feasting.

Toothless looked around and took that as his cue to start as well. Hiccup watched, slightly impressed at the rate with which Toothless made the meats disappear. He took more time with his own food and savored the taste of each meat. He avoided the fish as much as possible, not because it wasn't cooked well, but because it is what he had been eating for the entire year. Chicken, goat, and the eventual boar were certainly far, far tastier.

Mugs were emptied and refilled, jokes were told to raucous laughter at each table, plates were cleaned and replenished, and those of a venerable age told stories to the younger audience.

"Hiccup, you eat the fish?" Toothless asked with a glance at the fish on his plate.

"No, you can have."

Toothless was more than happy to comply.

"All done there?" Stoick asked when he saw the encounter.

 _Actually dad, I could do with some more._

No, he shook his head and licked his chops.

"Oh, you want more? We can do that."

"What is he doing?" Toothless asked when Stoick collected their flat-wood-meat-holders.

"He is getting more food."

"More food, that is good," Toothless purred in approval.

With Toothless so obviously contented, it seemed like a very good time to ask the question.

"Toothless, how you see me in snow?"

"I see your life-fire."

"My what?"

"You have life-fire. All living things have life-fire. We can see it."

He still wasn't sure what Toothless meant by life-fire. Maybe it was like warmth? Dragons could see warmth?

 _I certainly can't, or maybe I just don't know how._

The second plates came back loaded with juicy chicken and lamb. He had never seen Toothless's eyes as wide as they were at this moment.

Stoick looked around the feast and thought it was an appropriate time to start to get to business. He stood up and clanged a drum to get everyone's attention.

"Elder Gothi had no immediate family of her own. We cannot be without an Elder forever. One of you must take over for her. We need an Elder to perform our rituals."

Everyone looked around at the older members of the community who were generally considered to be wise in the ways of the world and the gods. The Elder had to understand the powers that the gods put in plants and be able to commune with the spirits. The Elder also needed to be familiar with the tribe's traditions and had to have the prudence to know when traditions were more like guidelines than actual rules. Further, they also had to be able to give advice on a world involving dragons.

A consensus was eventually reached after a short debate. A bald, elderly man with a reputation for having good sense stepped forward.

"Vuulthir, son of Skuli," Stoick addressed him, "you would serve your tribe again? Would you be first and last among us? Would you take responsibility for getting our souls to Valhalla? Would you perform the rites of passage?

"Yes, my Chief."

"All hail the Elder Vuulthir!"

"Hail!" everyone roared.

He made sure to invite Vuulthir to his table immediately afterwards.

"Elder, what do you think about us now? The rebellion and our sharing our dragon knowledge with other tribes."

The Elder stopped sipping his soup and considered the question.

"The idea that any dragon can be good and friendly is still something strange to me. I see it with my own eyes and won't deny it, but it is still hard to get into my bones for someone of my age. But I remember what life was like before your boy and Astrid. They've both made us better off with the dragons not being our enemies now."

"I am glad that you approve of this. You indeed have wisdom, Elder."

"Bah, I know my place in the world. All I can do is share what I know with the future until I take my place in Valhalla."

"About that, Elder, I've been wondering some things about the hereafter. Those of us who die in battle have a place in Valhalla or Freyja's Folkvangr plains. What if there are no battles? The Berserkers have threatened us, but what if they didn't? How could anyone warrant one of those honors?"

Vuulthir grinned at him.

"That would be a problem if you think about dying in battle that way. What about dying to yourself?"

"What?" Stoick rubbed his beard in confusion.

"What if the glorious death that is needed is actually the death of whatever parts of yourself need to die? To spend your life overcoming your own failings and weaknesses. That is another type of battle that will not win any gold, ships, or cattle, but is no less glorious in the eyes of the gods."

"Hmm, no one has ever put it like that before."

Vuulthir nodded.

"It's more useful to emphasize the life of battle and glory to the young people because battles need to be fought and the old like me certainly cannot do the fighting."

Stoick fiddled with his mug for a moment before continuing.

"Do you think a dragon could go to Valhalla?"

"A dragon? Why?"

"Well, some people are quite fond of their beasties and wonder if a dragon's soul can follow them. Odin has his horse Sleipnir."

"True, he does. I suppose that a dragon could follow its master as a pet."

"But what about on its own?"

"I don't know about that Stoick. They are not people after all."

"Even the Furies here?" he waved at the two lounging and feasting dragons at his table.

Vuulthir rubbed his beard with a tired look in his eyes.

"They are special indeed, but I don't know. Hard to believe that you taught them to write but certainly undeniable. You are mighty thoughtful for a Chief, Stoick."

"I've had plenty of time to think about such things. In fact, there is something else we need to do."

He stood up from the table and waved Gobber over. The smith carried a large, rolled-up cloth.

"Stoick, I've got it ready for you."

"Good, I think it is about time."

"Let's do this then."

Gobber smirked and returned to his table while Stoick took the cloth in hand and got everyone's attention again.

 _What is this?_ Hiccup wondered.

"Everyone!" he roared.

The conversations, laughing, and attempts at dancing quickly died away as everyone turned to face their Chief.

"It has been a good year. The gods smile on us. We have a new Elder. Our animals multiplied, and we have so much food that we will not go hungry!"

"Hear! Hear!" everyone cheered.

"This was the first year that we did not lose anyone to dragons."

No one cheered, but they all nodded their heads respectfully.

"But we did lose some. We lost them to anger, arrogance, and betrayal."

Again, everyone had their eyes slightly downcast at the reminder of Mildew's betrayal and the Outcasting.

"Look around you, look at them," he indicated all the dragons present, his own included.

"They are part of our tribe."

Everyone nodded and muttered in agreement.

"There are other tribes that are changing too. The Vaina now have some Nadders of their own, and the Volsung… well, they were having some problems. A little bit too stubborn, right, Astrid?"

"As dumb as hammers, sir!" she answered.

Everyone chuckled and slapped their tables.

"The Berserkers, under Dagur, are sure to keep hunting dragons, even ours if they can. We all know that things are better our way."

"Yes!" they answered with one voice.

"So why do we still have that?" he pointed up above the central fire-pit.

The Berk colors, illuminated from the fire-pit below, hung from the pole. On the flag was emblazoned a serpentine red dragon impaled through the mouth on a large spear, with Nord warriors holding their axes high in triumph.

Total silence followed as everyone absorbed the sight. How many times had they gathered around the flag and cheered after a repelled attack? At hearing the number of dragons they had killed? To plan an invasion of the nest?

No one had thought to take it down.

"We've had the same flag since shortly after we got here many generations ago. But we are different now. That," he pointed up again, "is not us anymore."

He held up the still-rolled up cloth in his hands.

"We need a new flag."

He unrolled the cloth and held it out for everyone to see. It depicted a dragon, most resembling a Nightmare, in flight against a red background with someone sitting on its back. The someone was holding an axe in one hand and the saddle-reins in the other.

A good bit of muttering of approval followed and more than one mug was raised in salute.

"Take that one down!" he ordered.

The pole was lowered and the old standard was untied. A great many memories were recalled by those present. The fires that the standard had endured through were spoken to by the singed threads on its edges. The old tears, roughly sewn back together, further indicated the violence the material had seen and survived.

Stoick held the two standards in his hands. Both a link between his tribe's past and future and also a stark reminder of the differences between then and now.

"Astrid, you should do this."

She proudly marched forward, took the new flag in hand, and tied it to the pole. The new Berk standard then hung over the entire tribe moments later.

Standing there next to the fire and holding the old insignia, he wasn't sure what to do. Toss it in the fire to further complete the break with the past, or keep it for future generations?

How many stories of myth were there that taught the lesson that people do not learn from the past? That they do not readily change and need constant reminders, else they forget and make the same mistakes.

He set the old flag down on the table.

"We will keep this with the other relics of our tribe. We will make sure that the future does not forget what life was like so that they will know how good their world is!"

He paused and made a show of looking around the Hall at the tables.

"I see that you've gone through most of the mead… Don't you worry!"

Stoick turned to the attendants.

"Bust out the new ale! These people are thirsty!"

Everyone roared at these words. Massive barrels were rolled out and hauled onto tables. Foaming, golden liquid flowed from the barrels and refilled many an emptied mug. Everyone gathered around the central fireplace halfway through the night to celebrate the recognition of this year's group of young people being formally recognized as adults by taking on their real names and shedding their hideous childhood name. Each man and woman so recognized was given an ashen sign on their forehead by Elder Vuulthir to mark their passage after being sprinkled with water.

Once the renaming ceremony and the feasting was mostly over, the boar excepted, most of the people who were not already asleep at their tables began gathering for the dance.

It was a very informal process. As in each dancing pair decided what to do, how fast to dance, and how long to dance. No one was keeping time or playing music.

Gobber was dancing alone. More like spinning and teetering actually. But after several mugs of ale, he evidently did not care what anyone else thought of him. Or for that matter whether he could walk or dance.

Hiccup was happy to stand on the table and watch, whereas Toothless lost interest, collapsed on the floor, and started dozing off in his food sleep.

It was a new experience for him, as he had never seen this part of the festivities. There had certainly never been a chance for him to dance in the past, nor had he truly wanted to dance.

He could not help but feel wistful at seeing Astrid out there in her plain dress and obviously enjoying herself as she was dancing with her father.

He purred in happiness. His father returned from the kegs with a couple mugs filled to the foamy brim, then he sat down and looked out over the festivities. Gobber wandered over to the table.

"Stoick… a good Blott!"

"Aye it is, my old friend."

Gobber turned to the two Furies.

"And how about you two? Looks like Toothy is done, huh Hiccy?"

He nodded.

"How was the food?"

He licked his lips and smiled.

Gobber slapped his belly and laughed.

"Good! I'll tell Britte and Fjola that you approve, that'll make their day. Hey, you had anything to drink?"

 _Not really. Uh…_

"Gobber, don't be silly."

"Oh, come on Stoick, he's a big boy… er… big dragon. Well, you get what I mean."

It was also a tradition that fathers and sons would down a mug together at the mid-winter festival once the son had come of age.

"Do you want one?" he incredulously asked Hiccup.

Hiccup didn't especially care for the taste of drink, it had always been too bitter for his liking. But this was an opportunity to share an experience with his father.

 _Can't really refuse, I guess._

Yes.

His dad took one of the mugs and set it down before him. They both watched as he wrapped his claws around the handle and carefully poured a bit of the amber liquid down his gullet. It didn't taste half bad, though it was odd and smelled very sharp.

He licked the foam from his lips and looked at Gobber and Stoick.

"Soh? Whadya think?" Gobber slurred.

He grumbled at the mug and took another slow slurp.

Gobber laughed out loud and slapped Stoick on the shoulder.

"F'anyone doubted he's one of us, shee that! Ha, ha! Gotta be the firsht time a drraegon drank wth us! A drunk draaegon! Ha, ha!"

"Alright Gobber, sit down."

"I'm good… I'm good. Need to go dance this off…" he said as he stumbled away.

Hiccup spared his father a knowing glance. They both firmly expected Gobber to take a tumble or need to be helped off the floor. Amazingly, neither happened.

He continued sipping at the ale, which gradually became more palatable as the evening went on.

Then the boar was served. He walked over to the table where Britte was carving up the boar. She saw him looking up with his wide eyes and she grinned before slicing off large haunch of leg and handing it to him.

If he thought that he had no more room in his belly, the smell of the boar made him find the room. It was easily the best boar that he had ever eaten. At least he had the presence of mind to take it back with him and eat it at the table.

 _Too bad Toothless didn't stay awake… for him…_

Someone eventually started beating a drum to provide music for the dancers. He happily watched everything. It was all so good. No one was anxious or afraid, even when Stormfly trotted over and looked out over everyone.

Then he saw something that made him freeze in alarm. Snotlout was dancing with Astrid. They were not actually touching, but it was the principle of the matter!

 _No you don't!_

Fortunately for him, she did not appear very enthusiastic about it and was looking around at the crowd. She spied Fishlegs and called out to him, only to start dancing with him.

That he was ok with. He was sure that Fishlegs did not have any intentions toward her. With him it was truly just dancing for fun.

With a tiny growl deep in his throat, he watched as Snotlout wandered the dance area. His cousin didn't seem especially interested in anyone except Astrid.

 _It's not fair! She is not his! Who does he think he is?_

Snotlout was a young man in the pangs of young love, or at least desire. It was no different from what he himself had felt when he was… still human. At least he could take comfort from the fact that Astrid was not interested in his cousin.

Between the drink and the copious amount of delicious food he had eaten, the natural consequence was that he became very sleepy, just like Toothless. There was no telling how much longer everyone was going to stay at the festival.

They might as well head home now. While dragons were welcome in the Hall, there was nothing for them truly to do. Stormfly was just sitting off to the side and watching Astrid.

He hopped down from the table and nudged Toothless.

"Get up Toothless."

Grr…

"I want go."

Toothless grumbled but reluctantly got up anyway.

"They're leaving…" "Bye…" "So cute…"

At least no one tried to pet him this time. They let themselves outside the building and slowly made their way back home through the cold and dark night. The sounds of revelry followed them as they left the building behind.

Then it was just him and Toothless walking alone through the darkness. The soft wind and clear skies left them both feeling very cold, mostly by contrast to the warmth they had left behind. He walked a little slower when he saw a familiar green-blue light in the northern sky.

What the auroras meant though was anyone's guess. Were they the smoke from the fires in Valhalla? Dragon's souls flying free for eternity? Could he one day fly high enough to touch them?

Toothless bumped into his shoulder.

"That meat was good. Ground-bird and four-leg-small-horn… mmmm…"

"Good you like. I not know you eat them."

"I not only eat fish. I was very good at catching ground-birds in old two-leg and kin fights," Toothless grinned.

 _What! I thought he never stole food! Or no one ever saw him…_

"Why? I thought you not take food for Monster."

"For me, not for Monster. I was not a two-leg eater and there was not always much fish."

 _Fair enough._

They got back home and slipped inside. The fireplace had burned rather low. It needed another log and he had no idea when his father would be getting back. He went over to the firewood that his father had brought inside, grabbed one of the smaller ones, and dragged it over to the fireplace.

They were both snug in the warm blankets moments later. Toothless was already sound asleep and would probably sleep until late in the morning judging from how much he had eaten.

Hiccup's thoughts briefly wandered over everything he had seen at the feast and that had happened throughout the year. So much had changed for the better.

Winter was almost half over.


	18. I - Shame

__"When proud-pied April, dressed in all his trim, hath put a spirit of youth in everything." - William Shakespeare – Sonnet 98__

* * *

Shame

* * *

Astrid came to visit a couple weeks after the Blott, and Stoick was out collecting firewood when she arrived at the door. Hiccup struggled with opening the door for a while before it finally complied and swung inward.

She quickly entered with a bag slung over her shoulder and briefly looked around.

"Is he here?"

No.

"Ok, I've brought something for you."

He stared at the bag, wondering what could possibly be inside. She reached in and pulled out scrolls and leather-bound books, which she then ran down the hall with and hid in his room.

"They're not much, just a few I found around the village. You'd be surprised how many people had them stored away, though they never used them of course."

He grabbed one at random and looked at the cover.

 _The Protective Properties of Purple Plants._

"I think that one is about plants from the mainland. Which ones are good for healing, eating, even curses…" she added with a grin.

 _Oh well, it's something to do with the time._

 **Thanks Astrid**

 **How is everyone?**

"Oh you know, staying warm. Doing all the usual fun things that we do in the winter."

 **So nothing**

"Exactly. Hmm, have you tried to fly outside recently?"

 _Uh, not since flying through a cloud._

 **No**

 **I had an accident last time**

"Well, you are still in one piece. It cannot have been that bad."

 _You'd rather not know Astrid…_

"I've been thinking about getting Stormfly up and about. She's been a bit jumpy since the feast. No one has actually tried to fly in this weather yet, as far as I know."

 _That sounds fun, it would be nice to get out of the house for a while._

"Do you think you'd like to also?"

 **Sure**

 **Where to?**

"I've never been up to the summit of Mount Thor. I think it could be fun to go up there. Cold, but fun."

He considered it. It certainly sounded fun, and any opportunity to be outside and to stretch his wings would be welcome.

 **Toothless might want to come too**

"Sure, of course he can come. I'll be sure to bring some fish for you two. Umm, I've been wondering if you… if either of you can make fire."

 **I don't think so**

 **He was trying but couldn't do it**

"Did you try?"

He shrugged plaintively.

 **How**

 **It makes no sense**

"Yeah, I can only imagine. We can have Stormfly cook the fish for you then. Tomorrow?"

Yes.

She gathered the incriminating papers and slipped back outside. He settled back down by the fire with a random book under a paw. Maybe he would crack it open later.

Toothless stirred, took one glance at the thing he had, and went back to sleep with a grumble.

* * *

Toothless glanced out the window at the piles of white snow.

"You want flying? Why?"

"Get out of cave. Stretch wings. Astrid want flying."

Something felt strange about going flying in the coldest-season like this. There was no real need to do it now. Flying for fun was entirely appropriate in the warm-seasons when there was plenty of food.

"Does sire know?"

"No."

He looked outside again. There was no wind to make the bone-biting chill worse and the sun was out to warm his scales a little. Perhaps a short flight wouldn't be so bad.

"When we go?"

"Now."

 _Grr, not much time to stretch first._

He got to his feet regardless.

Hiccup struggled with the door again for a moment, and then they were both outside. Toothless started stretching his wings as soon as he could. It felt very good as he had not done so in preparation of flying in many moon-cycles.

Astrid, fully bundled with thick pelts completely covering her up, gloves on her hands, and a heavy scarf wrapped around her head, was waiting for them both at Stormfly's stable. However, the Nadder did not seem incredibly excited at being awake and out in the cold. Then she noticed both of them and got excited. She got to her feet and hopped over to them.

It was still a rather a new experience for Hiccup to be nuzzled and licked by a dragon as a dragon. Sure, Toothless had gently rubbed against him before, but this was rather different. She was humming deeply, and he could feel it in his chest. There was something protective and strangely comforting about it.

"Good girl, I think she likes you."

 _Oh, you think?_

As if that wasn't enough, Toothless was chuckling at him.

"What funny?"

"Storm-Flier is being like your dam."

He shook off the thin layer of slobber and gave him a withering look. He barely resisted the urge to nip at Toothless's tail.

"Alright girl, ready to fly high today?"

Stormfly's hesitance was now completely gone, and she crouched down to let Astrid climb on. The three of them were aloft moments later. The snow-capped pines and bare trees passed smoothly as they flew on toward the mountain.

Even though there was no real wind to speak of, it was still very cold in the open air though not too cold for them to fly in. The worst of the winter was already over with after all.

Being back up in the air again after months of being stuck inside was very liberating.

He ended up flying alongside Astrid and Stormfly. It was his first chance in a long time to actually watch Astrid up in the air. It was clear that she and Stormfly were very well practiced at flying together.

Toothless roared and lunged at his tail, which he whipped out of the way just in time.

"Why?" he shouted over the wind.

The gleam in Toothless's eyes showed that he wanted to play.

 _Tag the tail eh… alright Toothless, you are on!_

He dove down and around Stormfly. A quick glance behind him showed that Toothless was close on his tail. A quick dash followed up and over Astrid before flipping around. It was time to go on the attack. Their gazes locked for a split second.

He ducked under Toothless and stretched to touch his tail. His strike was too slow as Toothless whipped his tail out of the way.

Hiccup felt something brush against his own tail though.

 _What… grr…_

He looped around and followed Toothless, his frustration lending speed to his flight. Toothless glanced back at him and dove for the trees. He followed closely behind as Toothless wove through the treetops.

It was a bit scary flying so close to the trees. One mistake, one stray gust, and either of them might crash into the trees with certainly terrible consequences.

Toothless roared in delight, tipped on his side, and dove through a gap in a pine. Hiccup stared in shock and surprise as Toothless vanished from sight.

He whipped around the tree himself, wary of the likely counterattack.

There looked like there was a dark shadow flying between the trees themselves, but he could not be sure.

 _Where is he?_

He slowed down and listened carefully. Any flapping at all would be easy to hear, as was Stormfly's even now.

The first warning he had was a very faint whistle from behind. He reacted without thinking and pitched to avoid the strike.

Toothless flew past him and slowed to a glide next to him. There was no sign that he still wanted to play.

Both of them were rather winded.

"Better…" Toothless gasped.

He was too tired to respond himself.

 _At least I only got tagged once._

Stormfly flew over to them. He could not hear what Astrid was yelling over the wind.

 _I'll tell you about it later…_

The rest of the flight up the mountain passed in relative silence and peace, except for one moment. Hiccup felt a shiver that had little to do with the cold when he passed Toothless's old lair.

They ascended higher until they were at the very peak of Mount Thor. The small flock circled the peak, looking for a place to land.

The three of them hovered for a moment before landing on the rocky, snow-capped clearing. A thin layer of ice covered the snow underneath in places. The rest of the clearing's packed snow was perfect to write in.

Hiccup walked over to the edge of the sharpest precipice. The entirety of Berk lay beneath him. The snow-capped trees leading up the mountainside, the ice-cold bays, even the wispy smoke-trails from the fires in the village were all visible. And the sight from the other side of the peak was no less spectacular. The island of Berk stretched out almost to the horizon itself, green specks peeking out from underneath the white blanket that covered the island. That was the deep forest which one rarely entered except to hunt.

They could just barely see the blue crescent of the ocean wrapping around the far side of the island.

"Wow, just look at that."

Astrid stood on the ledge next to him and looked out as well. She knew she was standing on special ground, on the highest place on the island. And it was likely that no one had ever been here before.

"Have you ever been here?"

No, he shook his head.

"So we are the first people to ever stand up at the summit of Mount Thor. I've never been here before now. Never thought to fly up here before."

The cold wind gusted in their faces.

"It's so beautiful up here. It feels odd though, like it is hard to breathe."

 **It can be hard to fly up high**

 **Feels like I keep falling**

Astrid held out a mittened hand and waved it through the air.

"There is nothing there, but what is wind? It can't be nothing. It must be something, something that wings can push on. Like… thin water. Does that make sense?"

He nodded vigorously.

 **I think about flying like swimming**

 **But it feels like there is less there up here**

"I guess there is a lot we don't know about the world."

Stormfly waddled over to them with a bugle of annoyance and snuggled up to Astrid.

"Hey girl, you doing well?"

Stormfly trilled happily and nudged her hand.

He then noticed something, a smell that was quite welcome since he had skipped breakfast this morning.

 **Fish?**

"Oh right, one moment."

She took a couple frozen fish out of her bag and coaxed Stormfly to light some firewood as Toothless wandered over to investigate. He grumbled when he saw that he had to wait for the fish impaled on little sticks.

"I saw you and Toothless playing."

 **We were playing tag**

"Oh, were you? It looked very fun. Is it tail-tag?"

Yes.

"That was amazing. I didn't know you were such good fliers already."

If only he could blush.

"Are there any other games that dragons play?"

 **Hide and seek**

"Who is better, you or him?"

He nodded at the hunter who only had eyes on the impaled cod slowly roasting on a spike.

"I'm not surprised."

A minute elapsed while she let the fish cook.

"Hmm, looks like these are done."

She then handed the fish on a stick off to both of them, Hiccup's one having been de-scaled beforehand.

On the top of the world, eating fish, and with both Toothless and Astrid at his side, everything felt perfect. He thought about the coming year. Other tribes were going to come calling on Berk, perhaps with dragons of their own in tow. And when they did, he was sure to play a special role in establishing relations.

 _I wonder what will happen. Hopefully nothing bad like Mildew._

* * *

It was the first of Einmánuður, the month that marked the change from winter to spring. The weather had broken weeks ago. While winter had arrived suddenly one brisk afternoon, the thaw was very slow and gradual with tree buds bursting through the remaining ice on the branches and the grass and weeds pushing up through the slush of melted ice.

Stoick held a hammer and knelt on his knees on the side of his house. He carefully fitted a nail into the groove and swung his hammer.

Slam! Slam! Slam!

The remaining chill in the air notwithstanding, he wiped the sweat from his brow and stepped back to look at his handiwork. A pile of wood shavings and unused nails lay on the ground around his discarded saw. His fingers and palms hurt terribly, but his long project was finally completed.

The new door to Hiccup's room was finished.

It had a simple lever, push down to open and lift up to lock, and the periphery of the door had leather carefully fitted to close most of the cracks. The major difference between it and a normal door was of course that it was far wider, large enough for an adult Fury to enter through.

He still remained as determined as ever to find a fix for Hiccup. Even so, he was practical, and he knew there was nothing he himself could do for Hiccup right now. Months of watching Hiccup, and Toothless for that matter, sleeping by the fire and months of preparing food for them made an inevitable problem very evident.

They were both growing at an alarming rate.

They looked like they had each put on the weight of a ram from the first snow of winter to the first day when the icicles started melting. Not only that, but they had grown long enough that they did not both fit in the nest-like bed arrangement of blankets near the fireplace. He had to lay out a couple pelt blankets alongside each other, one for each of them next to the fire. Even with that though, their tails still stuck several feet out on the floor when they forgot to curl them in. He had almost stepped on Toothless's tail more than once, though that unpleasant encounter hadn't actually happened yet.

Unless something… magical… happened soon, or at least within a couple years, it was entirely possible that Hiccup would not be able to fit through the front door.

Though, Hiccup's room would definitely not be big enough if it ever came to that. With time, he would be able to build a larger room. It could actually be an enjoyable task. Something to lose himself in, something involving craftsmanship, honest work with his hands was something he knew and could appreciate.

He heard a hum from behind him. There was only one person that could be.

"Well, it's done. Give it a try."

Hiccup walked up to the door, grasped the lever, and gave it a tug. The door squeakily swung inward with a push.

"Go on, close it from the inside. See if it works."

Hiccup walked fully inside, turned about, and closed the door with a satisfying click. Just to check, he shoved at it as well and it did not budge. He repeated the process and found that it opened from inside just as easily.

He grunted in satisfaction. This would be far more convenient for when he and Toothless wanted to come and go.

"Alright, it works. Uh, I hope you like it."

Yes, he nodded.

He left and sought out Toothless to explain it to him. Toothless wanted to see it himself and was pleasantly surprised to learn how to work the two-leg cave-mouth thing. It was much easier than the other entrance to the cave, and they were both spending a lot more time out and about since the weather was getting far warmer.

* * *

The wild dragons had finally returned. One by one they filtered in to reclaim their preferred roosts on the island. Some of them were recognizable from last year and made themselves at home again in the village as though they had never been gone. With the arrival of spring and the dragons came a new problem.

Hiccup was woken up from an afternoon nap by the sound of roaring off in the distance. It sounded like a dragon fight.

 _What? Not again…_

He had noticed that the dragons had been acting a bit stranger than usual in recent weeks. They seemed snappier and confrontational with each other. He couldn't remember them ever behaving like this last year. Even now, they tended to sit across from each other and growl. It had finally culminated in an actual fight that left a Nightmare limping away in defeat with several deep and bloody scratches.

It was quite disturbing seeing the vicious side of dragons again. Even though they were not trying to cause any damage, it was not hard to imagine a fight leveling a building, setting fires, or crushing someone by accident.

He rolled off his bed without disturbing Toothless and walked outside with a massive yawn. The noise seemed to be coming from a small clearing behind a barn on the edge of town. He flew a short distance and saw the two responsible Nightmares. He landed next to the clearing and prepared to dart out to try something.

His eyes bugged and he went completely stiff in shock.

The two Nightmares were actually a male and a female, and it was completely obvious what they were doing. There was no other reason why they would be completely wrapped up in each other's limbs and on top of each other.

He blinked and managed to look away while shaking his head in alarm. Doing so did not help with the sounds the two dragons were making. As far as he knew, no one had ever actually seen dragons in the act. And he had the… privilege… of being the first.

With an unintended squeal of alarm, he turned tail and ran back towards home. Only when the sounds somewhat died away behind him did he pause and catch his breath. And it all made sense now. It made sense why the dragons had been fighting; it had been the males fighting each other for status.

 _That's it. I'm scarred for life. Why… why would they do that! Right there!_

Some of the people were coming out of their houses and heading toward the noise as well. He kept going right on back to home.

 _They have no idea what they are getting into…_

He ran straight inside to his room and nudged Toothless awake. Toothless lazily opened one eyelid while groaning at being woken up.

"Toothless, why…"

He didn't know exactly what he was trying to say. This was not something that had ever precisely come up in his discussions with Toothless.

"Why what?"

"Not know how to say. Come, I show you."

Toothless reluctantly got to his feet and followed Hiccup outside. What could Hiccup possibly need to show him at this time of the day?

Hiccup brought him to a small clearing where he saw many two-legs and two mating fire-scales.

"Why?" Hiccup asked him.

"What?"

"Why are they... doing that..." Hiccup groaned while nodding at the pair.

"To make eggs," Toothless answered after staring incredulously at Hiccup.

"Yes, I know that, but there?"

"Why not there?"

"Because others see them."

"Why is that bad?"

Hiccup was at a loss. It was shameful what the dragons were doing. That kind of thing should be done in private, but they were making it a very public matter. Maybe they truly did not care if anyone else saw them.

"It is bad for others to see them mating."

Toothless was very puzzled.

"Why is it bad? I think it is good."

"Good! Why would it be good?"

"Because other males see that the female is taken. No more reason to fight over her. It shows the nest that the two are a pair."

"That… still seems bad."

Toothless just rolled his eyes and turned to walk to the nearest fish station. Hiccup reluctantly followed behind him.

 _Hiccup would think it strange. He has never seen mating before._

He paused and turned to face Hiccup, a question on his mind.

"Hiccup, what about two-leg mating?"

Hiccup audibly groaned again and closed his eyes. He hopped off the main path and lay down on the grass. This was going to be a difficult talk.

"What about it?"

"I have never seen two-legs mate. Your sire does not have a mate now. Why not? Do females lay their eggs in the wood-caves?"

"Toothless, two-legs do not have eggs."

Now it was Toothless's turn to gape dumbly.

"What! No!"

"Yes. The… hatchling grows in the female and then… comes out."

"No egg?"

"No egg."

Toothless blinked rapidly in confusion.

"I do not understand. Do they mate where others can see?"

"Not all the time, usually it is in their caves. The males give the females a… shiny two-leg-thing to put on their finger. That shows that they are each other's mates."

"And do the males fight each other for them in the new-seasons?"

"They don't really fight… well, sometimes they do, but they don't call it fighting."

"But they do fight."

"Some… most fighting is before the pair is made."

"What about your sire now? Why no new mate?"

Hiccup paused noticeably before answering.

"He still like and want first mate, want…"

Hiccup took a moment to form the sounds, fully aware that he had never spoken the name before in this way.

"… Valka."

Toothless wondered at the sire's way of thinking. There was no reason to want something that one could never have, doing so would only make one unhappy. That was also what he thought was most problematic about Hiccup's fixation on becoming a two-leg again.

Valka. That had to be the name of Hiccup's dam. Two-leg names seemed to always have some meaning behind them, even if a silly one.

"What your dam name mean?"

"Two-legs tell stories of the place where dead go. A place where fighters get… said well of by others. A place where they eat much food and live without dying. Valka is a short way of saying name for that place."

Toothless thought of the stories his dam had told him. That the kin who had many hatchlings and protected other kin would have their life-breath live. That the sky-lights were the life-breaths of kin before, freed at last to soar beyond the clouds without ending.

It seemed that there was another similarity between his kin and two-legs. They both had stories of what happened beyond the dark mouth of death.

With a nod to each other, they both got up and started out again.

A question that had been on his mind for a while was on the tip of Hiccup's tongue. He was rather reluctant to ask it because it was a personal and very embarrassing question. But Toothless never seemed embarrassed by anything so…

"Did you ever… mate?"

Toothless's head, normally held proudly, drooped noticeably.

"No."

"No?"

"I had no mate. No eggs. No hatchlings."

.

"I was the only Night-Fury-kin until you."

"No other type of kin?"

Toothless froze and gave him a look that clearly suggested that he had just said something very absurd.

"No other type would be good. Fire-scale, spike-tail, or any other kin are not right. Only like us. If not all of them are gone…"

The sadness in Toothless's voice was unmistakable. Something about the idea of being the very last of his kind and to never even have a chance at having children was terribly sad.

"I not think we alone," Hiccup kindly said.

"No, why not?"

He waved a paw out toward the sea.

"World is big. Other Night-Fury-kin must be there."

"I like that. I want to be a good sire. My sire wanted me to have many hatchlings."

"Yes Toothless, you will."

Toothless hummed at the idea for a moment before a gleam showed in his eyes.

"Hiccup, we will get you a mate."

Hiccup stopped walking as he made sense of what Toothless had just said.

"What!" he recoiled at the mere thought.

"Yes, and you can have many…"

"No! No! No!"

"Why no?"

"Toothless! That not good. I not real kin."

"Yes, you are."

Hiccup shook his head again. Why didn't Toothless understand?

"No Toothless, you know I still two-leg inside!"

"No you not. You have wings, tail, everything you need to…"

Hiccup almost shrieked. He got right up in Toothless's face with a not-subtle growl.

"No! I will not have a kin-mate!"

He ran on ahead, leaving Toothless behind. That Toothless could even suggest that idea was… shameful and sent shivers down his spine.

It would be strange enough for him if Toothless ever did find a mate, but that was Toothless's life to live. The idea of helping to raise Toothless's children, as he certainly would want to, had certain appeal. They would be dragons brought up from the start to not fear humans and taught how to read and write, if he had any say in it. It would be a marked change from the way dragons had always lived.

But for him to have a dragon-wife and…do that… absolutely not! Never!

"You are twisted, Hiccup," Toothless shouted at him.

"Says a kin who licks his tail."

"You!"

He darted ahead of Toothless's attack. They arrived at the fish station and managed to wiggle their way between the other dragons and grab a few fish of their own. Toothless just went ahead and gobbled down the fish that he wanted while Hiccup picked up the ones he wanted so that he could take them back with him to the house and carve them up first.

He almost managed to forget what had just happened when the same pair of Nightmares walked up to the fish station that he had just left.

 _It's a normal thing, don't think about it._

Both of the Nightmares in question were among the group of dragons that had chosen to live on Berk, but were not attached to a human household like Stormfly was to Astrid.

What would happen when one of those dragons that was so attached mated? Would it leave? Become violent or protective? Want to lay its eggs here?

 _This is complicated._

They arrived back at home, and Hiccup pushed open the door before trotting into the kitchen to carve up the fish. He had learned how to cut a whole fish decently with only his claws. While he did so, he kept thinking about the recent discussion he and Toothless had been having.

What exactly did it mean for a dragon to take a mate? What would they do, besides the obvious?

"Toothless, what do mates do after mating?"

"The male will protect the female and make sure she has enough food. She will drop the eggs and keep them warm and safe. Moon-cycles pass. Then the hatchlings break their eggs and the sire and dam protect them until the grown hatchlings leave."

"How big are they when they leave?"

"Different for different kin. One or two season-cycles is normal."

Only one or two years old? That seemed rather cruel for small creatures to wander out in the world with all its dangers before they were fully grown.

"How many eggs?"

"Many for some kin and few for other kin."

"What about Night-Fury-kin."

Toothless gave it some thought.

"Only one each season-cycle. That is what my sire and dam had."

"Only one? Not many."

That was an interesting revelation. It might explain why there were so many Gronkles, Nadders, Nightmares, and Terrors, but not many Night Furies.

Toothless started munching on his raw fish.

"Hiccup, you said that two-leg males do not fight each other for females each season. How do the females decide?"

Sigh.

"Toothless, it does not work that way for two-legs. They do not take new mates each season-cycle."

Toothless was again confused. That was different from almost all other creatures.

"When is two-leg mating season?"

"Two-legs do not have a mating-season. They can make a hatchling any time in the season-cycle."

Toothless's head almost spun in confusion. A creature that did not have one mating season, impossible! The more he learned about two-legs the less sense they made. While he was trying to figure out the strange ways of the two-legs, Hiccup asked one of his usual strange questions.

"What do kin feel for mates and hatchlings?"

"What do you mean, feel?"

Hiccup was not sure how to say it. Love was a concept that he himself had limited experience with. Desire, he certainly was familiar with, but he knew enough to know that love was something more than just desire. He also did not know what the correct word was because Toothless had never told him.

Or maybe because there was no such idea for dragons. It seemed that dragons had no concept of marriage and hatchlings were the only real priority. They were purely practical and stayed together only when needed from what he knew. Not that there was anything necessarily wrong with that, but something seemed to be missing.

That raised more questions which he was slightly concerned to know the answers to. Do dragons love? They certainly cared for others and could show affection, but was that all it was?

How different are they really from humans? What did Toothless feel? And why did it seem so important all of a sudden?

"Two-legs do not only want young from their mates. There is… safety and comfort for both. It is also better for their young. Two-leg young are very small and need help from both sire and dam for many season-cycles."

"Most kin do not need help after the first season-cycle. The mates might stay mates again if they had a good nest together," Toothless explained.

"Most kin?"

"Not all. Night-Fury-kin need sire and dam longer."

"Why?"

"We are smaller. We do not have fire yet."

"And the sire and dam, do they stay a pair?"

Toothless thought back to when he was a hatchling. His sire and dam had been a pair from the start of his life. And what Hiccup said about two-leg hatchlings needing a lot of attention from both the sire and the dam was certainly true about hatchlings of his own kind since they started life very small and relatively defenseless.

The similarities were rather apparent now that he thought about it. Having both his sire and dam stay together through the season-cycles made it likelier that everyone would survive and be healthy. Though it was also entirely possible that his sire and dam had only stayed mates because they could not find any others of his kind.

"They want to stay mates, I think. It is good for the hatchlings."

"I like that Toothless. It feels good."

"Hiccup, do you know the sky-mating?"

"What?"

"Most other kin only stay mates when they have hatchlings together. Some kin can stay mates as long as they live. They mate in the sky so all can see."

The thought was a bizarre combination of shameful and plain strange. How would that even work?

"Why?"

Toothless ruffled his wings in a shrug.

"I already say why. It shows that they are a pair. And two-legs do many strange things also. No eggs and no mating season… I need to think about that," Toothless shook his head.

Then he took off and flew out over the forest.

Hiccup did similarly, though he flew to one of the sea-stacks. It was always a nice place to get away from everyone else. He could sun himself out of everyone's way and think in peace.

 _Wow, what a day… Never thought I would learn so much about how dragons… do that… Not even Fishlegs knows this much._

He thought of Astrid having to deal with this problem. She had never said anything about this before, so maybe it was only something that started happening this year. Or rather, only something that the humans of Berk had a chance to see this year. There had not been any eggs or hatchlings that he was aware of among the dragons that returned in the past.

 _I should probably go talk to her._

He turned away from the setting sun across the horizon and returned to the village where he decided to wait by Astrid's house. It wasn't long before she appeared. It was clear that it had been a long day for her.

"Oh, hi," she yawned.

He glanced toward the Academy.

She paused for a moment to consider.

"Oh, why not? Plenty to talk about."

She shut the gate behind them as they went in to make sure that no one would spy on them. They slipped inside her office, and he waited as she lit a fire and candles. Then she collapsed on the ground without even bothering with the chair.

"Did you see them this morning?"

His exasperated expression was answer enough.

"I guess we knew this would happen eventually. They feel safer now and have plenty of food. This is the season for it too. I just wish they were more… discrete about it."

 **I don't think they feel shame**

"Why not?"

 **Toothless thinks that is good**

 **All of them seeing makes other dragons not fight**

She thought about it.

"I guess so. Did he tell you anything good for me to know?"

 _Oh, did he ever._

 **A lot**

 **I'll write it up for you tomorrow**

"I look forward to it. Do you know if they want to stay together in the same barn after they… you know?"

 **I think so**

"Great, add it to the list of problems. I've been thinking about all this. It's a real mess. The stables and barns aren't all built for two. Will the dragons stay here? What if one of the pairs is between dragons here from the village? Which human family will keep the eggs, if any at all? Will there be disputes between families? How many eggs and new dragons will there be? Will families start trying to breed dragons like cattle?"

Sigh.

"There is a lot that can go wrong."

He thought for a moment.

 **Occupational hazard?**

She looked at the paper for a moment without reacting. Then she laughed heavily, a full hearty laugh that would certainly give them away if anyone was even remotely listening.

"I… I guess so… You're right, no point worrying about something we can't know about."

She glanced outside.

"It's getting late, probably don't want him wondering."

He nodded, and she blew out the candle. As was their custom, he darted out first and made his way home while she waited a few more minutes so no one would notice the clandestine meeting.

She couldn't quite shake the feeling that something was changing on Berk. After she had been called to the clearing this morning, she had gone to the other riders and asked if any of their dragons had been involved in that way. None of them thought so.

It was surely only a matter of time.

* * *

It was an afternoon a few days later when the matter finally hit home to her.

Astrid heard the telltale sounds of two Nadders fighting each other and went to investigate.

 _Oh great, not again. Just let it be out of town._

Sure enough, there were two bull Nadders shoving, hissing, and flaming at each other on the slope near the cliffs.

But there was something else that gave her pause and made her breath catch.

Stormfly was the only other Nadder in the area, and she was watching the fight with clear interest.

 _Oh no… I… of course this would happen._

It was one matter when it was someone else's dragon or a pair of wild ones. But her own Stormfly? It felt like something was going to be lost, that she would not be the sole object of Stormfly's interest.

She nervously walked up to Stormfly's side, and her dragon, normally so attentive to her presence, did not even glance at her.

It actually hurt a bit.

One of the Nadders got flamed in the face and flew off, whimpering in pain. The victor, a large, green-yellow bull, roared at it and flared his wings in triumph.

Then it turned its attention toward Stormfly and began to prance her direction, eventually stopping only a stone's throw away. Stormfly was humming happily while considering him.

Astrid felt awkwardly out of place.

"Well, I'll leave you two alone then…" she whispered.

She gently patted Stormfly's leg and started to turn to leave.

The male apparently objected to this and lunged at her while hissing dangerously.

Stormfly's calm, appraising demeanor vanished instantly and she pounced, knocking into the larger male and shoving it aside. She stood in front of Astrid and screamed at the male, who backed off in clear confusion. A couple moments of them grumbling and growling at each other from distance ended with the male turning around and flying off.

Stormfly grunted once as he turned tail and flew away. Then she turned around to her human, who was still on her back on the ground. She keened softly and nuzzled Astrid's belly.

Astrid slowly stood up using the horns on Stormfly's head and softly rubbed her jowls. It had been a long time since a dragon had been aggressive toward her. Creatures certainly were more aggressive when moved by these passions. And Stormfly had thought of her and moved to protect her despite everything else she must have been feeling.

"Thanks girl, sorry that didn't work out. You wouldn't want that one anyway… too grouchy."

Chirp.

They were about to leave when another bugle echoed out and Stormfly hissed in caution.

 _Oh no… it's coming back…_

But it wasn't.

A gold and blue Nadder swooped in and landed next to them. This one she recognized from the bright blue pattern on his crown and back. Plus, he was still wearing the saddle that Finnbjorn and Katrina used on their almost-daily flights with him.

"Blueback!"

He glanced once at her and then started staring at Stormfly.

"I wonder why you are here…"

Both dragons silently considered each other. Blueback grumbled and tentatively advanced after a minute. He tried to sniff at Stormfly, but she hissed at him and he quickly backed up.

Astrid could tell that he was plenty interested, but Stormfly was barely acknowledging him, except to growl or glare at him.

 _I'm intruding. I should leave._

She stepped out from behind Stormfly's wing and turned for home. No sooner did she do so than Blueback, his head slightly bowed and deadly spines perfectly flattened, chirped very intently at her.

Then he took several steps toward her.

Stormfly moved to protect her and loomed above and behind her as Blueback stopped just feet away. Slowly, he stuck out his tongue and licked Astrid's face.

She raised a hand and wiped off the slobber.

"Ugh, why did you…"

Stormfly was very happily rumbling at him now.

 _Oh, you clever guy…_

Stormfly seemed to forget about her and advanced to start sniffing and nudging him. Astrid used the opportunity to make her escape and backed up to the crest of the hill while the two Nadders slowly circled each other.

There was something, if not romantic, then perhaps poetic or artistic about how the two were flicking their tails and wings, preening, prancing, and calling to each other. They both very briefly hopped into the air and hovered in place before landing.

She was quite aware that this was probably something no one had ever seen before. This was apparently how dragons wooed.

The oddly beautiful dance ended with Stormfly briefly flaring her wings and roaring at him. But this was her very happy roar, which he gladly returned.

Then Astrid turned around and continued down the hill. While dragons may not feel shame, she certainly didn't want to see anything more.

 _I guess I should give Finnbjorn and Katrina the good news. Of all the Nadders on Berk, he is one of the nicest and smartest. And now we don't have to worry about either of them leaving us._

Hiccup could probably tell her what to expect. She couldn't help but think of a bunch of cute little dragons hopping around the island. Gnawing on everything. Burning everything.

 _Oh great, add that to the list of will-be problems._

She made her way back into town and proceeded straight to Finnbjorn and Katrina's house.

"Astrid!" Finnbjorn greeted her at the door, "what can I do for you?"

"Mr. Reynirsonn, we have a… situation."

His brow furrowed in thought.

"What kind of situation?" Katrina asked as she too came to the front door.

"Ah… a good one, don't get me wrong. One involving… Stormfly and Blueback…"

Finnbjorn and Katrina shared a knowing glance.

"You mean that you saw them together?" he finally asked.

"I left right when they actually started, but yes, I did."

"What do you think about it Astrid?"

She gave as nonchalant a shrug as she could.

"It's a normal thing for them to want to do. It was actually a bit sweet to watch them wooing. I'm not sure what it will change, if anything. I doubt that he will stop being your dragon or she mine, I don't think they want any of that to change. I'm actually glad she picked him. You've both done a very good job with him, and he has always had a good temper."

"That's what we liked about him," Katrina mentioned.

Finnbjorn and Katrina then whispered for a moment before he addressed her.

"Astrid, don't worry if there are any eggs. We won't cause any problems."

"Thank you, I hope everyone is that agreeable in the future."

She left them and returned home, casually glancing into the stable. Naturally, it was still empty.

 _Oh well, she'll be back eventually._

She flopped down on her bed for a rare afternoon nap. But she could not wipe away her silly grin.

"Little Stormflies…"

* * *

Hiccup lounged on the roof of the Great Hall and looked out over the village.

Everything was good now.

All the fighting had died down as most of the dragons finished pairing off. No traces of the aggression everyone had seen remained. It didn't really change much else in the village. Where there had been one dragon before lazing about under the sun, now there were two. A few more dragons now frequented the fish stations, but there were also more dragons available to help catch fish or other game.

He watched as Blueback chased Stormfly around the village. It had become one of their favorite activities since becoming mates.

The only dragon from the village that had not taken a mate was Gustav's Flame, probably because he was not an adult yet. All the riders had gradually encountered the awkward reality at some point. Fishlegs had been drawn to him, hungry for all that he knew.

That talk had lasted all afternoon and surely added several pages to the Book of Dragons.

His gaze was drawn away from the village and out to the horizon. Something else had been on his mind for a while now. He was sure that his wings were now strong enough for a long flight, and there was one place in particular that he wanted to go.

The place where the bell of fate had been wrung; his tribe saved and his life changed, possibly forever.

Dragon Island.

He leapt from the rooftop and glided, looking for Toothless until he found him.

"Toothless, what name place where Monster dead? Place where other kin-nest."

"Fire-mountain-nest."

"I want go to fire-mountain-nest."

"Why?"

"See place, see more kin, see dead monster, and…"

He paused.

"…see where I become kin."

Even though Toothless did not shy away, he did avert his eyes and look a little nervous.

"Toothless, I not angry at you. You not be sad."

"I am angry at me. Much bad there."

"What bad?"

"Bad things in past. Dead kin, thralls, bad voices in my head, wanting to drop you to monster. Much bad."

"Toothless… all that not now. Bad things not now."

Somewhat mollified, Toothless looked out over the sea, deep in thought.

"It is long flying. Can you fly far enough?"

"Yes, good sun to fly there?"

"Yes, good sun. Go now?"

"Wait."

He flew back home and ran inside. He hastily scrawled a note to his father to detail where he had gone and why. There was a good chance that his father would have forbidden it, so it would be better to ask forgiveness than permission in this case.

"We fly now."

And they were off, just the two of them, with Toothless leading the way. The wind was behind them and aided their flight. Berk quickly fell away behind them until all he could see was a speck of green below a permanently snow-capped peak. Then even that was gone.

They flew on in silence.

It was one of the eeriest things he had ever seen. There was nothing but blue in every direction. No other dragons, no birds, and absolutely no speck of land anywhere in sight.

It would have been complete solitude. To be the only living thing that mattered from horizon to horizon. So it would have been without Toothless at his side. To glide onward toward their goal, the warm sun on his back and the ever-present push of air against his wings, brought a serenity and peace which made the time pass in the blink of an eye.

He glanced up at Toothless several times, wondering why he wasn't in the mood to play any games along the way. It would not have been surprising if Toothless had swooped down on him or offered to play tail-tag, but none of these had happened once.

He knew Toothless's body-language well enough to recognize when he was worried, even when in flight.

 _Why is he so worried?_

Then they both spotted it at once. A single solitary peak on the horizon.

Toothless dropped back next to him.

"There!" he shouted.

The mist still hung over the entire island, obscuring the sea-stacks below and the shore. Wispy, shadowy figures seemed to dart through the fog. Or maybe they were only his imagination. They dove together into the mist and flew slowly.

They passed the shattered and collapsed columns of old spires, spires that had been crushed and splintered from massive impacts.

A massive, bone-trembling roar echoed in his memory.

"This way," Toothless called.

Hiccup spied the husk of a longboat dashed on the rocks far below. Land eventually came into view through the mist. Rocky land with massive boulders, a sandy beach, and a central mountain.

There was not a sound as they both passed over the burned, shattered husks of old transports. Most had been carried away by the seas, but a few remained as witness to the violent past.

They both alighted on the rocky beach and looked around.

The island was almost perfectly silent. There were no roars, no beat of wings, no sound at all save the lapping of the gentle tides. It was as though there was nothing living on the island at all, not even mice or bugs.

But it was not perfectly still. He could feel something in his feet, in the very ground itself. A very faint tremble or shuddering. Something told him that the ominous feeling was too faint for a human to feel.

"There," Toothless stared into the mist.

How Toothless knew which way, he could not know. He just followed.

There were signs of old campsites everywhere, rocks piled in spheres with ash and wood in the center, pots and pans, discarded weaponry, and more. They passed right on by it all.

And a massive shape gradually loomed over them. A tree-stump that sprouted out from beyond a pile of rocks and up into the mist.

But it was not a tree-stump.

It was a bone.

Hiccup noticed that many of the small rocks they had stepped on were not actually rocks, they were scales. An unbidden growl crept into his throat.

He jumped from rock to rock until he reached the precipice. Then he stared wide-eyed at the sight that followed.

The monster's fall had carved a hole as deep as a house and as wide as the Great Hall itself into the rocky beach. Around this hole were shattered pieces of bone and rocky scale. He could see what looked like what remained of the beast's skull on the side closest to the cliffs. Only half of the head was still there, the rest had shattered. The other side of the crater held the surprisingly whole club-like tail.

The spines were cutting towards him with both of them too slow to react. There was a phantom pain in his chest.

He shook his head once to free himself of the memory.

 _There's nothing left but bone and scale. How could everything else be gone?_

There should have been a smell. With how large it had been, it had to take a long time to rot, though maybe two years were enough for it. There was no remaining flesh from all that he could tell.

"Hiccup!"

There was something in the way Toothless shouted, something slightly fearful. He hop-flew over to where Toothless was standing.

"What?"

"Here."

Slowly, he turned away from Toothless and followed his gaze. The area of the rock was clear of any debris and was blackened in a way very distinct from the rest of the beach. Nothing else in the world could have possibly held his attention as he tiptoed closer.

He only froze when he stepped on an old, mottled, black something that was definitely not a rock.

 _A scale…_

The middle of the blackened area seemed to have a crevice, a hole cut into the solid rock itself. His mouth agape in awe, he stopped on its edge and looked down.

The rock seemed to have melted. It even had wavelike, flowing patterns of crystal melted into the solid rock of the cavity. Anyone could see that something unnatural had happened here.

Toothless joined him and looked down into the hole. Neither of them said anything for a long time.

"This is where your sire found the egg, our egg."

 _Where I lost my humanity…_

Staying at this place made him feel like he was covered in bugs. Something was too creepy or unsettling about it. He turned away and noticed something that definitely did not belong there.

A rusted Warhammer lay several paces away. He walked over to it and pawed at the pommel in recognition. It had hung over the hearth at home for years, his father telling him that it would be used in the final battle to end the war with the dragons.

It had, in a way.

He stood over the hammer and stared at it.

 _What must he have been feeling, thinking that I was dead?_

He heard Toothless cautiously padding up behind him.

"What you think?"

"Much strange. Not know what I should think."

He lay down and gave a deep sigh.

"Why you need make new egg? Why not make hurts be not?"

"Only way I know then. I tried to heal your hurts, but I was hurt also. You were made new with me."

Hiccup turned back around and rested a wing over Toothless's back with a soft hum of comfort.

"I not angry Toothless. You did what you thought needed done. I happy we both live."

Toothless nuzzled him back. They comforted each other for a moment before they both stepped back from the magical crater. Hiccup then walked along the monster's shattered and broken length. The bones that were still intact were bleached a deathly white. Interestingly, the bones that were broken open were very thin and hollow with only an inch or two of actual bone. The rest was filled with a spider-web like weave of thin bone. It was quite unlike any other bones he had ever seen.

 _That's why it could fly. Its bones weighed nothing._

He thought of his own limbs.

 _I wonder if all dragons are like that. Strange._

The sound of something gliding through the air disturbed him. He looked up and saw Toothless precariously perched on top of the shattered skull.

 _What is he doing up…_

Toothless lifted a hind leg and started peeing on the skull.

Hiccup closed his eyes with a groan of embarrassment.

 _Ugh Toothless, why do you have to do that?_

He looked at the empty eye-sockets. Even empty, they felt creepy, almost as though they were following him even without having any eyes within. He could clearly remember those massive eyes narrowing on both him and Toothless in anger and hunger. Why was its corpse so intimidating? It was dead and would never threaten anyone again.

Toothless glided down from his perch and landed next to him with a very savage and happy growl.

"I am happy it is dead! No more preying on kin and no more thralls!"

"And no fighting two-legs."

Toothless happily bobbed his head in agreement.

"Yes, no kin fighting two-legs. Good."

Hiccup looked over at the rock wall. The place where the monster had forced its way through and out into the open stood out quite prominently from all the collapsed boulders. It actually looked like the tunnel into the depths of the mountain had collapsed behind the beast, leaving no way in.

But he remembered that Toothless had taken him in through the mountain's peak. While he was here, he might as well see everything the island had to show.

"We should go in nest."

"Why?" Toothless seemed skeptical.

"See other kin. I want see where they have nest."

Toothless grumbled and looked up toward the mouth of the mountain. There had not been any good memories in the belly of the mountain in his previous flights here. But there was no monster now, so maybe it would not be so bad. There was one other thing that had been bothering him about being back here. Where were the other kin? There ought to be kin out fighting for territory, cleaning themselves, sunning themselves, or hunting for food.

"Follow me," Toothless told him.

They both leapt into the air and spiraled higher up the slopes of the mountain. His concerns grew greater when they broke the mist-bank and saw no kin anywhere in the skies.

 _Something is wrong._

They both alighted on the precipice and looked down into the mountain's depths. The massive opening fell straight down into a dark cavern. Stranger than that though, the smell of rotten fish, of the foul yellow rock, was terribly potent.

But most ominous of all was the heat. The warmth was so strong that there was even a wind, intense thermals spewing from the mountain's depths.

With a grumble of suspicion, Toothless fell from the ledge and started slowly gliding down. Hiccup joined him not a moment later.

Small recesses and caves of various sizes were cut into the chasm wall. These were probably the places where dragons had roosted and hidden themselves for as long as memory. There on his left was the same ledge that Toothless had landed on long ago.

 _It feels like just yesterday that Toothless was carrying me and Astrid down here. Oh what Fishlegs would give to see all this._

A faint flash or sparkle of color caught his eye, and he looked down onto a ledge far below. It definitely looked like a dragon. More familiar dragon-like shapes caught his gaze a moment later. There were small groups of them all over the nest. Brown Gronkle hides were blending into the rock, Nadder scales, normally so lustrous and shiny, seemed oddly dull in the dim light, and the generally-red Nightmares were easy to overlook in the red glare emanating from a massive pit.

He banked toward the nearest ledge on which lay a single solitary Nadder. He landed beside it while Toothless flew toward him. He felt oddly dizzy as soon as he landed and felt the rock underfoot, though that could have just been from the heat and the smell.

He hopped around its side and leapt back with a roar of fright when he saw its head.

The body had decomposed. Its eye sockets were as empty as the monster's outside and its bleached teeth stood out in sharp relief. Every bit of soft flesh had shriveled and withered while leaving the scales and leathery portions of its thick skin apparently untouched.

It still lay as though it was merely resting on its side. There were no signs of a fight or injuries. The dragon must have died suddenly without any clear cause.

He was starting to feel very thirsty and his tongue hung from his mouth as he panted in the heat.

The sight of the dead Nadder being too much for him, he turned about and looked out over the entire cavern. The full horror of what he was looking at finally hit him.

The other dragons were still not because they were resting, but because they were all dead.

 _No… they're all…._

There were easily a dozen dead dragons visible from where he sat right now. Only his father's disowning of him and his first awakening to dragonhood trumped the pain of the moment.

And his dizzy feeling started to become a full, throbbing headache.

* * *

Toothless saw that the spine-tail-kin was long-dead. The other still bodies in the dead-nest were surely no different. But nothing that he could see had killed them. Predators that could not be seen were the most dangerous of all.

Every one of his senses was fully alert and all of them were screaming danger! This many kin do not die in the same place in the same way unless something killed them.

He saw Hiccup start swaying slightly on his feet and grimacing with pain. Just as he started to feel his own head hurting.

Something told him that they needed to leave right then.

"Hiccup! Fly!"

Hiccup just looked around in confusion.

Without thinking, Toothless dove down and landed next to him. Hiccup had trouble focusing his gaze on him.

"We need to fly now!"

"Fly…" Hiccup muttered.

The world felt like it spun a loop around him, and his eyelids started to feel heavy.

"Fly!"

He leapt, hoping that Hiccup would do so as well. He couldn't force Hiccup to fly, and whatever had happened to the other kin was sure to happen to them too if they stayed.

He heard the slow and unsteady beat of wings behind him.

They both made their way over to the thermals, Hiccup struggling mightily. A quick glance back showed that Hiccup's flying was unsteady, pitching from side to side. And then they were both gliding higher with minimal effort on the warm air. Toward the bright blue sky overhead.

Every few lengths they ascended, he felt and smelled a noticeable difference in the air around them both now. There was a heavy, suffocating something that was growing fainter the higher they flew. It was easier and more wholesome to breathe.

They finally emerged at the top of the mountain and landed as soon as they could. Hiccup practically belly-crashed in his exhaustion. They both lay there and breathed deep of the clean air. With every breath, the splitting pain in their heads began to ease.

"Tooth…less… what… happ…ened?"

"Bad… air."

"Bad… air?"

"Grr… Air with no life... Bad air down there."

"The kin… all dead."

"They did not know about bad air."

The way Toothless seemed to dismiss it seemed a bit callous. Perhaps a few dozen dragons were dead down there. This may have explained why so many of the dragons that had fled after the battle on Dragon Island were never seen again. They had returned home at some point and never left.

"Toothless, I not like fire-mountain-nest."

He grumbled in agreement.

"Yes, bad place. No life."

Hiccup groaned as he got to his feet.

"You saved me."

Toothless rolled his eyes and grumbled.

"Yes, I do that much. You silly kin. Now what we do?"

Hiccup looked out at the late-afternoon sun.

"It much far for flying home-nest this sun, yes?"

He considered it. It was a long flight, especially since they had flown there just this sun and just been through a near-death experience.

"We stay here for night and fly at sunrise."

In agreement, they both glided down the mountainside and back down into the ever-present fog. They found a surviving sea-stack and landed on it. Toothless walked around and found a place to lay down.

Hiccup refrained from joining him and, deep in thought, kept looking up toward the mountain. He could still see the empty skull that he had stared into in shock. All the apparently-preserved bodies, so horrific up close.

To think that he had been in this very cavern a couple years ago and there were hundreds of dragons living here back then, but now it was a place of death even more than back then. At least the battle in the caverns under Mount Thor had happened hundreds of years ago and had acquired a degree of solemnity over the centuries.

But what had killed them here? What did Toothless mean by bad-air? It was as though something in the air had been choking him and making it hard to think. But whatever it was could not have been there two years ago. This was probably something else about the world that no one knew.

He turned around and walked over to Toothless, who noticed how glum he looked.

"Hiccup, you look sad."

"I am sad," he rumbled.

"Do not be sad, Hiccup."

"How are you not sad, Toothless? The kin here are dead!"

Toothless cocked his head in thought.

"They are not us. They were other kin. Being sad is not good."

Hiccup growled softly at nothing in particular.

"You should care about them."

"Hiccup, that is not how kin are. Kin care about their own kin most. Those kin were not my kin; they were not from my nest."

Toothless lifted a wing and made room at his side. Hiccup's frustration with Toothless's different way of thinking remained, but he also remembered Toothless's voice calling to him and giving him a reason to fly, to stay awake.

Toothless had saved his life once again.

He walked over to Toothless, and they curled up together as had become habit during the winter. Being together was the only comfort to be found on this gods-forsaken rock just off the gods-forsaken island.

Being away from the village had one noticeable drawback though. There was no ready supply of food.

"Grr, I am hungry, Toothless."

Toothless', tail twitched in annoyance at being reminded that he had not eaten anything either. He glanced out at the waters around fire-nest-bad-air-death-island.

"If I had fire, I would show you how to get fish."

"How?" Hiccup asked.

"You make a ball of fire in your mouth, you hit the water with it, and it kills the fish. Then you fly over the water and eat floating fish from the water."

"I do not know how. Two-legs do not make fire from inside them."

"It is not hard. Like flying, you learn it and do it."

Toothless lay his head down on the rock and closed his eyes to doze. Hiccup stayed awake a while longer, listening to the silence of the island, the gentle lapping of the sea below, and watching the rolling, ephemeral mists that obscured most of the island from view.

 _Everyone needs to know what happened here._

Nothing on the island moved the rest of the afternoon and throughout the night.

* * *

Hiccup woke up when Toothless got up and stretched in the morning. He yawned and ruffled his wings while looking out over the island. The mist was even thicker than he remembered it being yesterday, though it made sense that the sun had not yet had the chance to burn any of it away.

Another long flight to look forward to, only this one was surely to be into the prevailing wind.

 _And dad is going to be furious with me. Wonderful…_

They each flew off to do their morning routines and take care of necessary business. He was flying back to the pillar when a strange desire took him. Though there was a creepy feeling to the place, he felt an odd desire to return to the magical crater one last time. It took a little bit of searching to find in the mist but he managed it anyway.

Once again, he found himself standing on the melted rock and looking into the depression. He knelt at its edge, reached into its depths, and drew his sharp claw-tips across the smooth, flowing rock.

The emotion welled up and overflowed. A gasp forced its way out at the old memories of what transpired here in a previous life, and he felt a sharp, piercing grief at all that he lost. His place in the village, the respect he had always hoped he would earn, and Astrid's affections.

Several deep breaths were necessary before he managed to calm himself and stop shaking.

 _What is wrong with me?_

He slowly backed away from the place, still feeling an odd chill pressing down all around him. He spread his wings and was about to jump when he saw his father's rusted Warhammer again.

He stared at it for nearly a minute without knowing precisely why. Then the crazy idea presented itself.

No, it actually wasn't too crazy. He was far stronger now than he had been as a human, so it shouldn't be hard to do.

Slowly and carefully, he wrapped his claws around the hammer's middle. Lifting it was easy enough, but his limbs were definitely not meant to carry weapons like this.

Awkward though it was, he carefully pinned it against his chest and took to the skies. Toothless was waiting for him as soon as he got back. He landed clumsily, still clutching the weapon with both forelimbs.

Toothless's eyes narrowed on him.

"Why do you have that bad-killing-thing?"

"I take it to my sire."

"It is bad. He try to kill me with it."

 _Oh, right…_

"Not now. I want give it. Two-legs give thing-gifts."

Toothless grumbled, understandably unhappy, but he said nothing. He just stared at the terrible thing for a while.

 _Maybe he will drop it…_ Toothless thought to himself.

"We should fly now, I am hungry," he finally growled.

"I am also."

They leapt into the sky and set out for the open sea. Hiccup let Toothless take the lead since he knew the way. He glanced back once at Dragon Island. He certainly had no desire to ever return. It held too many bad memories for him.

The sun slowly crept higher into the sky as they flew on, Hiccup holding tightly to the hammer the whole time. The same monotony he had suffered yesterday plagued him again as the soft swells of the ocean passed beneath with nothing in sight but water all the way out to the horizon.

How Toothless knew which way to fly was a complete mystery.

"How you know where fly?" he shouted.

"It feels good!" Toothless yelled back.

 _Oh great, that was completely unhelpful. Maybe it's just one of those 'gotta be a dragon to understand it things'._

The sun was very high in the sky by the time they first spotted Mount Thor's solitary peak. And not a moment too soon either, as they were both feeling the strain from a long flight against the wind.

They flew in over the cliffs and split up, Toothless heading straight for the fish station and Hiccup to drop off his cargo at home. He landed and trotted over to the door to let himself in when he heard someone come running up to him.

It was his father, and he sounded angry.

"I've been worried sick. What is that in your…"

Stoick's mouth hung open rather dumbly as he stared at what Hiccup was clasping against his chest. It was something no dragon had any business holding.

His old Warhammer, its rusted iron showing its long exposure to the elements. The same weapon he had abandoned on Dragon Island.

He slowly advanced as if in a daze. Seeing the weapon again was a reminder of things he desperately wanted to forget. But at the same time, a traditional Nord isn't truly himself without his weapon. Maybe his fingers would remember their old strength if they grasped his hammer.

Hiccup nervously held it out for him to reclaim.

The pommel felt strange in his hands once again. It had been so long since he regularly wielded it or practiced with it that he had lost his rough calluses on his palms and fingers. The metal would need a lot of work to repair and clean. But it would once again find its place above the hearth.

"You went to Dragon Island. That's a long way. Why?"

He followed Hiccup inside and to the table.

 **To see where I changed**

"It was… strange. I found your… egg… in that crater. I thought the gods had done something that day."

.

"And you found my hammer, and brought it back."

Hiccup nodded slowly, but his tail was twitching nervously.

 **They are dead, dad**

"What? Who is dead?"

 **The other dragons there**

"Really? How many?"

 **Every one that I saw**

"How?"

Hiccup just shook his head.

 **I don't know**

 **They just died there**

That was something he had never heard of in all his years of being a Chief. A terrible thought crossed his mind. What if there was some disease on Dragon Island? What if it was only a matter of time before Hiccup too…

"You didn't eat anything there, did you?"

Hiccup seemed to quickly grasp his implied fear.

 **No, and I don't think it was sickness**

Stoick visibly relaxed at hearing his reassurance.

 **It was something in the mountain**

 **Bad air is what Toothless said**

"Bad air? Never heard of it."

He paced for a moment in thought.

"That does explain a bit. We saw so many dragons there that day, but only a few dozen came here. I wondered where they had all gone."

He had become a very good judge of a young Night Fury's emotions, even if the drooping ears and hung head rather gave it away. It was another reminder that Hiccup, for all he had seen and been through, was still unhardened by life. He couldn't see dead bodies and not be affected by the sight. Add on top of that the pain that he had to have felt from being at the place where he died, where he lost his humanity somehow. Of course Hiccup was distraught.

"Are you ok, son?"

Hiccup nodded very slowly.

"No you're not, come here."

Once again, he found himself hugging his dragon-son, Hiccup's head resting on his shoulders. That Hiccup could do so while standing up showed how much he had grown over the winter. Soon, he would probably stand even taller than any person when he tried.

The deep rumbling that he could feel in his own chest as he rubbed circles into Hiccup's neck was oddly soothing but still very strange considering who they were coming from.

Then he stepped back.

"I know it must have been hard for you to see those dead dragons, but these things happen. You see it, you survive it, you grow stronger, and you praise the gods that you are not dead too. Think you can do that?"

Hiccup perked up a little bit and tried to force a smile.

"It's good to have you back. Dawnbreaker too, even if she needs some work. Now run along and get yourself some fish, we had a good haul yesterday. I'll get the fire going for you."

Hiccup did not bother wasting any time and darted outside, leaving Stoick inside to think while stoking the fire. He glanced at the prodigal hammer. How many times had he swung or flung the weapon into a dragon's skull? Some hides were too armored to break, but a weapon designed to crush would still be effective. Effective, it certainly had been.

It would now return to above the hearth where it belonged, hopefully never to be wielded against a dragon again.


	19. I - Purpose

__**Author's Note - My apologies for the length of this chapter. It did not seem to want to end. I guess you have plenty of reading to do though.**  
__

* * *

 _ _"Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life; everyone must carry out a concrete assignment that demands fulfillment." - Viktor Frankl__ _– Man's Search For Meaning_

* * *

Purpose

* * *

The grass was still wet with dew, and few animals were about so shortly after dawn. Almost everything was still asleep. The other people at least were very unlikely to be in the forest at this hour, which is why the two of them came here for privacy.

Hiccup and Astrid eventually settled down in the cove, glad to be away from all other prying eyes. Neither of them had seen anyone else about when he knocked on her window early in the morning, but still it was still a good idea for them to not let others see these honest conversations. Especially so since he expected that this would take a long time to get through.

She couldn't help but notice how glum and downcast Hiccup looked all along their clandestine walk and as they fiddled with the scrolls she brought.

"What's the matter, Hiccup? You don't look good."

 **We flew to Dragon Island**

"Really? Why would you go there?"

 **To see where I became a dragon**

She slowly nodded, thinking that she understood why Hiccup was feeling odd even if it was something that she had no way to relate to.

"I can only imagine what that was like."

Oddly, Hiccup shook his head.

 **It wasn't that. We flew inside the mountain and saw something very bad.**

"What?"

Hiccup's paw trembled as he hovered it over the parchment.

 **They are all dead, all the dragons**

Astrid gasped and held her hand over her mouth while staring in disbelief. She reread the line to make sure she understood what he had written.

"What!"

Hiccup sadly nodded.

 **All the dragons in the mountain are dead**

"But… but how? What could kill them?"

 **Something bad in the air**

 **It was hard to breathe**

 **I only lived because Toothless knew something was wrong**

"What! You… you almost died!"

Hiccup shirked slightly at her outburst.

 **I didn't know**

She took a deep breath to steady herself.

"Ok, ok. Sorry, I'm just glad you are safe. What do you think the 'bad air' was? Were they sick?"

 **No, not that. Maybe the bad air came from in the mountain**

"But why didn't it kill them before?"

 **I don't know**

A very sad and pronounced silence followed in which neither of them said anything. They were both obviously lost in their own thoughts. Astrid finally broke the silence after a minute.

"I guess that is why we never saw many dragons after the battle. Only the ones that came to Berk or went somewhere else made it. The ones that stayed in their home didn't make it…"

It was something that she had puzzled over for a very long time; why there had not been more dragons on or around Berk after the battle.

 _I wonder what actually killed them. Something bad in the air? That makes no sense._

Maybe it was something like the stuffiness of being inside a cabin for weeks on end during the winter, only far worse. Only the gods could know.

She felt a slight watering in the corner of her eyes and quickly turned away to wipe it on her sleeve.

"Do you think that we are responsible at all? I mean, none of this happened before we killed the monster."

Hiccup paused, almost like he wanted to shake his head but could not bring himself to do it. He had no idea what had actually caused whatever killed the dragons. But it was too coincidental that it had only happened after they had killed the Monster.

Some of the blame had to fall on them.

"We had to do it of course. No one could have known that any of this would happen."

He nodded in resigned agreement.

"Have you told anyone else?"

 **Just dad**

"What did he say?"

 **Not much, just that bad things happen**

"Not surprising. He is very tough and practical, after all."

 **I didn't tell him about my being in danger**

"Good idea. Don't worry, I won't."

He solemnly nodded in appreciation.

"Is there anything else on your mind?"

Yes, he eventually nodded.

 **I have nothing to do**

"Nothing to do?"

He grumbled in annoyance.

 **You get to go places and meet other people**

 **What do I do?**

 **I read books and fly**

"That doesn't sound so bad. What about how you helped at the Academy?"

 **That is done and does not need to be done now**

 **I stay here with people who don't know me**

"Of course they know you."

 **Not really**

She saw the hurt look in his eyes.

 **They know me as their Chief's cute little dragon**

"Oh, I think I know what you mean."

 **I am a stranger in my own tribe**

It was not a feeling that she had experienced, to be among people she knew but have them not know her. Every single day of her life.

"Do you think there is any chance that your father would let us tell everyone the truth now?"

No.

 **I already asked him**

"What if you just told everyone anyway?"

He shivered at the suggestion and shook his head.

 **Everyone would know that he has been lying**

It was true, that would expose Stoick's deception. And there were other reasons why it might not be smart for most of the people to know the truth.

But this still left Hiccup in the same place as before, feeling bored and aimless. Everyone needed a task or a place in the tribe in order to have purpose in their life.

"You just need to find something to do… Hey, I know that look. You are going to ask what a dragon can do."

Yes, he nodded.

"There is always exploring like how you did going to Dragon Island. It's not like your father can stop you from doing that. You could help with making maps. Maybe you can ask Gobber if he needs help with the forge; you certainly know your way around it."

He held out one of his clawed paws. His short digits were still as nimble as ever, but the growing and sharp claws could become a problem if they ever became as long as Toothless's has been. It seemed hard to imagine that they could be used to easily work metal.

"You can figure something out, I'm sure of it."

Perhaps, he shrugged.

They glanced up at the sun high overhead. Writing took a long time, and it was probably lunchtime already.

 **I think we should go eat**

"Ok, we've been here all morning. Thanks for telling me everything."

She watched as he jumped aloft and flew back towards home. She meandered back, taking her time to think over his predicament and everything he had told her. There were very few things that a dragon could do to help the tribe beyond fishing or carrying things, neither of which were at all appealing to someone as thoughtful as Hiccup.

But even if some meaningful task could be found for him, there was still the issue of no one truly knowing who he was. Of Hiccup not feeling accepted or truly understood by his own people. Worst, there was no conceivable way that could be remedied.

 _That is something only he can deal with. I certainly can't understand it._

She paused in the forest and sat down on a boulder with her head in her hands. She couldn't stop thinking about the apparent tragedy that had befallen the dragons on Dragon Island. Neither she nor Hiccup seemed to know what had done it. The idea that their own actions had somehow brought about what had happened was almost too painful to consider.

 _We had to kill it. It was causing the war and eating its own dragons._ _But eating some of them meant that most were still alive…_

The tear that she had tried hard to repress fell down her cheek. She thought of Stormfly and Blueback lying dead inside the mountain that had once been their home.

The parallels to what she had found in the catacomb caverns of Mount Thor seemed too conspicuous.

 _This is a very hard world for dragons. If they don't die to bigger dragons, they get killed by humans or the unknown._ _I wonder if everything will ever truly change for them._

* * *

Gobber returned to the forge after his quick lunch break. He tossed a couple more logs in the furnace and began to fan the flames. His work was so different now. All he had to do was repair farm equipment and animal traps, fix saddles, and make a few nails. The only weapons he ever worked with anymore were arrows, and even those were mainly used for hunting game.

Not that he did not appreciate the more peaceful life, but he did frequently wish he was busier. His hand felt restless not having work to do. Tuffnut had lost interest in working the forge, leaving him alone to his work again.

He was in the middle of collecting the scrap metal he intended to work on this afternoon when he noticed that he was not alone. Hiccup had wandered in and stood looking at him expectantly.

"Hiccup, how are ye doing?"

Hiccup just shrugged his shoulders in the way he understood to mean 'ok but something is bothering me.'

"Alrighty, out with it. What is on yer mind?" he asked while fighting the rope which worked the bellows.

Hiccup looked around the forge and grumbled. Gobber released the rope a moment later, satisfied that the forge was finally hot enough.

"I know that look. Lost in good memories aren't ya?"

Yes.

Then Hiccup walked over to the fireplace and scratched some runes in the ashes.

 **Can I help?**

"What? Help here in the forge?"

His former apprentice rolled his eyes in one expression which managed to have not changed one bit. He twiddled his mustache in thought.

"I guess so. What do you think you can actually do?"

Hiccup rumbled as he looked about for tasks he could easily accomplish.

"Can't help get this furnace hotter can ye?"

No.

"What? You don't know how to breathe fire?"

He thought Gobber was a bit silly to even suggest it.

 **Too little**

"Oh, I get it. That's only something adult dragons can do. Makes sense I guess. You wouldn't know anything about being too small, would you?"

He sat down and stared at Gobber. He would almost have been offended if it were not for the twinkle in Gobber's eyes. That and he knew Gobber's mannerisms well enough to know when he was being kindly teased.

"Here, let me see those paws of yours."

He stood up and held out one of his paws for Gobber to investigate.

"Hmm, ok… I think you can manage."

 _What?_

"I was going to get started on some leather flying equipment for the riders. You would really appreciate it, it was the twins' idea I think. They are just normal leather armor with one surprise."

He fixed Gobber with a stare that clearly demanded an answer.

"Those," Gobber grinned while pointing at a pile of old candles.

He glanced between the candles and Gobber, not understanding the connection. Gobber grabbed one of the candles and a piece of already-prepared leather. Then he rubbed the candle against the leather until there was a caking of wax flecks coating the leather's surface.

 _Ok, but what good is that?_

"Now we put the leather over the fire for a few seconds, and the wax melts into the leather. It becomes part of the clothing and…"

 _Wax… riding…_

It struck him with a flash of inspiration. This perfectly solved one of the problems he had encountered when flying with Toothless long ago. Bee wax repels water, which should make the person wearing that…

 **Waterproof**

"Exactly! It's brilliant and so simple. Really helps whenever someone is out flying in the rain for some reason. I have a few prepared hides in here that I need to get cut up. Think you can do it?"

 _Shouldn't be too hard._

He picked up the carving knife, hopped over to the table, and gave his former master a nod. Gobber hauled an armful of hides over to him and gave him a quick demonstration.

For the entire afternoon, Hiccup did nothing but stand at the table and carefully carve the needed patterns out of the hides. Gobber alternated between sewing the pieces of leather together and treating them with wax.

It felt very much like old times again, having a lot of tedious and repetitive work to do using his hands... paws. He was quite pleased at how little trouble he actually had holding the knife and rearranging the leather. Not only was the work useful and beneficial to the tribe, but Gobber did not fuss over him or seemingly treat him any different from how he used to.

Well, aside from the relative absence of well-intentioned teasing.

It was hours later when Gobber finally came over and gave him a pat on the shoulder while looking over his work. He felt that same bit of anxiety that he had once felt. What if he had messed up, cut them the wrong way, or something else had gone wrong?

"Well, I can honestly say that is the best bit of smithy-work I've ever seen from a dragon."

He darted over to the paper Gobber had brought over for him.

 **That is the only such work you've seen**

"Never you mind that, point is that you did a good job."

 **Will you have work for me every day?**

"Every day? Why do you want to work so much?"

 **I just do**

Gobber cross his arms with a frown.

"Oh, no you don't. I know that look even on a dragon. Something is bugging you, I know it. What is biting your tail?"

Grumble.

"Come on, tell me."

 **I feel useless**

"Useless? Not this again."

Yes.

 **What can I do?**

 **Everyone works for the tribe**

 **And what can a little dragon do?**

 **Only a few people know who I am**

Gobber waited a while before answering.

"You're not so little anymore. Not being known though, that is hard I'm sure."

Sigh.

"Let me tell you something, Hiccup. I'm not very… clever you know, but I do know this. If there is something that is bothering you, you can't run and hide from it. That is what working can be, hiding. I can't tell you how many times I've seen a man throw himself into his work because he was running from a problem."

Gobber stared aimlessly at the wall.

"Like after we all thought you were gone. Your father worked harder than ever, and I almost never left the forge. But it didn't help either of us. Whatever it is you are running from will always catch you eventually. It's like trying to run from your own shadow."

 **Thanks for the advice**

"Don't mention it. I'd be glad to have you come help out whenever you want to and there is work to do. A lot of what you and I used to do in here doesn't matter anymore. Just think about it, a dragon learning how to work in the very place we used to make weapons to fight the dragons. Could anything be stranger?"

 _It is quite ironic._

"You are going to be Berk's first blacksmith dragon."

Then Gobber burst out in full throated laughter, though at what Hiccup had no idea. A raised eyeridge conveyed his confusion.

"Oh… it's just that I think you are already stronger now than you were… well, before. I bet you can lift a hammer or swing an axe better as a dragon than you did as a boy."

He could certainly appreciate the irony of the situation. In fact, he picked up the smithing hammer, stood on his rear legs, and swung the hammer at an imaginary foe. The rather unnatural motion left him slightly off-balance, and he stumbled for a moment before righting himself.

"That's something I've never seen before. Very… impressive."

 **Not saying much**

"Heh heh, you said it, not me. If you are looking for something else to do today, I do have a little task you could do for me."

Yes, he nodded.

"I fixed a bunch of tools for Olga. Think you can leave them with her?"

It seemed a very menial task to take the carpenter her repaired equipment, but at least it was something to do.

Yes.

"Great, that'll save me some time. I'll get them."

He waited as Gobber brought the sack over and hung it on his neck. He left the forge a moment later, the heavy sack clinking with every step.

 _This is not so easy… It would really help to walk upright._

Still, he managed by taking it slowly. It was especially nice to see how many people glanced his way in surprise. A dragon carrying a sack of its own volition on some task was not a common sight.

He made his way over to Olga's house on the other side of the village and left the tool sack at her front door.

 _I think I should take a break since I've been working a long time. I wonder where Toothless is._

There was one obvious place he might look. What Toothless liked to do with most of his days he wasn't sure, but his late afternoons were almost always spent in one place. He took a few moments to scan the sky, and sure enough, spotted a black speck high above.

 _Alright Toothless, here I come!_

Several minutes of swift flight brought him up and alongside Toothless, who was gliding into the wind and sunning himself in the afternoon warmth. Toothless glanced over at him and roared a greeting.

Then Toothless roared out something else which he could barely make out over the roar of the wind.

Toothless wanted to play.

He roared back his challenge, and Toothless shot off toward the clouds above. He followed closely behind but knew he could not match Toothless's speed.

His quarry vanished into the pillar of white cloud.

 _If he thinks it is safe…_

He followed right behind Toothless and then slowed to a glide, listening for any sound of wingbeats. His vision was reduced to a few body-lengths in all directions. One shriek was all he heard and then…

 _Nothing… where is he?_

He wasn't sure if he heard something or not, but he felt that he had to dive quickly. A gust of wind passed right where he had been gliding a moment earlier. A tail whipped past and vanished into the cloud cover.

 _That was strange._

He risked a couple beats to gain more height while pondering the obvious.

 _I can't see him, but he knows where I am. How? I know I'm flying quietly._

But flying in a cloud could be dangerous even ignoring his own previous misadventure. Flying blind meant that they could easily crash into each other and break a wing.

 _It's like he can see blind… like he is in the dark!_

And it made sense. Toothless had to be seeing with sound again.

 _I can do that too._

He wheeled about, shrieked once, closed his eyes, and listened. It was very hard to hear anything over the wind. No clear image formed in his mind like it had in the cave.

 _Why is that? It should work. I guess I don't understand it._

A loud roar echoed out right behind him and made him jump in surprise, frantically beating his wings to gain speed.

But it was already over at that point. Toothless grazed his tail-fins and bugled his triumph.

They both dove for land and alighted behind their house, taking a few minutes to catch their breath.

"How you faster?"

Toothless's smug expression said it all.

"I am bigger. I fly more. Makes me faster."

Hiccup grumbled in frustration.

 _I guess he does do a lot more flying than me. But I have better things to do with my time than only fly, as fun as it is._

"You see me in chase. How?"

Toothless just grinned a slightly toothy grin that clearly showed he was not telling.

"You need to learn that with no help. Will make you better hunter."

 _But I don't need to be that. Not really._

"I am going to sleep in nest. I did much flying today. Need much sleep."

Toothless set off for the door, but Hiccup called to him.

"Toothless, do you ever feel…"

He did not know the word for bored or not having anything to do.

"…like you not have things you can do?"

Toothless grumbled in thought for a moment. This had to be one of Hiccup's two-leg ideas in some way. Any other way of thinking about the question made it seem a very stupid one. There was always flying.

"No, I can fly."

 _Of course he can fly… oh well. Maybe a different approach this time._

"Do you feel need for helping this nest?"

"Why now? A nest helps its young, and they help it when they are big. We are not big."

With that answer, Toothless darted inside, his tail vanishing around the corner almost instantly. No doubt he would be sound asleep in moments, so quickly could he doze off after exhausting himself.

Hiccup wandered around outside for a while, just watching the various comings and goings of his tribesmen and the dragons. Then he flew up onto the Great Hall and lay down, stretching himself out in the sun's warmth.

 _Why doesn't he want to do anything? I guess he is right that children don't always have to do the same work as adults, but they still need to do something. I don't understand him. It's like he doesn't even want to change…_

Then it struck him like a hammer to the head.

 _It's like he is still trying to learn to be a wild dragon. He doesn't really want to live like us… like humans. That's why he never wanted to learn to write. He doesn't see a need for it._

 _He really is a dragon at heart._

He eventually wandered back inside and lay down in the living room while waiting for his father to get back. A talk was in order.

Stoick eventually returned after sundown and noticed Hiccup looking at him expectantly.

"Evening, son, do you want to talk about something?"

Yes, he nodded while getting up to stand at the table.

 **I helped Gobber make some flight suits today**

"I heard from him at dinner. A few people said they saw you doing some other work around the village too. They were impressed."

 **It felt almost like old times in the forge**

"It must have been very wistful being back in there, wasn't it?"

Yes.

 **One other thing**

 **Toothless doesn't want to do much like I do**

"Like helping at the forge or doing other work?"

Yes.

"Well, of course he wouldn't. He is a real dragon, and no matter how smart they are they are not the same as humans. He also doesn't have the experience with those things that you did. Didn't you try to teach him to write?"

 **He wasn't interested**

"You can lead an ox to water, but you can't make it drink if it doesn't want to."

 _I guess you are right, dad._

Stoick noticed how Hiccup's ears slumped slightly and even he could tell that Hiccup felt a bit disappointed. He could imagine why.

"It is hard to learn that someone isn't what you thought they were, that they are very different from you and might want different things. I certainly learned that lesson long ago with someone I thought was my friend. But he wasn't. All you can do is live your life as you think is right, and maybe they will change with time."

 **Who was your friend?**

"No son, don't ask me about that," Stoick answered with a firm finality.

 _Shame. I would like to know what he meant. Maybe Gobber would know._

* * *

Stoick went to see Astrid early one morning to discuss an important matter with her. There was something that had to be done, but no one else quite had the experience.

It was about time for someone to go and check on the other tribes to see what progress they had made through the spring and early summer. It was the final part of the compact he had signed with the other tribes and of course that duty had to fall on her. There was no one better for the task than her since she already knew the other tribes and had made the flight before.

Though, he did feel slightly bad at having to rely on Astrid so much and at putting her in the danger that travel brought with it.

 _She is becoming a very capable leader, well-liked by everyone and always willing to help her people. She certainly has proven that she has a way with the dragons._

He knocked on her door and wondered as he waited.

 _What kind of Chief would she have been?_

She answered the door and snapped to attention.

"Astrid, I have something I need you to do."

"What is it, sir?"

"I would like for you to go see the other two tribes and see how they are doing. Give them some help where they need it. It's part of the agreement you see."

"Yes sir, I can do it."

He crossed his arms and smiled at her.

"Do you think you are ready Astrid? I know it will be a long time that you are gone again."

"I doubt it will take as long as last time. I won't get lost again on the way there for one."

He chuckled at her display of good humor.

"And no one will try to kill me this time," she added.

"That's definitely a good thing, Astrid."

"When do you want me to leave?"

"Tomorrow."

"Yes sir. I will let my parents know."

He gave her a kind smile.

"I'm sure they are very proud of you. I certainly am."

With that, he left her alone. She gave a great sigh as soon as the door closed. Then she collapsed back at the table and stirred her spoon in the porridge without eating.

 _Not again. Why not someone else?_

It was not especially pleasant being out in the world and flying from village to village. Sleeping under a dragon's wing under the open sky at night had its charm but got old quickly. She always arrived sweaty and grimy after a long afternoon on Stormfly's back. Most of all though, she had missed her parents, the hearth, good food, and company. Mostly company that she could properly talk with.

Her mother came over later sensing something was amiss.

"What's the matter dear?"

"Stoick asked me to fly to the other tribes again. He wants to check on them and see how they are doing."

"And why does that bother you?"

"You remember what it was like last time, mom?"

"I remember that you said some of the men were rather rude to you."

She rolled her eyes.

"Yes, but it isn't really that. This is my home here. It doesn't feel right when I'm out there in the world."

Her mother sat down at her side, a very knowing look in her eyes.

"I remember when your father and I set sail for the north, for here. We didn't know what exactly we were getting into across the savage seas, but we had each other."

Astrid chuckled.

"So you are saying I should get a husband?"

"Well, eventually. The point is that we had company in each other. Maybe you should too. I know Stormfly is always there for you, but maybe you should take someone with you whom you can actually talk with."

Her mother left her with that thought. Astrid aimlessly wandered inside the house for a while more before she decided to head outside to find Stormfly. As usual, she was rewarded with a happy warble as she scratched under her dragon's chin.

"You excited to fly a long way again? I'm not."

 _At least this time should be better. I wonder if the Volsung ever softened. Maybe they will be better company._

Company.

Better company would certainly make the travel more enjoyable. Someone she could actually talk to. But who? Fishlegs most likely. Certainly not the twins or Snotlout. Was there anyone who…

A crazy thought came to mind.

There was someone else who it would be perfect to have meet the other tribes. Her idea would also help greatly with the predicament she knew this person was facing.

The most difficult part would certainly be convincing Stoick to allow it.

* * *

Astrid met up with the Chief outside the Great Hall after lunch.

"Sir, I gave it some thought, and I know something we could do to help the other tribes."

"Go on, I'm listening."

"We both know what our own people went through. It was not easy for most people to change, some didn't at all."

"I know."

"The other tribes were helped by meeting a friendly dragon, my Stormfly."

"Yes."

She hesitated before continuing.

"Nothing could help them more than meeting one of your dragons."

Stoick's demeanor seemed to suddenly freeze.

"Think about it, they can talk in their own way. At least one of them can. It'll be hard for everyone else to hold onto their anger when they meet a dragon that can write and is friendly. As friendly as Stormfly is, it is not the same as with yours."

"I… I don't know Astrid. They've never been so far away, and it is dangerous out there."

She weighed her words carefully before answering.

"No more dangerous than it was for me and Stormfly. No one actually threatened us until the Berserkers. As long as we avoid them, we should have no problems, and I do not plan on seeing them at all. It could also be good for your Furies to get out and see some of the world."

"Let me think about it."

"Yes sir, I'll start packing now and leave tomorrow. Just let me know by then."

He left without giving her any clear answer, not that she expected to get one right away. It was a rather brazen suggestion, but she thought it would work out well for everyone involved. It would give Hiccup an opportunity to get off the island, have time with her, and do some good by helping the other tribes with any of their remaining hesitance toward dragons.

The only person who would not likely approve would be Stoick, of course. The idea of letting his son out of his eyes and letting him possibly risk his life was surely trying for him.

 _I'm not going to mention it to Hiccup. His father might say no. But maybe… just maybe..._

* * *

Stoick wandered the village, mindlessly working on menial tasks like chopping firewood, checking on cattle, and making small talk to pass the time. Anything to avoid the creeping feeling that Astrid was right.

His practical side told him that she was definitely right. Nothing could do more to help the other tribes overcome any remaining tensions with dragons than meeting a dragon who could talk and show that he was not a beast.

Not only that, but Hiccup had never truly been off Berk to see other tribes. It was something he had hoped to be able to do with Hiccup when his son became a man and was preparing to take on the mantle of being Chief. Seeing how differently other tribes lived helped to give perspective on how to lead or rule his own people.

But none of this helped with the deep angst he felt at the thought of letting Hiccup out of his sight or off the island without his supervision and protection. It was his responsibility to look after Hiccup, and the world could be a very hostile place. Letting him out of his sights felt like he was losing his son in a way.

 _I thought I had gotten over this already._

Sigh.

 _This would have happened eventually even if this hadn't happened to him. Every father must let his son become a man and do dangerous things. My father sure did. I just wish it didn't have to be this way._

He glanced back at his house where Hiccup was surely curled up asleep on the bed. Letting Hiccup out into the world also made it more likely that the truth would come out.

 _That would be the worst. The other tribes find out and think that we are a tribe of sorcerers. They would surely try to destroy us then. But he has held his tongue so far. Maybe it is not that dangerous after all._

"What would you do, my love?" he whispered to the winds.

.

"Yeah, you would have him go."

After waiting only a moment longer to weigh his decision, he made up his mind and proceeded straight home. It made sense to tell Hiccup first.

He pushed open the door to Hiccup's room, entered, and lay a hand on Hiccup's shoulder. Hiccup sleepily yawned and blinked his eyes before realizing who was there.

"Hiccup, come here. I need to tell you something," he whispered.

He rolled out of bed, followed his father into the living room, and looked up at him expectantly.

"There is something I want you to do."

 _What is it?_

"Astrid is going to go to the other tribes again to see how they are doing and help them out with anything dragon-related. I would like you to go with her."

He was too surprised to react as his father's request sank in. He simply stared and gaped in shock.

"Uh, yeah don't get too excited, son. You can help her by being yourself. She thought it would be a good idea for them to meet a smart dragon."

Hiccup excitedly hopped over to the table and fumbled with the paper.

 **Really, you want me to go?**

"Not really, it can be dangerous out there, and I wouldn't be there to keep you safe. But… I think it can be good for you and for the other tribes. It might help change the way they think. You have to keep your secret, of course."

 _Easy, no problem!_

 **What about Toothless**

"Uh, what about him? Do you think he would want to go too?"

 _Probably not actually, but it could be good for him to meet other human tribes._

 **I will talk to him about it**

Before his father had a chance to leave he hopped down, stood up before Stoick, and gave him the biggest hug he could, his head just reaching his father's shoulders. His dad rather awkwardly returned the embrace.

"Well, uh, she will be leaving tomorrow morning. Let me know after you talk to him."

Ok.

Hiccup wasted no time, now flush with energy, and darted back to his room.

 _Toothless, you are not going to believe this!_

He roughly shoved at Toothless's shoulder to wake him up.

Grr…

"What… Hiccup?" Toothless yawned.

"We will fly with Astrid to other-two-leg nests."

Toothless just stared and flicked his tail once.

"Why?"

"Why? See new nest. See other two-legs. Show them we not bad-kin."

"Why do we care? Those two-legs are not here."

"No, but they could be other-kin-like to this nest."

"Maybe," Toothless grumbled.

"You do not want to go."

"No, no need."

Hiccup glumly slunk back out and into the hall, this time with his tail dragging behind him.

 _Why doesn't he want to go? He doesn't care about seeing other tribes or showing them what we really are._

Sigh.

 _I just wish he wanted to do more and… be more._

"So? What is the word?"

 **He said no**

"Just you then. Astrid should be leaving in the morning. I'll go let her know that you will be going with."

Stoick marched out the door and set off for the Hoffer household. Hiccup waited in the living room and turned his thoughts to the future.

 _This is going to be fun. I'm going to get to see other tribes and new islands._ _New islands… maybe I should start making that map that she mentioned._

It was something that had actually been on his mind for a while. One definite advantage he had over all the other mapmakers on the island was the aerial view he enjoyed. It was also easier to cover more ground.

 _I should probably rest today. Lots of flying to do tomorrow._

* * *

Astrid rose before sunrise, gobbled down some plain porridge, and finished packing. Changes of clothing, blankets to sleep in, an updated copy of the Book of Dragons, a letter from Chief Stoick to the other tribes, a few spare weapons, and hard bread and dried meats for her and smoked fish for Hiccup.

She thought about the imminent journey and the tribes to visit. Edgaras and his hotheads and Svana's tribe of fishermen, both were different and posed distinct challenges.

A neck-rub and scratch under the chin woke Stormfly just after dawn without disturbing Blueback.

 _I'm sure they can be apart for a while. I hope…_

The dragon did not react any differently and patiently waited as she strapped on the saddle. Then Astrid brought Stormfly some fish and chicken, specially butchered for this long flight.

It wasn't long until Stoick and Hiccup showed up outside her house.

"Morning Astrid," Stoick yawned.

"It is indeed, sir. A good day for flying it looks like."

"Well, here he is. Take good care of him."

"You know I will, sir."

He nodded once and stepped back while she hopped up into her saddle. She and Stormfly were aloft a moment later.

Hiccup spread his wings and prepared to follow when his dad whispered to him.

"Son?"

He turned to face him.

"Be… be careful."

 _Of course I will._

He nodded once in acknowledgment and quickly thrust himself skyward, so eager was he to get the adventure underway. It took only a moment to catch up to Stormfly's level and was easy to match her speed. They quickly covered the distance to the cliffs and flew out over the crashing seas.

Despite seeing the sight many times before, he felt compelled to glance back at the village. His father still stood there staring up at the sky after him.

Something almost felt wrong about leaving like this.

 _I remember when I bugged him about going with him on the longboats. He said that I could join him when I was a man. Now I am finally going to see other tribes, but without him there._

He took a long and deep breath.

 _Dad wants me to go and do this. I want to do this, to meet other people and help them learn about dragons. And I get to go on an adventure with Astrid. This will be fun._

He stopped thinking about anything except the warm sun, the flow of the wind, and the feeling of complete freedom that enveloped his being on long flights.

Time began to flow together as they flew on out over the ocean.

The only change came when he saw Stormfly begin descending toward a small, mostly barren, island. It was clearly not their final destination.

 _Probably a break. Gods, it's already midday._

Stormfly landed on the sandy beach and Astrid jumped off. She took off her helmet and let her hair down.

"Hey, how are you holding up?"

 **Good**

 **I like long flights**

"Sounds like you have some stories you haven't told me."

He gave her an amused look as she looked out over the sea.

"Well, we're about halfway there. I thought we should stop for a while to eat and rest."

 **Good idea**

She nodded at her dragon, who was busy frolicking in the waves.

"She was getting rather tired. Nadders don't do great in very long flights."

 _I know that._

"I packed some fish for you," she said as she handed him a rolled-up sack.

He could smell the smoked fish, and it made him realize how hungry he was. Dried though the fish was after he unrolled the sack, it still looked delicious.

 **Thanks Astrid**

She gave him a kind smile.

"I thought you would like it. Cod is your favorite I think. It wasn't hard to make."

She got her sack of bread, butter, and nuts, and they started on their respective meals together.

"I think she could do with a nap," Astrid mentioned when she saw how her dragon had curled up on the beach.

 **Should we too?**

"Why not?"

They both walked over to where Stormfly had reclined. The Nadder noticed them and made room under a wing for Astrid. Surprisingly to Hiccup, she also chirped at him a couple times and lifted her other wing for him.

Slowly, as if he thought he could be wrong, he slipped underneath and curled up against the Nadder's side.

 _It helps with the sun. Hmm, I guess this is what hatchlings see with their parents._

He remembered what Toothless had told him long ago about different dragons of the same nest. That they would protect each other's young.

 _That has to be what she is doing for us._

It was both bizarre and warmly comforting.

The satisfaction of a full belly, the slight ache in his wings from the long flying, and his warm and snug dragon-wing accommodations quickly had the expected effect and left him sound asleep in minutes.

Astrid lay awake a bit longer, content to listen to the two dragons' heavy breathing and the gentle lapping of the ocean on the shore.

 _This is so peaceful. Sigh. Just wait until we get there._

* * *

The company awoke a couple hours later in the afternoon, all feeling well-rested.

 **How far from here**

"We are going to visit the Vaina first. They are the easier ones to get along with. I'd say we should be there by sunfall if we don't stop."

 _Sounds good. Looks clear and sunny the rest of the day too._

"There is something else we should probably talk about before we get there."

 _What?_

"How are you going to act around them? Obviously, we won't let them know who you really are. But how should we introduce you?"

It was a fair question. Learning that a dragon could understand everything they were saying and could even talk back could be an unsettling revelation. No, it would almost certainly be one if prior experience was any indication.

 **Maybe just the Chief first**

"That sounds like a good idea. I don't think we will have a problem with Svana or her people, but just in case…"

She whistled, and Stormfly hopped over to her side. He flared his wings and growled to show his eagerness.

"Excited, are we?"

Yes, he nodded.

She chuckled and smoothly mounted Stormfly.

"Alright, let's go then!"

Then they were off again for the last leg of the flight. It was a thankfully uneventful flight until the sun was very low on the horizon.

 _I wonder what kind of dragons they have there? Have they ever seen a Night Fury before?_

Hiccup's excitement started to grow the moment land came into sight. There were even several boats out on the waters and several small specks aloft above the land. The flying things were too large to be birds.

 _Those are dragons!_

He darted over to Stormfly and carefully brushed Astrid with a wingtip. Together they looked ahead at the approaching island. The seafaring village gradually began to appear in more detail. Houses, farms, animal pens, and statues all came into vision.

Stormfly clearly recognized the place from before and gave a joyous roar. His own roar of delight followed almost before he knew what he was doing. He sheepishly glanced over at Astrid a moment later.

She just laughed heartily.

They continued to draw nearer with him following her lead. Stormfly descended into the village, which quickly came alive at her approach. They landed together, and Astrid hopped off to greet the villagers.

He looked around his surroundings, drinking in all the sights and sounds of this new, to him, tribe. There were what were clearly dragon stables a short flight away. He could also see a couple of them lazing about over the village seemingly without a care in the world.

The people looked familiar but very different at the same time. Mostly it was that they were a bit smaller than people from Berk.

And they were all staring at him.

"What is that?" someone asked Astrid.

 _What am I indeed…_

She walked over and stood next to him.

"His name is Hiccup."

"What kind of name is that?"

A massive woman barreled through the crowd before she had a chance to answer. Svana stood stock still for a moment in surprise when she saw Astrid standing next to a black dragon calmly sitting on its haunches and looking out over her village.

 _That must be Svana… she is big…_

"Astrid!"

"Chief Svana," Astrid stepped forward and greeted her.

"What is that dragon?"

"What? You've never seen a Night Fury before?"

At that a great whispering broke out and several people visibly stepped back. Even Svana winced and looked uncertain.

 _Looks like they have heard of them at least._

"So… that is a Night Fury… what is it doing here?"

Astrid stepped back and stood next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"That is a long story. For now though, he is here to show you that Night Furies are not the terrifying monsters born of lightning and death that the stories say."

He groaned audibly and rolled his eyes.

"Come here and meet him."

"Careful Chief, they can eat the souls of their victims!" shouted one of the village graybeards.

"Don't give me that yak dung, Yngol."

Svana paused for a moment before tiptoeing forward. He held himself still and calm to avoid spooking her, even though she was the far taller of the two. She stopped a couple feet from him and slowly reached out a hand for his neck.

He gave a soft purr and let her stroke him. The audience all started murmuring again, this time in clear surprise and amazement.

 _The things I have to do…_

"Wonderful. What is his name?"

"Hiccup."

"Odd name for a dragon."

"He is named for Stoick's son."

"The boy who died?"

"Yes."

She stepped back away from them, now with a hint of a grin on her usually stern features.

"Well, Astrid, that is one amazing dragon."

"Yes, he is. With respect Svana, we've been flying all day and are hungry and tired."

"Of course, of course. I'll take you to the stables."

Hiccup and Astrid winked at each other as they followed her to the dragon-dwellings. Astrid took special interest in these structures that had been built in the time since her last visit. The buildings themselves looked rather poor and didn't have much in the way of framing. But that was not unlike most of the homes on the island and it was better than having no shelter at all.

"You haven't had any problems with them burning anything down, have you?"

"Not anymore. And we are close enough to the water that we've been able to put out the fires we have had. Esbern, go get some fish for these beasts!"

A lad left the crowd and ran down toward the docks.

They finally arrived at the stables, and Stormfly finally allowed herself to be shooed into one of the empty ones after Astrid's coaxing. The other empty cell, which Svana shouted at some people to get cleaned up, was clearly mainly used to store tools and waste from other stables.

 _Oh no, I am not sleeping in there! That smells terrible!_

He nudged Astrid and furtively shook his head after catching her eye.

"Ah," she nodded in understanding before turning to Svana.

"Don't bother with cleaning that one. He won't sleep in there."

"Where will he go then?"

"I'll figure something out."

"Oh well, you know your dragon," she shrugged as she called her men off.

"He is not mine."

"Seems like he could be. He is very calm and well-behaved."

"I'm glad you think so. You wouldn't mind him joining us for dinner then. Just the three of us."

"What?" she looked evidently confused.

"He joins my people during dinner at our Chief's table."

"You let your dragons inside!"

"Well, not all of them. Most of them eat outside at our fish stations. He is small enough, and we make an exception for him."

"We don't let dragons in our houses. There were… accidents last time."

"That won't be a problem with him," Astrid reassured her.

Svana regarded him as he patiently sat observing her village.

"I guess I can allow it. Helps that he is small and can actually fit through the door."

He smugly grinned when he was sure she wasn't looking.

The lad, Esbern, returned with a basket of the freshest catch.

"Ah, there he is. Give some to Astrid's dragon, and I'll take the rest," Svana commanded.

He obliged, and Stormfly was happily tossing back whole fish moments later. Astrid took a moment with Stormfly and then, satisfied that the Nadder was content where she was, she and Hiccup followed Svana across the village to her house.

They were almost there when several figures approached, three youths leading three dragons. Svana noticed who they were and turned to Astrid.

"Don't take too long, I need a moment to clean up anyway."

Then she ran on ahead as the youths approached.

"Helgrid, is that you?" Astrid exclaimed.

"And Ralof."

"And Orgnar."

"My, you all have grown! Tell me about everything that's happened…"

While Astrid was busy getting reacquainted with her former students, Hiccup was being corralled by three inquisitive dragons, two Nadders and one breed he only knew from the Book, the Rumblehorn. They supposedly had the best sense of smell of any dragon.

 _Uh, hi there… so you guys are the first non-Berk dragons I've met who have riders._

Each of them took a turn to sniff or gently prod at him while grumbling querulously.

 _Never seen a Night Fury before? Aren't you friendly fellows…_

Whatever their reasons, he was content to just wait and patiently endure their attention. He inspected the saddles that the dragons had been fitted with. They vaguely reminded him of some of his first builds back with Toothless before he realized how he had to change a horse's saddle. Admirable attempts which could be improved with time and practice to make it more comfortable on the mounts.

Then one of the dragons got a bit too personal with where it tried to sniff him. He whirled around with a hiss and batted its head away.

 _No you don't!_

The Nadder backed away and the other two gave him a bit more room before slowly meandering away.

He growled in their direction for good measure. A bit of attention was something he knew he had to endure, but he had to preserve his dignity. Then he hastily looked around to see if anyone saw that… altercation. Astrid still had her back turned to him and was eagerly chatting with her three former students, none of whom had seemed to notice either.

He breathed a sigh of relief. Once the dragons had wandered off, he strolled up next to the little group to get a better look at the youths. They each looked about twelve or thirteen, and each had the not-uncommon blonde hair.

"You really have some Thunderdrums around here? We don't have any around Berk, and I've never actually seen one up close," Astrid lamented.

"Oh yeah, five of them. They're not the friendliest beasties, but we leave them alone and they leave us alone," Helgrid explained.

Then the four of them noticed him calmly sitting next to them and listening in on their discussion. The three Vainians seemed suddenly unsure of themselves and started shifting on their feet.

"What's the matter with you three?" she teased them.

"Astrid… that's a… Night Fury," Ralof whispered.

"The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself," Orgnar also stammered.

Astrid burst out laughing and clutched at her sides to regain her composure. Only she had seen him mouthing along with those infamous words because the other three had been looking away.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing…"

"Why were you laughing then?"

"Oh, it's just that... we used to call them the same thing. Just because we didn't understand them."

"Understand them?" Helgrid asked in evident confusion.

Astrid took a couple steps over to him and again put her hand on his neck.

"I've known him for years. You'd be surprised how smart he is."

"Does he do tricks? Sit boy!" Ralof commanded.

He just stared back and glared at the lad until Ralof became uncomfortable.

"You can't order him around," Astrid explained.

"How do you get him to obey then?"

"It doesn't... work like that."

"Well... how old is he?" Orgnar asked her.

"Almost two years old."

"Can I pet him?" Helgrid wondered.

 _What do you think I am? A pup?_

He grumbled softly and backed away from them.

"I don't think he wants to be petted."

"He let you though..."

"Because he knows me."

"Ok. He is a cute dragon, don't you think?" Helgrid asked her.

Astrid slightly paused before answering.

"Well, I don't know that 'cute' is the right... but in a way he kind of is..."

Humph. It was her turn to be glared at.

"Right, I think we have to be going. Wouldn't want to keep your Chief waiting."

"Ok, see you tomorrow Astrid. We can't wait to show you some of our tricks with our dragons," the three of them exclaimed before running off to find their beasts.

Hiccup glanced back at her and waited until she had almost caught up with him, then he flicked his tail and struck her in the shin.

"Ouch! Why would you do that?" she yelled as she massaged her leg.

He gave her his best puppy dog look and then glared again.

"Was that because I said you were cute?"

 _Obviously..._

"Well, I can't help it if its true. Would you rather be a Gronkle?"

 _Of course not._

"Get used to it then. There are worse things that could come to their minds when they see you."

The pair resumed their journey to Svana's abode, Astrid giving him a little extra space just in case he decided he was still offended. She knocked on the door and Svana let them in. Once inside, she looked around at the many furs and pelts that adorned the walls.

"Just as I remember it."

Svana stood back up from lighting the fireplace, which Hiccup immediately went over and lay down next to so that he could bask in the glowing heat. Svana returned with several fish which she left on the floor for him and a couple others which she speared over the fire.

He glanced at the unprepared fish and grimaced. Astrid spared him a sympathetic look.

 _Great, I need to wait even longer. Wonderful._

"Things are very different around here now Astrid. You can surely see that. I have my own dragon now too."

"I'm glad to hear that. What kind?"

"It is a Nightmare. Though, I can't fly with him as you can imagine. There's a bit too much of me for that."

"Maybe I'll meet him soon."

"Probably. We still have some problems with the nearby Thunderdrums."

"My former students here said that those dragons don't bother you," Astrid said.

"Bother us, no they don't. But they do make it hard to fish when they are out."

"I will see what we can do about that."

"I'd appreciate that."

Svana nodded and turned back to face the fireplace and the dozing dragon.

"I can't get over him Astrid. He is so… beautiful, calm, and… I don't know… different from every other dragon I know."

Astrid glanced over at him too and took a deep breath.

"Do you have any parchment and a pencil?"

"Sure," she answered and obtained the items.

"Before we talk about your tribe, there is something else I need to tell you first," Astrid began.

"What?"

"It's about him. I didn't bring him here without reason. He is here to show you something."

"Show me something?"

They both looked over at the now-alert Fury.

"Hiccup, do you want to show her now?"

Yes, he nodded.

"Did he just…" Svana stuttered.

Astrid turned back to her.

"Talk to him."

Svana looked stupefied.

"W…what?"

"Talk to him. Ask him his name."

"But dragons don't…"

Her words died out as she stared into his green, unblinking eyes. Eyes that gazed at her with evident purpose and awareness. It again struck her that it was behaving too composed for a beast.

"No… it's imposs… What is your name?"

Hiccup got up, walked over to the table, his claws clicking against the wooden floorboards, stood up, clasped the pencil, and traced a single word.

 **Hiccup**

Svana stared in disbelief.

"Bu…"

"Yes, he can understand you. Not only that but he can write too as you saw."

"It can write! By the gods!"

He grumbled in annoyance at being referred to that way.

 **Yes, it can**

She turned to Astrid and struggled in vain to find words.

"He is just as smart as we are," Astrid explained.

"I… I don't believe it…"

"Believe it. It wasn't easy for some of my own tribe to accept either," Astrid offered.

"I didn't know that dragons were so smart."

 **Not all are**

"What?"

 **Night Furies are special**

"Only Night Furies? What about other dragons then? Are they…" she mumbled something incoherent and gestured in his general direction.

Astrid stared into her mug, her thoughts clearly elsewhere for the moment.

"They are not the same. Of all the dragons we know of, he is the only one who can talk like this and understands everything we say. That doesn't mean that you should treat the others worse though."

"No, I think we are beyond that here, Astrid. I know my dragon is clever for a beast, but nothing like this. This is still hard for me to believe. What, are our goats and dogs this smart too?"

Astrid chuckled at that.

"I doubt it. They don't try to talk. Dragons are not simple pets. My Stormfly is rather smart and she definitely has some personality, but even she is not like the Furies."

"Furies? How many of you are there?"

 **Only two**

"We thought it would be best to show you this first. You would know better than us how to let your people know in the best way," Astrid offered.

"Definitely right about that. I'll need to think about that tonight. By Freya, they are going to be surprised."

Hiccup then nudged Astrid and nodded toward the fish that had been left for him. Svana noticed.

"What is the matter?"

"He likes his fish prepared. Right?"

Yes, he nodded.

"Of course he would... Why not? How about sitting on a chair and eating like us too, using a knife and spoon?" Svana groaned in exasperation.

"Well, actually…" Astrid began.

"No, just don't…" Svana closed her eyes again.

He chuckled, drawing another surprised look from her.

"Did he just… laugh at me?"

Yes, he nodded again with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Loki's breath… what is the elder going to say about this?" she muttered before returning to her mug of ale.

"It depends on how wise they are. Our previous elder never got to see this before she died."

Astrid speared the fish and held them over the open fire until the smell of roasting fish began to fill the room. Svana was clearly grateful for a few minutes of quiet after such a substantial revelation.

Once the fish were done, Astrid took them off the stake, gutted them, and handed him his dinner on a plate. Svana stared in amusement as he practically inhaled his dinner while being careful to not make a mess.

"Now I've seen everything… sigh… How far have your people traveled Astrid? Being able to fly on dragonback surely makes it easier to cross the seas."

"We haven't really gone far. Not beyond the nearby isles and local tribes. We've never had a need to go to the mainland or the wild north. Why do you ask?"

"Strange stories. Some people say that dragons don't even exist anymore out there and others say that there are swarms of hundreds flying around. I normally wouldn't trust those tales, but I've been hearing them for years now."

Astrid thought about those two contradictory claims; that dragons didn't exist out in the outside world and that there were large flights of them still out there. It didn't make sense. Could such powerful creatures have mostly died out, or did they only live up in this part of the world for some reason?

"How long are you going to be here?" Svana wondered.

"Just long enough to see how your tribe is doing, answer any questions anyone has, introduce everyone to this guy over here, and help with any problems you have. It's important that our tribes are allies."

She handed over the letter that Stoick had given her for Svana, which she accepted and briefly read over. Once she finished reading, she sat back down in her chair.

"Your Chief is a good man. That would be good for both of our tribes. You know more about dragons than we do, and we need to learn from you. Having some of our actual riders learn on Berk would help a lot. I'll talk to you more about my tribe in the morning."

That reminded Astrid how late it was, and she politely covered her yawn.

"You've had a long day. I had my people put up a tent for you near your dragon. You don't need to worry about being out there after dark. My people know not to bother you."

"I didn't think they would. Plus, I have the most feared dragon in the world here to protect me."

They both looked over to him, and he raised a single eye-ridge in clear amusement. Svana actually chuckled at the humor.

"Alright Hiccup, let's go."

He got up, walked over to the door, and pushed it open.

"Absolutely amazing," she overheard Svana whisper to herself.

Both Astrid and Hiccup took their time as they walked back through the nighttime village. Sure enough, a small tent with a little fire at the entrance had been set up next to Stormfly's stable. Hiccup waited outside the entrance while Astrid retrieved her pack and a blanket which she laid out for herself after briefly tending to Stormfly.

She stoked the fire, settled down, and noticed him standing there looking a bit lost. She remembered the poor stable room that they were going to clean up for him to sleep in.

 _I don't want him to sleep in one of those. That wouldn't be right. Neither would making him sleep outside on the ground._

"All right, come on," she beckoned him into the tent with a wave.

He blinked in surprise and carefully crept around her as she snuggled under a blanket. The tent was not especially large, having been set up just for one, and left them a bit cramped for space, but he managed to find room after accidentally knocking into her once with his tail. The warm glow of the fire and the crackle of the logs quickly left him feeling quite drowsy, especially after flying for nearly half the day.

"So, what do you think of her?" Astrid whispered.

 _I think she is nice. Anyone who has a dragon of their own can't be too bad._

It helped that she almost perfectly knew his expressions by now.

"She is not as rough as I thought she would be at first. Your dad told me all about the Vaina the first time I came here; that they lost over half their people in one dragon attack out at sea before we were born. But since then they didn't get attacked as much as we did, mostly because they didn't have any sheep or cattle to take. That it has been so long since then probably helped them be more willing to rebuild like this."

"Can you imagine their surprise when we show them tomorrow?"

 _Oh, I can. I just hope nothing goes wrong._

"It'll go fine. I hope. I wonder how different they will be from how we were. Remember when Fishlegs forced you to write all afternoon? He looked like he wanted to hug you like a stuffed toy."

He rolled his eyes and huffed at the memory.

"Almost everyone went home and tried to talk to their dragons afterwards. It took a while for them to learn that you were a special case. But that is how we are, slow to learn and stubborn."

A peace followed until all sound outside vanished, save for the fire's crackle and the distant roll of the surf.

"Do you think there are any other dragons that can learn to talk?"

 _I hope so. If Night Furies can, why not some other kind too?_

Which translated to a shrug and half-sigh.

"The only way to know is to explore I guess. Find new dragons and see for ourselves."

Yes.

"Do… do you think what we are doing is right?" she eventually whispered.

He grumbled his confusion at the strange question without lifting his head.

"I mean, it is not exactly right that you are like all other dragons. Toothless is smart, but he hasn't tried to learn or talk to us at all without your help."

He just shook his head slowly with a sigh and grumble. Such a line of questioning had never given him an answer before. At least, no answer he could feel comfortable with.

 _I'm going to make him learn when I get back. Actually learn this time._

"I don't know either. I guess it doesn't matter. It's good to get them to treat all dragons better, of course."

Yes, he nodded.

"Well, Hiccup, I'm glad you're out here."

She then pulled the blanket over her head, leaving only her golden hair still showing. He did likewise with his tailfins and listened to the crackle of the fire, still soaking in the warmth from its dying tongues.

 _I am too, Astrid._

Try as he might to fall asleep, the question of personhood seemed oddly difficult for him to put to rest. Even despite pondering that exact issue off and on ever since learning that Toothless had more than simple thoughts and could talk.

 _I guess we can make sure they know that most dragons don't talk. It wouldn't be right to trick them._

He shuffled about for a moment before finding the most comfortable position.

 _Hmm, I wonder what Toothless is getting up to now?_

* * *

Despite the exhaustion from flying most of the day, it was still a while longer before he fell asleep.

He perched silently and motionlessly in the tree's lower branches exactly where he had been for a long time. He didn't even risk flicking his ears at the annoying little buzzers.

This was one of the main game trails in this part of the forest.

 _Patience…_

It had been far too long since he had hunted for himself. Not that relying on two-legs was a completely bad thing; it certainly was not since hunting was not as certain as the catch the two-legs always brought.

But not doing this on his own ran the risk of him forgetting how to hunt. It was no different from a kin that could fly but never did; their wings would grow weak from lack of use until eventually the kin could not fly even if it wanted to. He was still a hunter in his liver.

 _I know there are four-leg-bush-tail-prey here. Their droppings are all along this trail._

The sun had already traced much of its journey to the height of its flight. His waiting was eventually rewarded when a brown four-leg-bush-tail hopped through the underbrush. It sniffed at the air and slowly crept closer.

 _It is upwind…_

Only his eyes moved, following its progress until it stopped to nibble on a plant.

 _Just a little more…_

He tensed his powerful hind legs, readied his claws, and prepared to pounce.

The prey passed right in front of his tree.

He leaned forward, falling out of the tree, and pushed off at the last instant, darting toward his prey like a diving kite. He heavily crashed into the ground and rolled head over tail. The red coating on his claws was the first thing he noticed after regaining his breath.

The prey was dead and significantly flatter.

He roared in triumph to the trees.

"Yes! Fear me!"

Several birds were sent scurrying from their trees in fear at his roar. Then he settled down to his meal. The two-legs always wasted time and effort taking the fur off and carving meat from the bones. He just bit the bush-tail in half and swallowed both pieces. It was hardly a large meal at all, and he had eaten far more in fish already this sun.

But this was not hunting to live. This was hunting to be alive.

After spending the rest of the sun's light out in the woods without catching anything, he returned to the nest-den after nightfall and climbed into his bed. He curled up, fully expecting to quickly fall asleep without any worries. But something was different this time.

Something felt odd about seeing Hiccup's place empty again.

 _What is Hiccup doing? Probably talking to the other two-leg nest. What could he possibly need to say? They are not his nest, his near-kin._

Grumble.

He waited, shuffling about in search of rest until he overheard the door to the sire's sleeping-room close. The odd choking, grumbling sound that the male frequently made while sleeping started soon after.

He thought about Hiccup soaring above some distant island, drifting on a warm thermal.

 _Maybe I should have gone with him. If only to get away from here for a while._

* * *

A hunched figure with a ragged red mane stumbled through the brush and ran toward the cliff in pursuit of something elusive. The pursuing figure called out repeatedly, its voice cracked with despair and fear. Its quarry whipped around the bushes and darted for the cliff. Then the man stopped on the precipice and stared out over the ocean. The man shouted at the distant black speck gradually vanishing into the horizon. The man fell to the ground in grief and tore at his beard.

Stoick awoke in the middle of the night in a cold sweat and panic. Everything else was quiet and peaceful. He gathered himself for a moment, catching his breath, swung out of bed, and silently glided down the hall to check on Hiccup's room as if in a daze.

Unsurprisingly, he only saw Toothless's dark bulk curled in on itself in its usual place. His panic spiked and then subsided with his recollection. He glanced around the corners of the room just to check, and then he stepped back and closed the door.

 _Right, he is off with Astrid. What am I thinking?_

Since he was already awake, he walked into the kitchen and chewed on some rough bread out of habit. It was hard to shake the vividness of the dream. Most troubling was that it was clear to him who the two figures were.

He returned to bed after the snack and restlessly lay there, unable to fall back to sleep.

 _I'm just afraid of letting him go; afraid that something bad might happen to him._

Such dreams had troubled him years ago. Tradition had once held that a boy had to go into the wild for a month and survive with no help to become a man. He had to hunt his own game and defend himself from wolves or attackers. Those who returned would be recognized as a man, especially so if they returned with pelts in hand.

Some of his worst nightmares had been about his little Hiccup having to survive out in the wilderness in a place where he definitely did not belong. Wolves hunting him and no strength of his own to speak of…

 _But… he can take care of himself. And he is with Astrid and Stormfly. Both of them are protective enough… I should be the one to protect him though…_

But this risk was unavoidable and was a normal part of being a father. He had to let his child go out into the world, even in such odd circumstances as his. It was part of letting go.

His rest was very troubled when it finally came after much tossing and turning.

* * *

"Oh, look at it." "It's so dark." "So smooth." "I bet it's fast." "I want one."

 _What?_

He shook himself awake and looked out the tent. Several youths, some of whom he recognized from the previous day, were standing there at the entrance and ogling at him.

 _Oh great, not more of this._

"Enjoying yourselves, aren't you?" Astrid spoke up.

"Just admiring your beastie here," one of the lads offered.

"I see. He isn't my dragon, Haldor."

"What?"

"Just what I said. He is not my dragon."

"But it is so well-trained."

 _Grr…_

"Not really."

"No? What then?"

"That's a surprise. Run along now."

The young Vainans reluctantly left, albeit with many backward glances.

"Sleep well?"

Yes.

"Good, I guess I'll get changed and go check on Stormfly. Do you mind?"

He took her cue and left, leaving her alone in the tent. The village was surprisingly active for it being early in the morning. In many ways it seemed no different from home back on Berk. People were tending to livestock, washing clothing, working on the docks, and doing other necessary tasks. And just like back at home there were a few dragons laying about, though obviously not as many.

It was a very good sight.

He was in the middle of stretching when he noticed a man and his young daughter looking his way. She couldn't be more than three years old. And she had a fish in her hand.

 _Well, this is new. I think they want to meet me._

Eating a whole fish raw was not his preference, but sacrifices could be made in special situations when it would change someone's life for the better. Just like this one seemed to be. He started slowly walking toward them, and the girl backed up and nervously held her father's hand.

"Careful Illdia," the man whispered.

He stopped right before them and sat down. It was strangely difficult to know how to react or behave. Obviously, he didn't want to spook them, but neither did he want them to think he was a beast.

"See, it's like a pup."

 _Hey, I resent that… I guess it could be worse for a first meeting._

"Toss it the fishy."

The little girl, Illdia, seemed very nervous and did nothing except hold onto her father's leg.

 _Oh you poor little thing. I guess I am a little bit bigger…_

He bent down and hummed at the little girl, then he held out his palm. She quickly glanced from his eyes down to his paw. She hesitated, then just when he thought she wouldn't move she stepped forward with her father right at her side, reached out, and dropped the fish in his outheld paw.

Then she stood still, innocently, though slightly anxiously, looking up at him with her big, blue eyes.

He glanced again at the little perch he was holding. Not eating it would definitely hurt the little girl's feelings, and he couldn't have that happen. So he swallowed it quickly and gave her a happy rumble, which she responded to with an innocent chuckle of her own. She seemed to gain some courage and reached out as if to touch him.

"Hiccup!"

He whirled around at Astrid's voice and saw her beckoning him over. He trotted over to her, sparing a glance back at Illdia and her father as the two looked on after him. As heartwarming, albeit brief, as the encounter was, there was still something that didn't sit right about it, though he couldn't place what was unsettling him.

 _I wonder what Toothless thought and felt in the cove that first time we met. Guess I should ask him when I get home._

"Making a friend?" Astrid whispered when he reached her side.

Yes, he nodded.

"Svana came by a moment ago. She wants to get the introduction over with soon."

They glanced over toward the clearing at the center of the village. People were indeed beginning to congregate there.

"Shall we?"

He took a deep breath and nodded, falling in step behind her. She had foregone her usual attire and was wearing a long, green dress.

 _Where did you get that? I don't recognize it. Must be a gift._

Perhaps three dozen of the villagers were gathered in a circle around their Chief, and they smoothly parted to let the two of them through.

"Ah Astrid! Sleep well, did you?" Svana's booming voice echoed out over the murmuring crowd.

"Very well. My thanks for the dress, it fits well."

"It is our gift to you. Veleth said it was about your size."

Svana paused and glanced his direction for a moment, as if finding reassurance in his even gaze. He gave her a subtle nod as he sat down next to Astrid. Then Svana took a breath and turned back to the audience.

"My people. You all remember Astrid of Berk. She came to show us how to get dragons to stay and be useful to us. How to not fight with us anymore. We treat them well and they help us with catching fish and game."

Nods followed all around. Svana pointed at the young adults who were the best dragon riders.

"Some of our young ones have trained their dragons very well indeed. Astrid is here to see how well we are doing and to teach us something new. Something about him," she nodded at him.

"What?" "Huh?" "The Night Fury…"

Astrid then stood up and addressed the audience.

"How smart do you think dragons are?"

She watched as the people looked around at each other in confusion.

"I know you've taught your dragons how to be useful. How to catch fish, hunt deer, and carry stuff for you. Maybe even some tricks like you would a wolf pup."

Nods of agreement went all around.

"What I want to show you is that they can be far smarter than any of that. This Night Fury is named Hiccup. He is named after my Chief's son, who died years ago and made my tribe what we are today."

She paused for dramatic effect.

"He is as smart as any of us."

Several of the audience laughed or guffawed.

"Good one…" "Silly…" "As smart as my husband maybe…" "Then let it talk! Ha ha…"

She grinned and turned to him.

"Yes, that would help settle this wouldn't it? Hiccup, would you please?"

Distinctly aware of all the eyes on him watching his every move, he reached out with a single talon and carved runes into the dirt.

 **Hello people**

As expected, this led to a lot of murmuring and whispering among the audience after the initial period of jostling to get a view and their staring in disbelief.

"That's a trick… you just… trained it to do that.." one man protested.

Hiccup turned and evenly stared right at the man who just spoke. He made sure to not let his tail twitch in agitation. He had expected that someone would react this way. The man met his gaze for a moment and then looked away.

 **No, she did not**

 **I understand everything you say**

"It's true everyone. Astrid and Hiccup explained it to me last night." Svana spoke up.

Astrid stepped over to stand next to him and hesitated for an instant before putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Our Chief, Stoick the Vast, taught him how to write. It's also true that most dragons are not as smart as him."

"How many are?" Ralof asked in evident amazement.

"Well, only Night Furies as far as we know. So that means only him and his brother. We wanted you to know because you might find dragons that we don't know about and we want to make sure that you treat them well. You never know if they might be like him."

She looked around at the dragons she could see off in the distance.

"Even those that are not so smart, they are still creatures that can care and be loyal. I'm sure you already know that. They want many of the same things that you want; food, safety, and to raise their young. Be kind and respectful to them. Do any of you have questions for us?"

A moment of silence passed before almost everyone gathered started asking questions at once. Everything from how old he was, to how fast he could fly, to has he ever eaten anyone, to what to do about a dragon toothache, to whether dragon scales have magical properties…

They glanced at each other and groaned in pleased exasperation at how eager the Vaina seemed to be to learn. Hiccup was especially pleased at how smoothly they seemed to have taken the revelation about him. Some initial skepticism was understandable, but almost everyone there had a question for him and asked him directly.

As the morning went on and more and more people asked questions of him and patiently waited as he carved his answers, he noticed a change come over them. Fewer of them called him 'the dragon' or 'it' and more of them used his name, much to his delight. Some of them were clearly reluctant to address him or look at him, but the majority seemed to accept what they saw before them.

* * *

The conclave ended before lunch with Svana dismissing everyone with the command to attend to their duties. It was just Svana, himself, and Astrid who were left.

"Well, that went well," Svana muttered.

"Yeah, no one seemed like they wanted to kill him," Astrid jokingly replied.

"Astrid, we wouldn't do that. We already got rid of our troublemakers."

"When you say 'got rid of' do you mean…"

"Outcast."

Astrid nodded in acknowledgment.

"Ah, we had to do the same. Rebellion…"

"Stoick mentioned that. Not that it is surprising that it came to that with how stubborn we can be. Anyway, I'll have some food brought for both of you at your tent. Then you can help us with some of our… special problems Astrid."

Then she took her leave, and they both meandered back to the tent. Astrid practically collapsed on her makeshift bed once they were inside, and he did the same next to her. They were both exhausted from dealing with people. Then she turned to face him after a few moments, to which he gave her a quizzical look.

"People can be tiring. This afternoon is sure to be worse," she mentioned as she started gnawing on some bread.

 _Fair enough._

"What do you think about them now."

In truth, he was very impressed with them. Their initial disbelief had quickly changed into curiosity, awe, and even a bit of respect.

He found a bare patch.

 **They are good people**

"I agree. They are the far more reasonable of the two tribes we are to visit, that is for sure. The Volsung are more… violent," she concluded darkly.

 _That doesn't sound pleasant. So they will be a bit more difficult. I'll manage this with them too._

A lad soon came by the tent with a basket of fish for him and some bread for her.

"Is it true that your dragon can… talk?" he stammered.

"How about you ask him?" she replied.

The lad turned to look at him.

"Is it true?"

He quickly nodded in the affirmative.

 **Yes, I can**

"Wow, that's amazing. Uh, here is some fish."

He got up and walked over to the boy to take the basket. The lad nervously handed over the basket, glancing at his talons the whole time.

"Thank you for bringing him his food. Right, Hiccup?"

He nodded and toothlessly smiled at the lad before the boy left them. Then he glanced into the basket. All the fish were already prepared.

 _She thought of me. Wow._

"I see she remembered. Very thoughtful of her."

Yes.

"Well, I will leave you to your lunch. I'm going to help some of the people out as Svana wanted. I guess you can do whatever you want now."

He hummed in thought.

"The cliffs further up the coast look like they could be fun to fly around. Who knows, you might even see some new dragons."

 **Good idea**

"See you later."

He nodded and watched as she left for Svana's house. He took his time finishing his lunch and then made up his mind to explore the island.

It felt good to spread his wings again and to observe the village from above. It was indeed smaller than Berk. He paid special attention to the dragons that he could see. There was one Nadder circling around a fishing boat offshore.

 _Well, I know where I've seen that before._

There were also several large shapes further down the shore that he only recognized from drawings.

 _Thunderdrums!_

He darted over and hovered over the dragons lounging on the shore _._ The strange dragons were unlike any others anyone knew of. They were dragons that could only barely fly short distances and whose only attack was a very loud scream; creatures meant for the water instead of the skies.

 _They said that these dragons were causing problems. They're supposed to have bad tempers. Probably messing with the fishing and trying to defend their space._

That should be easy to fix. Just stay away from their turf and give them some fish whenever you need to get close.

He let himself drift on the wind. After a few minutes, he noticed something else farther inland that caught his attention. A large red shape in a clearing away from the village.

He gasped when he saw the dragon in more detail. A long snakelike neck and massive angular wings far larger than any other dragon's that anyone knew of.

 _That's a Timberjack!_

It didn't look like a fully-grown one. At least it didn't live up to the mythical stature if it was an adult. Even so though, it easily had the greatest wingspan he had ever seen of any dragon.

 _It could probably stay aloft on the winds for days. Amazing…_

He dove down into the clearing and landed a respectful distance away from the Timberjack. It must not have noticed him because it didn't even lift its head. It was then that he noticed the ropes around its torso and the saddle sitting on the ground by its side.

 _Oh, you have a rider. Lucky you._

He gradually crept closer, keeping his attention on its massive and, if the legends were true, dangerous wings. The front of its wings did indeed seem to have a bony growth that was very sharp.

It lifted its head and stared right at him when he was a few lengths away. It nervously shuffled on its feet and stretched its wings in a clear warning, even though it made no other aggressive move.

 _You are much bigger than me. Why so nervous?_

"Woah Razor, what's the matter?" a girl's voice called out.

 _Oh, didn't know you were there._

A young girl, who could not be more than eleven or twelve, strolled around from the dragon's other side. The girl had on gear that was clearly only meant for riding. She froze the moment she saw him.

"Oh my, it's you. The talking dragon, right?"

He grinned and nodded back at her. She gave him a gleeful smile and fearlessly ran up to him. He was surprised and a bit embarrassed when she threw her arms around his neck in a hug.

"You are a beautiful dragon."

 _Oh shucks, that is sweet..._

Then the Timberjack craned its neck out between them and drove them apart with a grumble.

"Hey, what was that for eel breath?" the girl teased.

It just huffed and snorted at him with a glare.

 _Don't worry, I'm not going to steal her._

"I'm Tembra, and this big guy is Razor," she added while patting her dragon's cheek. It purred happily and curled its neck protectively around her.

 _A fitting name._

Then she got a very excited look.

"Can you talk to him?"

He tried talking to the dragon but got no response other than a confused grumble, as he suspected he would.

 _One more type off the list to try._

No.

"That's ok. Do you want to meet the rest of my family? I think we can spare you some fish if you are hungry."

He eagerly nodded, excited at the possibility of meeting a Vainian family.

"Alright Razor, let's go home."

He flew slowly behind Razor, quite amazed at how much gliding the dragon did with its massive wings. There had never been another chance for him to see a Timberjack in flight until now.

 _I wonder if they can really cut down trees. Maybe they just like to roost in clearings and someone thought they make them too. Astrid might know or be able to find out._

The Timberjack dove and landed near a farm outside of town. He followed and watched as Tembra hopped off Razor's back and ran to get her family. Very soon thereafter, she returned leading her parents and several siblings, all of whom looked eager to meet him.

Here was a family that clearly had no fear of dragons and had already adopted one into its fold, so to speak. Everything about what he saw unfolding here was good and filled him with a warmth that reminded him of home. But it was still a bit different because this was a different people.

In a way though, it felt like he had been able to make a difference in the world since everything that had happened began with him years ago.

* * *

"So, one more time just to be sure that you remember..."

"Don't yell at him or tie him up when he does something wrong," the man mumbled back.

"Yes, and..."

"Reward him for being good but don't punish him for doing something wrong?"

"Exactly. Dragons can be like children. Sometimes they act out just to get attention, any attention."

"That doesn't seem right though."

"Think about it like this then. Whatever you have been doing until now has not worked. Try something different, try what I said. It cannot work worse than what you have been doing."

With that last reminder, Astrid left him behind and meandered back into town. A small crowd, most of whom she recognized, had gathered to talk about what she had done that day; about all the advice she had shared, problems mediated, and fears allayed.

She had little patience left for other people at the moment, having just dealt with all their problems, so she walked straight over to her tent. Hiccup was resting just inside and looking out at the village.

"Hey, you didn't stay here all day did you?"

No.

"Good. How did your day go?"

 **I flew around**

 **Saw dragons**

 **Met a family**

Then he chuckled.

 **And they gave me lots of food**

"I wondered what you would get up to. That sounds like a good day. They still have a few knuckleheads among their number. One guy said he didn't take orders from girls from other tribes. Nevermind that I was only telling him stuff he should already know."

She gave a great sigh and stared up at the top of the tent.

"I'm tired of this."

 **Tired of what?**

She waved all around at the village outside.

"All this. Being told to travel to these tribes and help them with all their problems. Having to see how stupid and stubborn people can be. Don't get me wrong, it is good to see them learning, but I'm still tired of it all. There is only so much that I can do on my own. And isn't it better for them to learn these things for themselves instead of just being told what we learned?"

She sighed.

"I just want to go back to Berk and deal with my own people and our dragons. Is that too much to want?"

He waited for a while before responding.

 **But our people can also be very stubborn**

"Oh, I know that. Gods, I know that. But they are like family, a crazy and frustrating one, and family deserves patience."

But that was something he had been thinking about for a while, though not in such words. Why were Nords so fast to divide groups into 'us' and 'them' when the two were actually very similar?

 **Maybe the Vaina can be like family**

"What?"

 **Both tribes are now friends to dragons and have never been enemies before**

She took a moment to consider before replying.

"Maybe with time. That would be a big change."

 **More of a change than riding dragons?**

He retorted with a wry grin, to which she softly chuckled.

"True, nothing can really top that. Hey, follow me. I want to show you something."

They both got to their feet and strolled outside the tent to watch the sunset over the western sea. None of the few Vainians still around bothered them as they walked out of town and down onto the beach.

"Beautiful isn't it?"

Yes, he hummed.

"It's a bit sad that we don't have many beaches like this back on Berk."

She took off her boots and walked barefoot down to the surf as it gently lapped against the sand. He joined her and stood at her side.

He shuddered once at the memory of the last time he was in the ocean. He had tried to stay away from the sea ever since he fell and nearly drowned after flying into a storm.

 _I forgot how nice the water feels. Gosh, was it that long ago?_

They watched as Stormfly flew slow circles above them on the evening winds.

"I think she is eager to get home. Only a couple more days here, and then we get the pleasure of going to the Volsung. They are going to be the worst."

 _How bad can they be? It won't matter._

She seemed to be left rather discouraged by the thought of the next place they had to visit. There had to be something he could do to lighten her mood.

"Astrid..." he muttered.

"Hiccup, you know I can't understand that. What is it?"

He said nothing, and she glanced over just in time to see him slap the water with his forepaw, sending a splash straight up into her face.

She stood still, as if in shock, as the water dripped down her front. Then she finally brushed aside her dampened bangs and glared at him.

"Why would you do that?" she screamed.

He just muttered sheepishly to himself and tried to avoid her apparent ire by looking away at the clouds. He looked away for just a moment too long and got a face full of water also, causing him to recoil in surprise.

"Is the little dragon afraid of some water..."

She laughed freely and heartily. This was the side of Astrid that he much preferred.

None of which meant that he didn't plan on any retaliation. He slowly turned around as if to head back up to the village, but then he whipped his tail around and gave her an even bigger splash.

"Hey, not fair!"

He just rolled his shoulders in a shrug and gave her a wink.

"Oh, no you don't. This means war!"

She charged after him through the surf, yelling about how she was going to get her revenge and laughing all the while. Within moments, they were completely drenched from head to foot and tail.

They didn't notice Svana and a small group of Vainians watching them from the edge of town as they played in the surf.

* * *

It was shortly after sunrise when Astrid donned her flight garb and finished packing the few belongings she had brought. She waited patiently as Stormfly chowed down on the fish brought for her. Then she attended to the rigging on Stormfly and made a few last minute preparations while waiting for Hiccup to return from his morning routine.

It was time that they move on from the Vaina. She had already helped with everything that she could reasonably be expected to address. She had spent the last day attending to various requests; everything from dealing with an unpleasant and especially territorial group of Terrors to explaining the finer points of saddle care to warning them about what to expect from the future breeding seasons. There were some hard cases and stubborn people who could not or would not learn, and she was fine leaving those to Svana to deal with. There was nothing more for her to do here.

Hiccup had seemingly had a better time as he had plenty of company during the day. Helgrid, Ralof, Orgnar and several other of the younger people who took most easily to dragons had many more questions for him that hadn't been asked at the main introduction. He had evidently relished his role as a representative of Berk and of dragons in general.

"Shall we?" she asked him when he trotted up to her.

Yes, he nodded.

They made their way through the village in search of Svana. They did not have to look hard, as she found them while leading a nervous-looking, yellow Nightmare.

Astrid slowly approached the male with her empty palms out as was normal when meeting a new dragon. She quickly gained its trust and started scratching under its chin.

"He must be yours, right?" she asked Svana.

"Yes, he is called Jorm."

Jorm and Stormfly regarded each other respectfully and kept their distance. Stormfly did nuzzle her human possessively when Astrid returned to her side though.

"Oh, you big baby," Astrid muttered before turning back to Svana and the others assembled.

"You are leaving us," Svana announced.

"Yes, we need to move on to the others."

"Very well. Astrid, on behalf of my tribe I thank you for coming to us. My people told me how helpful you have been. You and your Chief have met the terms of the treaty."

"I am glad that you are pleased, Svana. Both of our tribes are better off working with dragons than fighting against them. But I see that you already know that."

"Of course we do. They are far more useful to have on our side than otherwise. I will have some of my riders go to Berk next spring so they can learn more at your Academy. Tell Stoick that Berk can consider the Vaina their ally. May the gods watch over your flights and battles Astrid."

"I will."

Astrid climbed up onto Stormfly's back. Hiccup stepped away from Stormfly to make room for the Nadder to take off and was about to spread his wings when he noticed Svana staring at him quizzically. She looked like she wanted to say something to him.

"You did not need to come here to us. Why did you?" she eventually asked.

 _Why? I wanted to get away from home for a while. And being with Astrid is nice too. And…_

Why had he flown to visit a strange tribe and left behind the comfort of Berk for a time, other than because his father asked him to of course? He thought back over the reactions his tribesmen had when they realized that he understood them and to how he had gradually seen them become more accepting of dragons in their village and their lives.

Being directly asked the question helped to crystallize the answer for him. He liked seeing the old hostilities come to an end and culture that was built on violence and defiance change into something new.

 **To make a better world**

Svana stared at his response for quite a while before looking back at him. When she did it was with an odd expression, a mix of solemnity and amusement.

"That is very noble. That you are thinking beyond your own tribe is… most people don't do that. Most have more guile... Next time you come here you will have a much better place to stay, I promise."

He felt humbled by her words and deeply bowed towards her. Stormfly called out once and launched herself skyward at Astrid's coaxing. He waited a moment longer looking around the Vaina's village and all the people there to watch their departure. Then he turned away from them and leapt for the skies, quickly falling in beside Stormfly.

He found that he was going to miss some of them, even though he had only known them for a few days.

 _They are going to be just fine. Now off to the Volsung and another half-day of flying. I wonder what they are like. They can't be too bad._

* * *

Astrid directed Stormfly to land far down the beach from the Volsung. She wanted to have a word with him before they announced their arrival.

"Hiccup, I don't know what we will find when we get there. There were a few people who might have understood me when I was here the last time, but they are a far more violent tribe than the Vaina. Be ready to leave at any moment. If I say fly, you fly. Got it?"

He grumbled in acknowledgment, but privately thought that she was being too dramatic.

 **Don't worry**

"Let's just not spend any more time here than we have to, ok?"

He couldn't disagree with that.

They took to the air again and flew in toward the village. The first thing that he noticed was how much larger the place was compared to the Vaina. There had to be easily twice as many people living there. Not only that, but the rowboats this tribe had were larger and clearly faster.

 _They were raiders after all._

Oddly, he couldn't see any dragons, though they supposedly had some already.

 _I wonder where they are._

He hovered alongside Stormfly as a gathering of people began pointing up at them. Then he followed her down into the dirt square where they landed. They were met with a ring of armed men holding spears and shields. Stormfly stirred hesitantly and hissed in their direction while Astrid dismounted and marched up to the men. The crowd predictably started murmuring and whispering to each other.

"Who are you?" one of the men demanded to know.

"I am Astrid of Berk. Where is your Chief?"

The man turned and whispered to one of his comrades, who then ran off into the village.

"What is that beast doing here?" the man asked while pointing at Hiccup with his spear.

"He is here with me."

"Make it leave."

"Why? Are you afraid of him?"

"It is a monster. Get it off our island!"

She glanced back at Hiccup who had cringed slightly at the man's open hostility.

"Or what?"

Hiccup blinked in amazement. Astrid did not even flinch and defied a burly man who stood a full head taller than her.

"What are you going to do to Berk's representatives? Do you want to start a war?"

The man stuttered for a moment before finding his words.

"It is an unholy demon."

Astrid then did the last thing anyone would have expected. She laughed.

"A demon? Just look at him. Does he look like he wants to eat you?"

Everyone glanced at the dragon calmly sitting in their midst and looking out over them.

"We all thought that about them at one time. This is no different."

"Let's see what the Chief says. He won't like it though and he makes the rules here."

She just shrugged.

"If your Chief will not let him stay, then I will not stay either."

Astrid returned to Stormfly's side and an uncomfortable silence followed until...

"That's one special beast you have there," a new voice spoke out from the crowd.

She whirled around at the familiar voice of the Volsung Chieftain, who dismissed the soldier.

"Edgaras," she greeted him coolly.

"Why is that creature with you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know."

Edgaras glanced between her and the Fury before shrugging his shoulders.

"Have it your way then. What brings you back to my... charming tribe?"

"As charming as a goat's rear end."

He gave her a twisted grin.

"I'm glad we made an impression."

She fetched her travel sack from Stormfly's rigging.

"Stoick sent me here to give you a message and to give you any help with any dragon problems you may have," she explained as she handed over a sealed scroll.

"Though," she added, "you seem to have driven off all the other dragons, so there may be nothing for me to do here. Am I wrong?"

"Partly. We do have beasts of our own now."

"Really, I find that hard to believe from the last time I was here. Where are they?"

"Not here. We keep them outside the village. It is best that way."

She couldn't help but think that there was something he wasn't saying.

"Well, take a look at what Stoick wanted you to see."

He opened the scroll and started reading. He rolled up the scroll and sighed as if in disappointment when he finished.

"Stoick really has gone soft. Why does he think we need to go to your island to learn about how you treat your animals? We have ways of making dragons do what we want them to do. Any animal can be broken."

"I see you haven't changed," Astrid sighed.

"No, of course not. We used some of your tricks to get the beasts to stay at first. Then we caught them and made them learn to obey. It is amazing what just a few days or weeks without food does to make them docile."

She barely resisted the urge to punch him then and there. He could tell that she was getting annoyed by his words and continued.

"Just imagine how the raids of the future will be. Those without dragons will be easy to fight against, just swoop down and pluck their cattle and women into the sky."

"And you will make people fear and hate dragons by using them that way. That goes against everything that we have been working for."

He leaned toward her and whispered.

"Why should we care what you think?"

She didn't bother answering his rhetorical question.

"The only part of this," he held up the scroll, "that I find intriguing is the idea for the dragon-owning tribes to ally against any common enemies. My people, Berk, and the Vaina have been friendly enough with each other for generations. It helps when plundering to know that your neighbor will not knife you in the back."

Something about the seemingly-innocuous way he said it deeply unsettled her. It was almost like a veiled threat.

"I guess I'm not needed here then."

Edgaras stepped away from her and turned to his men.

"What do you think boys, do you need the girl's help to show the scalies who is in charge?"

"No!" the chorus rang out.

He turned back to her with a grin.

"You heard them. Though I'm sure that my men wouldn't mind if you stuck around for them. You'd certainly be a feisty one."

Those who could hear his taunt guffawed. She calmly turned from him and mounted Stormfly after re-tightening some ropes. Stormfly got to her feet and seemed eager to leave the present company behind.

"Where did your tribe get a Night Fury?" Edgaras innocently asked.

She ignored his original question.

"I doubt that anything can change you now, but he came with me to show you something. Something that we already showed the Vaina. Hiccup..."

"Show me what?" Edgaras demanded.

She pointed down at Hiccup, and Edgaras reluctantly followed her direction.

There, in the full view of dozens of witnesses, Hiccup lifted a claw and quickly carved symbols into the ground. When he finished, he looked up at Edgaras and saw the Chieftain's complete shock and disbelief. It was the first time he saw the man thoroughly perturbed.

The swoosh of wings and rush of wind signaled Stormfly's departure. Hiccup turned tail and vaulted into the air right behind the Nadder, leaving Edgaras and all the bystanders staring at three short words cut into the dirt.

 **I pity you**

* * *

Hiccup and Astrid stood beside each other on a bluff far enough north of the Volsung tribe that the village was barely visible. They stared out over the ocean, relaxing in the evening breeze for a while without saying anything. Stormfly lay resting behind them, being quite exhausted from all the day's flying.

"I did say that they were going to be worse."

 _That you did._

"Some of their younger people seemed more willing to listen to me last year. I wonder if what you did made a difference to any of them. That little stunt will surely get them talking. Did you really mean it?"

He solemnly nodded.

"I don't think I could be so kind."

 _Anger doesn't help anyone though._

"Looks like we are going to be staying here tonight. We go home tomorrow."

 _I like that plan._

He stayed on the peak overlooking the ocean after Astrid left to collect firewood. The events of the last few days kept playing themselves over in his mind. All the different reactions he had received and all the opinions he helped to shape for the better.

It felt like he had actually accomplished something meaningful. Doing menial tasks around Berk for his own tribe was better than nothing, but still left something to be desired.

He remained there and watched as the sun set beyond the horizon.


	20. I - Ransom

_"If you are not capable of cruelty, you are absolutely a victim to anyone who is." - Jordan Peterson_

* * *

Ransom

* * *

It was late on a rainy night when the attack happened. Nothing had been abnormal about the day, and everyone had taken shelter against the weather. No one had seen the boat that landed on a remote area of the eastern beach. A boat that was not flying any colors or bearing any other identifying mark.

The hooded figures sulking in the forest waited for the heaviest of the rainy evening to make their move.

They slipped around the edge of the village, keeping to the shadows, and avoided meeting any guards or the monstrous dragons. One of their party guided the others through the shrubbery and along the muddied paths while keeping away from most of the dwellings.

Then they found the Chief's house. A couple of the figures readied their ropes, nodded at each other, and stole inside, the creak of the door being barely audible over the downpour. They tiptoed through the house, hearts pounding furiously in the dark, until they found a room with two sleeping juvenile Night Furies.

The men looked at each other and prepared the ropes that they had brought. They did not have enough rope or manpower to tie up both of the dragons in one go. They looked at the two dragons and silently agreed on the slightly smaller one because it would likely put up less of a struggle.

They slowly advanced toward the bed and then acted together, clamping its jaws shut and throwing ropes around its legs and arms. It woke up immediately and started thrashing about, but they had already picked it up and tied its jaws shut. One of the men held its whip-like tail to prevent any noise. They clamped its wings in tight, causing it to moan in pain. The constant patter of the rain on the roof helped to cover most of the sounds. They spared the other dragon a glance as it started to shuffle nervously in its sleep. They slipped outside and hauled the squirming dragon out through the rain and toward the bushes where their lookout joined them.

The dragon thrashed violently and whimpered piteously. Then one of the men punched it in the temple, and it went limp.

"Now why'd you do that?" one of them complained.

"Don't want it making any noise," the puncher answered.

"Don't want it dead either."

"Come on, I didn't hit it that hard."

They checked and sure enough, it was breathing just fine.

"What about the other one?"

"Should be easy enough. This one here wasn't hard at all. We'll get it down to the boat and be right back. You keep lookout, Gormun."

They carried the captive dragon a full couple miles through the woods and down to the boat. It had woken back up halfway, but it remained completely docile and quiet.

The three men deposited the bound and limp dragon in the ship's hold and ran back through the forest with one staying behind at the ship.

Gormun held out a hand to warn them on their approach. It became very clear why when they inched toward the edge of the woods.

One of the Nightmare dragons had strolled by in front of the Chief's house. But instead of passing on by, it stopped and started sniffing at the ground.

"How long's it been there?"

"Just got here, I think it is smelling something."

"That's obvious you heap of yak dung."

"Who are you calling a heap of yak dung!"

"Stuff it! Look!"

The Nightmare was staring in their direction. Then it started walking toward them, very catlike and evidently malicious in its movements.

They gave each other a glance and turned back for the forest. The monster had clearly smelled them.

Better to get away with one of the beasties than to be caught and eaten. They abandoned their position and made their way back through the forest as quickly as their legs could carry them, frequently casting terrified glances behind them the whole while expecting something to come crashing through the shrubbery.

"What is the matter? Where is the other one?"

The three of them panted heavily to catch their breath.

"We couldn't get to it. We had to run. One of them was after us!"

They looked back into the dark and ominous forest. At any moment one of the demons could emerge and attack. It was not hard for them to make the decision.

"Let's go then. Get off this forsaken place while we can."

They all hurried aboard the vessel and pushed out to sea with their quarry chained in the hold. Though it was raining heavily, there was no true storm to churn up the seas against them. There were no other dragons anywhere in sight. They would be able to make their escape.

They all slapped each other on the back in congratulations at a mission accomplished once they put some distance between them and the shore.

While one of their number manned the ship, the other three took a moment to stare into the hold at the captive Night Fury. None of them had ever even seen a Night Fury before. Its black bulk and sleek form were unlike the few other dragons they had ever encountered, most of which had been dead.

It was almost completely unable to move and had closed its eyes in what had to be fear. The one who punched it, and who also appeared to be the leader of the party, chuckled and cracked his knuckles.

"Oh well, at least we got one of them. Actually…"

Sven grinned to himself.

"There was only one of those beasties in the house, wasn't there?"

"Uh, no there were two."

He cuffed Gormun on the shoulder and gave him a look.

"If there were two, then why didn't you get both of 'em? That's what he would ask. Do you understand me Valdr?"

Comprehension lit in Valdr's eyes.

"You're right. There was only one in there. Maybe the other one was running around the island, if there even is another one."

Sven nodded.

"Exactly. We captured the only Night Fury there. Alvin can't fault us at all. I can only imagine the great plans he has for this poor beast."

* * *

Toothless knew something was wrong the moment he woke up. His sleep had been stalked by bad night-visions. He imagined smelling strange smells, smells of two-legs not from this nest.

"Hiccup, do you…"

Hiccup's sleeping place was empty.

And the smell of strange two-legs was far too strong. Every feeling from his nosetip to his tailfins screamed that something was very wrong. He hopped out of the nest-den and followed the smell of the strange two-legs. The trail led outside and among the trees beyond the two-leg nest.

With every step, his fear grew and made his scales tingle. Even with all the crazy things that Hiccup was prone to, he would not just leave in before dawn with two-legs of another nest.

The path led all the way through the forest and down to the ocean. There on the sand by the shores of the sea, the trail vanished.

He stood tall on his rear legs and looked around.

"Hiccup!"

There was no answering call.

 _What did he do?_

All he saw was a pile of ropes farther back up the shore. He darted over and inspected them.

Once again, the smell of strange two-legs and of Hiccup was all over the ropes and chains. He remembered one of the horrible uses of rope and chains. In truth, there was only one reason he could think of why a two-leg would have these types of ropes and chains around a kin.

Someone had taken Hiccup!

He stood still in shock for several moments as the terrible truth sank its teeth into his insides.

There was no time to waste. He jumped into the air and flew furiously to get back to the nest. He hopped inside and ran straight up to Hiccup's sire's nest-room.

"Wake up!" he howled.

The male tended to sleep in longer than either himself or Hiccup. He heard the heavy footfalls as he rose from his sleep-nest.

"Hicc… Toothless?"

He turned around and darted into his and Hiccup's nest room. He waited until the sire stood in the path and sleepily stared in at him.

He in turn looked at his own nest and angrily growled at it.

The sire was clearly confused.

To emphasize his point he even extended his teeth and bared them toward the nest.

Stoick finally realized that something was wrong when Toothless went so far as to growl at his bed. But what?

"Hiccup! Something is wrong with Toothless!"

But Hiccup did not come running. The house was silent, save for his and Toothless's heavy breathing.

That Hiccup was missing was not terribly abnormal, but Toothless clearly thought something was wrong.

If only the dragon knew how to write and could tell him what the problem was.

Toothless got up and ran to the door with an obvious beckoning nod of his head. He clearly wanted him to follow, so he put on his boots and followed Toothless outside. He didn't even care that he was still wearing his night clothing. Toothless wanted to show him something important that had to do with Hiccup. That much was clear.

He followed Toothless all the way through the woods and down to a beach on the eastern corner of the island. Toothless stopped running and stood next to a pile of discarded refuse.

What stuck out to him though were the chains, burlap sack, and lengths of rope. Toothless caught his eye with a rumble and then growled ferociously at them.

He was just putting the pieces together when he noticed the final sign that convinced him of the terrible truth. There were footprints running up and down the beach from the water's edge to the soil. No possible doubt remained in his mind.

Someone had kidnapped Hiccup!

"No!"

He clenched his fist in raw anger.

Who would dare? This was an act of war! If any of the other tribes were responsible for this, he would make them pay.

All the tribes knew about Berk's two young Night Furies by now. They were the most special dragons in all the isles.

Could someone have possibly known exactly who they were kidnapping? It seemed that whoever had done this had deliberately chosen Hiccup.

It was impossible though, he had kept the secret too well.

Who would do something like this? Who wanted to strike against him? Letting Hiccup go out to the other tribes had clearly been a mistake.

He didn't have any time to lose. The sooner he got people up in the air to search, the better and the more likely that the attackers would be found and caught.

"Toothless, come!" he commanded.

Without waiting to see if Toothless followed, he turned and ran back to the village. He stormed up to the Great Hall and flung open the doors so firmly that they crashed into the walls with a loud clang.

Every head slowly swiveled to stare at the clearly-irate Chief.

"We have been attacked!"

Everyone was up and out of their chairs before the echoes of his roar had died away.

'Who?' 'Let me at'em!' 'Where?' 'How?'

"What happened?" Gobber's shout carried over the din or voices.

"Someone has stolen one of my dragons!"

Gobber cautiously broke the resulting silence.

"Uh, Stoick. I need to ask, how do you know one of them has been stolen? They do tend to… wander."

"Because he," he pointed down at the rather miserable-looking Toothless sitting next to him, "took me down to the beach where I found footprints, ropes, and chains. Someone was on Berk, and now Hiccup is gone!"

Everyone standing around him looked rightly angered at the revelation. It did not surprise him in the least that Astrid immediately stepped forward and spoke up.

"Chief, I will get all the riders up in the air and start searching. Do you know where they might have gone?"

"No Astrid, I don't even know who they are."

"Riders! Follow me! Go get everyone else and tell them to get up in the air and start looking! We have to find who did this." she screamed out to the entire Hall.

In spite of the situation, he couldn't help but be impressed at how quickly Astrid took charge of the situation and told people what needed to be done. She was becoming a fine leader.

Silence followed as the riders exited the Hall.

He spent a few more minutes explaining to Gobber and the rest still in the Hall everything that he knew, which admittedly was not much. Once he was done talking, he left the Hall to return home. He only vaguely noted that Toothless was nowhere to be seen.

This was easily the worst part, being stuck on the ground with no way to help find his son. There was nothing he could do but wait and hope that Astrid or the other Riders could find something.

"Odin help me…"

* * *

"Follow me!"

Fishlegs and the twins both followed her outside and waited for the rest of their group to assemble. She addressed them when they all arrived.

"You heard what happened, right? Someone kidnapped Hiccup!"

"I'm so angry right now!" Snotlout declared.

"We all are, Lout. Now, here is what we are going to do. We are going to split up and search off shore. Fly out as far as your dragons can. If you see a ship, follow it and figure out where it is going."

"Uh Astrid, not all of our dragons can fly as long as others," Fishlegs mumbled.

"Just do what you all can and then come back. Ruff, Tuff you go toward Dragon Island, maybe they will stop there. Fish, you can check around the island and among the sea-stacks. Lout, you take the open sea to the south. You go east, Gustav. I'll follow the wind to the southeast."

Everyone nodded in understanding.

"Someone attacked this tribe! Attacked one of our dragons. Let's go save him!"

The other five ran off to find their dragons and take to the skies. She wasted not a moment before running toward home and Stormfly's stable.

It took only a moment to fit the saddle on her dragon. Then she heard a familiar sound and spun around. Toothless was sitting behind her and intently crooning at her. She could see the concern in his green eyes.

Even though she had no idea what he was saying, his meaning was clear.

"Don't worry Toothless, I'll find him."

She hopped on Stormfly and beckoned her into the skies. Toothless bugled and followed, quickly catching up to her and flying out to sea with her.

 _He wants to help look._

It was time to hunt some kidnappers.

* * *

Up and down the axe flew as beads of sweat fell from his brow. The chop of the axe into wood echoed through the forest.

His two favorite activities when he was stressed or angered were drinking and chopping firewood, and he had already done enough of the first.

A full day had passed with no sign from anyone who had returned. The Ingerman lad had not found anything the first day. His nephews reported seeing nothing on the open seas.

It was so infuriating.

The Thorston twins and Astrid had not yet returned. That had to mean something. Maybe they were following the attackers, maybe they found something, maybe…

His anger boiled over, and he hurled the axe into a nearby tree while screaming his frustration at the skies. The axe tore chips of wood from the tree when he wrenched it free.

Then he sat down on the ground in exhaustion, quite relieved that no one was around to have seen that outburst of weakness.

 _Odin's beard, I'm getting old…_

 _I just can't help him…_

It was precisely that. A Chief and a father must protect his own, and he had failed to do that. Someone had stolen into his own house, the place that was supposed to be safest, and taken the person who was dearest to him.

He was powerless to do anything now. Only those who had dragons of their own could do anything about this threat.

This was the greatest reminder that he was still part of an old world. He had toyed with the idea of getting a real dragon of his own. The idea of being the only Chief to tame or ride a Night Fury had a certain appeal at one time. Finding out the truth of who he had living under his roof had changed all those plans. And there was certainly no point trying to make Toothless his own.

 _Might as well take the firewood back._

His musings and worrying did not abate as he returned to the village, firewood in hand.

It was entirely possible that Hiccup might escape; he was very clever after all. Whoever had taken him would not want to hurt him because a young Night Fury was too valuable.

Unless the attackers were dragon-hunters out for sport. Somehow that didn't feel right. This was too tactical, and was not the Berserker way.

He sought out the first person he could see for news.

"Any word Fjoli?"

"No Chief, Astrid is not back yet."

He nodded to acknowledge the answer and continued on his way.

The house was still empty when he got back, which meant that Toothless was still out. Where the dragon could be, he was not sure. But he found that he rather preferred the isolation at the moment.

He glumly shuffled over to the chest he kept in the corner. It was a plain, brown, wooden chest that he very rarely opened. What it contained was rather painful.

His hand trembled on the latch as he fought with himself. He needed to open it and to not open it at the same time. Then he gave it a flick and opened the chest.

The bags inside that contained gold coins were farthest from his mind. His fingers lightly brushed against the necklace emblazoned with a roughly-carved V. It had been his gift to his beloved when they wed.

He wiped his cheek of the tears.

There was something else in the chest though. Something he had kept on a whim and not had the heart to throw out. Half of a shattered, black dragon egg, the shell now frail and brittle.

He clearly remembered that day two winters ago when he had returned home and found two tiny dragons sleeping in front of the fireplace. They had been so small back then.

Two relics of the most important people in his life, one lost forever and the other…

"I shouldn't have let him go, my dear. Letting the other tribes see him was too dangerous. I was too careless."

It was late that afternoon when he heard a knock on the door and, simultaneously, heard the dragon's door open. He ran over to investigate, hoping for the best.

But it was only a tired and discouraged-looking Toothless that entered. His heart sank when Toothless looked up at him and grumbled before collapsing on the bedding.

Already expecting the news, he opened the door and met Astrid.

It was clear from the moment he saw her that the search had been fruitless. She looked thoroughly dejected and frustrated.

"Astrid, nothing I guess."

Her voice remained steady, though more subdued than he remembered.

"No sir, none of us found anything. We looked as long as we could. I… I failed."

Despite himself, he clasped her shoulder and gruffly answered.

"No Astrid, you did everything you could to find… them."

She sat down at the table and rested.

"So, what now Chief?"

It had to be one of the other tribes. No one else could have known about his dragons. Whoever was behind the attack had known where to find them, had known where they slept.

"I don't think the Vaina or Volsung would dare do this, not when they know we are stronger," he began.

"I agree. They have nothing to gain. Who would?" she asked.

She seemed nervous about broaching the topic.

"Can you think of anyone else Astrid? Anyone who would want to hurt us?"

"Only one sir, he was outcast along with those loyal to him."

' _You will regret this.'_

He remembered Mildew's final shouted words. They had seemed only those of a defeated, old man. Now they seemed more ominous. But who could have helped him, as it seemed like had happened?

 _He can't have done it alone. Would the others who I Outcast do this to me?_

He started pacing, deep in thought.

"Why? What would he want?"

"Revenge maybe?" she offered.

"He was always a spiteful old man."

"Maybe the Outcasts did it."

Stoick stared into the fireplace.

"So he and his men joined the Outcasts. They told the… Outcast's leader what they knew about Berk; told him about my dragons. And…. then what?"

Stoick resumed his pacing for a full minute before reaching a conclusion.

"He planned this to get back at me…" he mumbled.

"Sir?"

"Nothing Astrid, nothing."

"What do you want me to do?" Astrid asked.

"I want you to get some rest. Then I want you to go to the Outcast's island and find out what you can. See if they are involved. But you need to do this in secret. Don't let them know you are there."

"I can do that, sir."

"The Outcasts… they are Outcasts from their tribes for a reason. Be careful of them."

"What if they did do it, and he is their prisoner? What should I do?"

"Come right back here and let me know. Don't try to do anything on your own."

"Yes, sir."

Neither of them noticed that Toothless had been attentively watching them during their entire discussion.

* * *

Her mother met her as soon as she returned home. The slight scowl Vidarr wore was quite a change from what she was accustomed to seeing.

"I know that look. He is sending you off again, isn't he?"

"Yes, mother."

Vidarr crossed her arms in front of her chest and frowned at the thought of her daughter leaving again.

"Where to this time?"

 _Ugh… you really don't want to know..._

"I'm not sure yet, he was going to tell me more about it tomorrow. I know you don't like me leaving again, but I have to do this."

Her mother sighed.

"I just can't help but worry Astrid. Every time I see you and Stormfly fly off somewhere I wonder if you won't come back. I worry that you might get captured and bad men will…"

 _Funny that you mention that…_

"I'd like to see anyone try. Don't forget who I am, mom. I can handle myself. I don't think Stormfly would like that either."

She at least grinned at the brave face her daughter was putting on.

"Do you at least know what you will be doing?"

"I'll be helping to look for the Chief's dragon."

By now everyone on the island knew what happened and it needed no explanation.

"Oh, little Hiccy. Terrible. Who would dare do a thing like that?"

 _You don't want to know that either..._

"Well, I hope you can go find him and bring that little guy back. He is a very special dragon."

Astrid paused at the door.

"He is indeed," she whispered.

* * *

She set out for Outcast Island at first light with no fanfare and with limited supplies. She only brought her trusty knife for defense because her mission was one of secrecy. That made the load easier on Stormfly and let them make better time. No one other than her parents and Stoick knew about her mission.

Or so she had thought.

She had barely strapped her meager supplies to the saddle when she spied Toothless attentively watching from aside Stormfly's stable. Unsurprisingly, he seemed to be waiting for her to do something, so she walked over to him and spared him a moment.

"Hey Toothless, uh, I am not sure if you understand me but I will find Hiccup."

He fixed her with his hard gaze and seemed to grumble to himself for a moment in frustration. Then he gestured at his own chest and stretched his wings. It slowly dawned on her what he was trying to communicate. She didn't even question how he knew what she was about to do.

"No, no, no, Toothless. You can't come with. I have to do this…"

 _How to tell him?_

She pointed at herself and then pretended to sneak by crouching down and looking around. He grumbled again and replied by very deliberately sniffing and glaring back at her.

"No Toothless, I…"

He just growled, ignored her, and launched himself skyward where he started doing slow spirals. He was clearly waiting for her and Stormfly.

 _No stopping him then…gods I hope he can stay hidden. What am I thinking? He is a Night Fury, of course he can stay hidden if he wants to. He better._

Her worrying was interrupted by Stormfly butting in, saddle in mouth.

"And you, I know that you can be quiet when you need to. Well, let's get on with this. We have someone to save."

Toothless fell in beside her once they were aloft. The trio only stopped once around midday to land on an uninhabited island that was little more than a jut of rock. Astrid started to take off some of Stormfly's rigging when Toothless butted into her and grumbled at her.

"Hey, what was that for?"

He looked around the deserted place and hissed.

"Yeah, there is not much here."

He just looked back up at the sky and flapped his wings.

"No Toothless, we need to wait. Oh, you don't know what I'm saying…"

Then she got his attention by pointing at the sun and then pointing down. His head bobbed as he looked up into the sky and then down at the ground, trying to make sense of her pointing. Then, like a torch catching ablaze, he seemed to understand her meaning. They needed to wait until nightfall.

He groaned once in resignation and then curled up where he stood, shading himself under an outstretched wing.

She leaned against Stormfly's side in the shade and lost herself in her thoughts. What was Hiccup having to endure? How was she going to get the information she needed?

Then she laughed and gently slapped Stormfly's side.

"Would you do that for me, you big chicken? Fly the seas to rescue your little human?"

Stormfly chittered briefly and then returned to her nap.

"Yeah, I thought you would…"

Her thoughts then took a more somber path as she wondered how she was going to get the information she needed. She was familiar with the tales of how horrific the Outcasts were. When even a naturally-violent people as the many Northern tribes couldn't accept someone's behavior, it said all that needed to be said about the ones who were Outcast. And that did not even include all those who were Outcast for treachery or law-breaking.

The best plan she could think of was to spend most of the afternoon here and only get to Outcast island after nightfall. Then she could sneak into the mead hall and listen to the gossip. The capture of a Night Fury had to be something people would talk about, and nothing was better at loosening lips than mead.

There was just the problem of possibly running into someone who might recognize her. But that was a risk she was willing to take.

* * *

She could feel her palms sweating and her heart racing as the moment drew nearer. They glided in and touched down. She dismounted from Stormfly and shivered at the thought that the ground under her feet belonged to Outcast Island.

Astrid looked off to the east where the torches of the harbor burned brightly, though no one seemed to be about after dark. All the better for her.

Outcast Island. The place where parents threatened to send misbehaving children. The place where the vilest of the vile were sent. And now she was standing on it and about to walk right into the bear's den.

Even Stormfly, normally very assured of herself, seemed uneasy, though maybe because of her rider's nervousness. She reassured her dragon with a rub under her chin.

"Alright girl, you need to stay here. Stay."

Stormfly obediently shuffled about and lay down. Toothless, however, did not stay put. He had vanished into the night as soon as they landed.

 _I hope he knows what he is doing. At least he isn't trying to follow me into town. I think..._

She paused on the outskirts of the village and surveyed all she could see. There were only a couple of guards illuminated by torchlight off in the distance.

 _Ok, where is the mead hall? Where would everyone go?_

There was only one building that could possibly be the one. It had the most people coming and going, was the brightest lit, and seemed to be generating the most noise. She snuck closer to the building, remaining hidden by the shadows.

The idea of her walking into the Outcast's mead hall, alone, to be surrounded by a bunch of violent, drunk men suddenly seemed quite stupid.

 _No, not just stupid. Absolutely crazy._

She paused across from the hall and wondered what her next step could possibly be. Then she noticed a side door open and a girl walked out. She saw her opportunity and marched straight across to that door. She patted the dagger hidden by her hip for reassurance, adjusted her traveling cloak, and snuck inside.

Instantly, her senses were assailed by the smell of mead and other strong drinks, bread and meats, and the raucous, constant chatter of dozens of voices. Bursts of laughter would echo out at any moment.

 _I don't even want to know what they are laughing about._

She seemed to be in a storeroom from all the large barrels lying around. She crept toward the door to the main hall and creaked it open. Dozens of burly men were gathered around the tables, eagerly emptying their mugs and chatting with their fellows. Some of the individual conversations were embarrassing just to overhear, but that was even true back on Berk at times. Some guys were just too… vivid with details.

There were several serving girls carrying pitchers to individual tables and enduring near-constant catcalls.

But she couldn't overhear anything about dragons over all the noise.

 _Alright, here goes nothing._

And she stepped through the door. She stood still, as if in a daze, as she looked around the hall in a mix of disgust, fear, and excitement. One of the serving girls picked up a new pitcher of mead, and she confidently walked over and picked up one herself.

It was a gamble to pretend to be just another server. Any of the Outcasts from Berk in the tavern were more likely to spot her. But it seemed like the best way to get the information she needed.

"Girl! Over here," a gruff voice shouted.

She glanced over and saw a table of three hefty men leering at her. Outwardly she smiled at them while she secretly imagined what would happen if she commanded Stormfly to roast them alive.

"What's such a purty face doing here?" the first man asked her.

"It's not 'er face I care 'bout," the second replied.

"I know, you'd even do it with a cow," said the first.

"You talking about his wife or the farm animals?" the man on the corner seat asked.

"Both!" the first answered.

All three of them laughed heartily.

"Oh, you men are so funny," she teased.

"Yeah, I guess we are. I'm Raigor Strongarm," the first man to speak said.

"How'd you get that name?" she pretended to be interested.

"How? Like this!"

He put his elbow on the table and showed her his muscles. He was definitely very strong.

"Go on, feel it."

She reluctantly felt his forearm.

"That's very impressive Raigor. You are very strong. You know what I really like? I like men who know things, secret things. Guys who know what the boss, Alvin, is up to."

"Oh really?" the corner man said.

"Yeah," she said.

"I know everything he has been up to. But it will cost you."

She nervously chuckled while keeping up her faux smile.

"And what is the price?"

He extended his knee and grinned.

"Sit."

She hesitated for a moment as she weighed all the reasons why she should definitely not do it. It was beneath her dignity and her mother would never approve. It also felt wrong to try to get such a man's attention using… such charms. But she had to do it to play along with his game, so she put the pitcher on the table and reluctantly sat on his thigh.

The other two men whistled at her and jeered while the corner man chuckled to himself.

"And who are you?"

"I'm Lucan. What do you want to know?"

She was about to answer when his hand moved from his side up to her chest and grabbed at her breast. She reached over to push his hand away but he resisted. It took a conscious effort on her part to not grab for her knife and cut him that instant.

"Now now sir, you… shouldn't do that."

"Oh, but I want to."

The three men guffawed and nudged each other in amusement. She closed her eyes and clenched her fists under the table, trying desperately to ignore the feel of his fingers.

"So... has Alvin done... anything special?"

"Oh yeah, he had some of his boys go hunting for some big game."

Her heart skipped a beat.

"Hunting big game?"

"Yeah, he even caught one and brought it back here."

"One what?"

Lucan leaned toward her and whispered in her ear.

"A dragon."

"A dragon?" she pretended to be surprised.

"Yeah, saw it myself. A little black beast."

 _Hiccup!_

"And… what is he going to do with it?"

Lucan groaned and waved his free hand.

"No idea. Keep it as a pet probably, I don't really know or care."

She took a deep breath of relief.

"Well, I should get back to work."

He grabbed her wrist to stop her from leaving.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I… I'm going to get more ale."

"Well, get right back here. I'm not done with you!"

He let go of her hand and slapped her on the rear as she turned away from the table. The three men laughed at each other and continued making lewd comments. She silently fumed as she strode toward the storeroom, doing her best to ignore the catcalls and leering glares from the tables she passed by. She slammed the door behind her and stood in the dim light, practically trembling with anger.

She walked over to a spare bench, sat down, and sobbed into her trembling hands. No one had ever touched her like that before. She felt violated and dirty, like she had spent a day shoveling dung without washing afterward. Perhaps the worst part was that she had let him coddle her even though it seemed necessary to learn what she needed to know. If Snotlout had ever tried to do that to her, she would have cut off his offending hands or dueled him to the death for her honor.

It had seemed necessary to compromise her honor slightly for information. But no one knew what she had done here. She certainly wasn't going to tell anyone back on Berk. No one would know. Except she would always remember.

She seemed to feel someone staring at her and looked up to see one of the serving girls a couple paces away. The girl had clearly been watching her cry for a while.

"Hey, are you ok?"

Astrid wiped her cheek with her cloak and nodded.

"I don't know you. Who are you?"

"I'm… no one," Astrid answered.

The girl didn't look any older than her and had a very tired look in her eyes.

"How do you endure… them?" she asked the strange girl.

"I don't know. Mostly they just touch, so I don't care about that. And when they do want more… it is not like I can stop them."

Astrid felt disgusted again, but this time it was by what this girl had just said. How could this girl just accept being mistreated and used by these vile excuses for men. It made her very thankful that her father and mother had taught her to respect herself and stand up for her honor.

But her more sympathetic side said that she didn't know what this girl had been through; she had not been mistreated every single day for most of her life. Maybe this resignation and numbness was the natural result of being regularly abused. Maybe it somehow helped the girl make it through each day.

 _I will not end up like that! Never!_

"I'll be going now," Astrid mumbled before walking over to the door. But she paused after opening it and looked back at the serving girl.

"Stand up for yourself. No one else here will."

Then Astrid stepped outside without waiting to hear if the girl gave her any response. She set out through the village, ignoring the few people she did pass by and holding her dagger under her cloak as a precaution. Thankfully, she did not run into anyone who was interested in her and was able to make it back to camp without being accosted. Cloud cover had rolled in and made it much darker than it had been before.

Stormfly quickly rose at her approach, and Astrid eagerly ran over to hug the dragon's spiny head. Stormfly seemed to feel that her human was upset by something and eagerly nuzzled her back.

"Hey girl, I'm glad to see you. Yeah, yeah, I know you are happy to see me. We should leave soon, I hope you aren't too tired. Can't stay here and be seen."

Gathering up the few supplies she had brought was quite difficult in the near total darkness, and she had to rely on memory more than sight. Once she was done there was just one more detail.

"Hmm, I wonder where he has gone… TOOTHLESS!"

The only warning was a slight shuffling sound behind her that could not be from Stormfly. She spun around and was met with a huff of dragon breath to the face and faintly glowing eyes. She just barely managed to not scream in surprise.

"Toothless! Don't… don't do that."

He just grumbled at her in what she thought was a questioning tone.

"Hiccup is here, I know he is."

Toothless looked off toward the distant lights and growled softly.

"We cannot stay here. We have to go back to Berk."

He must have understood her meaning from his sad warble. Even through the darkness, she could see how his ears drooped.

 _Gods, I've never seen him so… lost before._

She inched closer to him and was surprised that he didn't shy away when she put a hand on his neck.

"Toothless, look at me," she whispered.

He did.

"We are not leaving Hiccup. We need to let the others know that he is here."

He shuffled about anxiously and grumbled to himself. She gave him a final pat on the neck and then returned to Stormfly. She was pleased to see that Toothless spread his wings too in preparation for flight.

"Come on girl, let's go home."

The three of them were aloft moments later, Toothless only distinguishable as a moving void silhouetted against the clouds. The midnight winds had a chill that she was not used to, and she crouched as closely to Stormfly's back as she could. The dragon needed no direction to know the way home.

Astrid spared a single backward glance though the clouds at the distant lights from Outcast Island. She tried to imagine what was going to happen once she relayed what she knew to Stoick. He was going to learn that the Outcasts invaded his island without provocation and abducted his son. Would that mean war between their tribes? It had been generations since one of the local tribes had made true war against another. The terrible possibility seemed to draw closer.

 _I'll be back on that island soon for sure. One way or another._

* * *

Hiccup did not like ropes at the moment. They were tightly wrapped around his entire body, awkwardly pinning his wings in against his side. They had even tied down his tail, apparently lest someone get whipped out of frustration. Nor did he appreciate the collar and chains around his neck and the bindings around his mouth. The tiny cell he was locked in was also absolutely inhumane.

Actually, there was almost nothing about his current situation that he liked.

It had been three days that the ship had been at sea. They left him locked in the cell almost all the time. It was not difficult to figure out that the men were Outcasts. The way they acted and the language they used clearly seemed like people who were not part of a proper tribe. A violent, gods-forsaken group of oathbreakers and Loki-spawn cast out from proper tribes for their crimes. What had clinched it though was when he overheard one of them mention Alvin's orders. That could only mean Alvin the Treacherous and the Outcasts.

He sighed and shuffled about to find a more comfortable position.

 _Why would he want to kidnap me?_

The one positive in all this was that none of his kidnappers had actually done him any violence except for the initial punch. That first day had been the worst, especially when he overheard the one named Sven talking about gutting the 'black beast' for fun. But he was almost certain that such speech was just boasting or in jest. He had half expected them to kick him or starve him or something else bad. Instead, they brought him fresh-caught fish or salted meat every day as well as some water.

He had the crazy thought the first day that he might be able to communicate with them, if only he could get free for a few moments. But they did not even spare him a glance except in anger or apparent hate; he never even had a chance to make real eye contact. Plus, there was nothing for him to write on or write with.

Most humbling of all was being treated like a dumb animal after being a part of a tribe that had come to accept him and speak to him as an equal. The silence of not being spoken to, that was something he had always been accustomed to. Not having the opportunity to relieve himself in a civilized way though was the worst part.

There was still the chance that someone might come to rescue him. Toothless was sure to realize that something was wrong and would find a way to let his father know. And then…

But from what he could tell there was no sign that the boat was being followed.

 _How could they ever know where I am? Stupid me..._

He was on his own for now.

Three whole days of wondering about these men's motives, or of Alvin's intentions. Three miserable days alternatively trapped in a foul cell, to say nothing of how uncomfortable the ropes and bindings were. Three days that passed in a slow, monotonous blur.

Then he distinctly heard the sound of seagulls. Seagulls meant land. Land meant he was closer to being off the ship, and also closer to Alvin. It was shortly thereafter that he heard the men start shouting to each other and to other voices he could barely hear. There was no doubt after the boat pitched and came to rest.

They had arrived at Outcast Island.

The ship docked and Sven and another captor, Balder he was called, brought him out of the holding pen. A couple other strange men came up and walked on either side of him, probably in case he tried to escape. He had no real choice but to follow them, led by the rope he had been muzzled with.

If he had expected to see a broken-down wreck of a village, he was very surprised by what he saw.

The Outcasts had established a small community on their island. There were pens filled with farm animals, people were hard at work, and everything seemed rather ordinary. Almost as though this was just another tribe of people instead of the horrific, faithless, gods-forsaken, oath-breaking heathens that they were. The main difference compared to what he was used to was of course that there were no other dragons that he could see. All the people around him looked his way in a mix of fear, awe, and anger; however, everyone looked away from him as his gaze wandered in their direction.

Still, being paraded through the village like a prize cattle was deeply embarrassing.

However, even the surprise from being on Outcast island and seeing how normal it looked didn't stop him from shivering slightly when he saw the dragon skulls hung as decorations over many of the doors.

 _We used to be like that too though._

He was led through the village square and toward one of the larger buildings whose purpose he could not initially guess. It didn't look quite like the Outcast's mead hall. It became very clear what it was when he was brought up to the massive doors and could smell the place.

 _It's their stables._

But it wasn't exactly true. There were cells inside in which there were several other dragons. But the cells were like Berk's old dragon-fighting arena's cells had been. Metal bars enclosed each cell and the trapped dragons were chained or muzzled to various degrees. Most of them lay flat on their bellies and didn't bother looking up as he was brought in.

 _What are they doing here?_

"Alright, which one does this go in?" Valdr asked.

"None of them," shouted a new voice.

Hiccup looked at the strange man and his two guards. He was very tall and strong with a short-cropped beard. Most significantly though, he had a presence and air of authority that clearly indicated that he was in charge here. That meant that he had to be...

"Boss, here's the beast," Sven said as he handed over the reins.

Alvin took the rope and stared down at Hiccup with a very appraising look.

"Where is the other one?"

Sven and Baldr glanced at each other.

"There was only one in Stoick's house. We looked around for the other but one of their Nightmare-beasts almost caught and ate us."

"I see. He said there were two of them. I wonder what happened to the other one. Maybe it died. Who knows."

"Where is it going to be put?" Sven asked.

Alvin looked back up at the few men gathered around.

"I've had a special cell built outside the village. This beast is worth more than all the other dragons we've captured, and I don't want to risk anything happening to it. My boys will take it away. You've all done well. An extra portion of mead for all of you."

The men cheered and congratulated each other on a mission accomplished.

 _Typical... a bit more mead in return for a mission to sail to another tribe, sneak into someone's house at night, and steal a dragon, seems like a fair trade..._

Alvin's two armed guards took the reins and led him from the Outcast's stables and out through the village toward the nearby mountains. After a few minutes of walking, they eventually got to a cliff which had a prominent cave at its base. Sure enough, there was a cage inside the cave's entrance.

 _Great, another cage..._

The two men dragged him up to the cage and shoved him inside without removing any of his bindings. Then they stationed themselves outside the cave and took up guard duty.

He looked around his new prison and made sure that he couldn't somehow break out. While being bound and imprisoned was not enjoyable, at least he wasn't on a rocking boat anymore and he didn't have to lay on hard boards this time. This time he was on dirt, which meant he could write. Plus, he was mostly out of the way of the Outcasts and wouldn't need to suffer much attention.

 _Now, why did they capture me? Think... I don't get it._

He lay down and closed his eyes.

 _I'm sure Alvin will come up here sometime. Then I'll ask him. That will be a big surprise for him._

* * *

Astrid arrived back on Berk slightly after dawn. The flight back home was very quick for both dragons as they were flying on a tailwind the whole way. Still, both Stormfly and Toothless were very exhausted and wandered off in their own directions after landing.

The first persons she sought out were her parents, whom she immediately ran over to. She threw herself into her mother's arms.

"Mom…"

"Oh starling, what's the matter?" she said as she ruffled her daughter's hair.

"Nothing, I just… I'm glad to be back here."

"I guess you didn't find anything."

"Actually I did."

Then her father came over and gave her a hug as well.

"What's the matter?"

"I have a bad feeling... And I am just tired of being sent all over the seas for the other tribes out there."

"I agree. Maybe you should settle down here on Berk. Get married..."

"Really dad?" she groaned.

"You know I like to tease you, my daughter," he chuckled.

She sighed.

"I know. I should go report to the Chief."

"Ok, we will have some soup for you when you get back," her mother mentioned.

Then she headed on up to Stoick's house. She reached out to knock on the door but paused. This moment, this information that she was going to convey could drive her tribe to war.

 _I didn't cause this. They did. And we can't let them keep Hiccup as a prisoner._

She knocked twice and nervously waited. Then the door slowly creaked open. She stifled a gasp when she saw her Chief.

He looked very unkempt with his beard all tangled and hair unwashed. He also smelled heavily of ale.

"Astrid, you are back! Come in…"

They both sat down at the table, which incidentally had several empty mugs scattered on it.

"So, what did you find out? Tell me."

"I... overheard some men there boasting that Alvin had his men capture a dragon. A small black one."

A dark shadow seemed to pass across Stoick's face.

"I couldn't see the dragon myself, but it has to be him."

Stoick stood up without saying anything and started pacing with his hands behind his back. She could not quite tell what he was thinking, and she could not bring herself to ask.

"Astrid, how many dragons do we have?"

"Pardon?

"How many trained dragons do we have that could fight for us?"

"Fight? About twenty, but we haven't been training them to fight."

"They are dragons, Astrid. I don't think they have forgotten."

"Do you think we will have to fight the Outcasts?" she reluctantly asked after a brief pause.

"I know Alvin. He is not the type to sue for peace," he growled back.

"Maybe we don't need to actually fight them. We could just show them how many dragons we have, and then they will have to give him back."

Stoick just frowned and waved his hand dismissively in the air.

"Alvin has never been one to listen to reason before. If I had a dragon of my own that I could fly on, I'd go there right now and tear out his beard myself..."

 _They must have a history together..._

"But would he risk his tribe being destroyed?"

Stoick stared off at the wall, clearly contemplating something.

"Maybe you are right. Talking to them could be a good idea. But they attacked us; they attacked me and took my... one of my dragons."

She said nothing and pretended to not have noticed his near-stumble.

"I cannot let that go unpunished. What lesson would that set if I let my own tribe get attacked and don't respond with force?"

It seemed a rhetorical question, so she didn't answer.

"That would make me look weak."

"So what are we going to do about it?" Astrid asked.

She waited as Stoick stared toward the fireplace, clearly deep in thought.

"I will ready the ships and go to meet Alvin. It takes three days to sail there. You will bring all of our dragons on the third day."

He made a fist and violently slammed it down on the table.

"And I will burn down his entire island if he does not give me back my dragon."

* * *

He had the entire tribe assemble in the mead hall at midday. It was only fair to let them all know what was going to happen and how he... how they all had been attacked.

"Everyone, gather around. There is news!"

He waited as everyone settled down and gave him their attention.

"We all remember that someone stole one of my dragons."

Yes, everyone murmured.

"I found out who did it. It was Alvin and the oath-breaking Outcasts!"

"Damn them... By the gods... Mildew... I knew it..."

"Yes, they snuck into our tribe like the cowards they are and attacked us."

"How dare they... Sure did... Let me at'em..."

He held up his hands and bid them quiet down.

"I am going to sail to Outcast Island and get my dragon back. Who is with me?"

No hands immediately went up.

"Think about it. We cannot let this attack go unanswered. What will it be next, will we stand by idly and let them take our sheep or our daughters?

"No!" several voices shouted.

"Are the dragons part of Berk just like you and me?" Astrid added.

"Yes!"

"And are the Furies special among all the dragons?" she added.

"Yes!"

Stoick looked around at the hands that started going up throughout the crowd.

"That's more like it. But I only need a few of you for the ships. Everyone who rides a dragon will also fly to Outcast Island a couple days later."

"Sir, what will the riders be doing there?" Fishlegs hesitantly asked.

Stoick grabbed his hammer and held it aloft.

"They will come with to make sure the Outcasts do what we want, or else we destroy the Outcasts!"

A roar echoed out from the assembled crowd as everyone got to their feet.

"Have we forgotten how to wield the axe and hammer?" Stoick roared.

"No!"

"Are we weak and frail?"

"No!"

"Have our dragons lost their fire?"

"No!"

"Will we abandon one of our own?"

"No!"

"Good. Ready the ships! We leave immediately."

With that, Stoick marched out of the Hall to raucous applause from his gathered people. Everyone started talking about the possibility of war with the Outcasts and how easy the battle would be with the dragons on their side.

Astrid listened in on all these conversations people were having and felt disturbed. They reminded her of things the other tribes would say; that dragons were tools or weapons to be used.

 _We've never actually been raided by another tribe. We don't know how bad it is. Gods, I hope it doesn't come to war._

There were also logistical problems for her to consider. She had to gather all the dragon-riders along with their beasts and lead them all in a flight across the ocean to a new island. Nothing like that had even been attempted before. Plus, no one had ever thought to teach their dragons commands for attack. It hadn't seemed necessary.

She saw a group of her riders assembled in a corner of the Hall and already eagerly talking to each other. Fishlegs and Gustav looked rather concerned, while the twins and Snotlout looked more excited.

 _That figures..._

They all hopped to attention as she approached.

"You heard the Chief, let's start getting ready. We need to check on everyone else who can fly with us."

"Do you think there will really be war?" Gustav piped up.

"I hope not but we need to be ready in case."

She sent them all off to meet the other dragon riders on Berk. Fishlegs stayed behind for a moment with something clearly on his mind.

"Astrid, do you agree with Stoick? Is this the best way?"

"I tried to talk to him. He seems certain that Alvin won't cooperate. But he is the Chief; we have to do as he says."

"Will our dragons need to fight the Outcasts?"

She didn't answer that question.

"Because I don't think any of us have taught them those things. We've tried to avoid violence you know."

"I know Fish. I'm sure Alvin will see reason and do what is right."

Privately, she wasn't so sure.

* * *

He stood on the precipice of the cliff and watched as the two-leg boats moved out to sea. All the biggest two-legs had been directed onto the floating-tree-things by Hiccup's sire. It was clear what was going on.

The sire was going to save Hiccup and was taking much of the nest with him to fight. It was good that the Alpha and sire should protect his own. He just wished that he could do something as well. Just like all those season-cycles ago when he had known in his liver that Hiccup was in danger.

It was something that he had never gotten around to explaining to Hiccup. Kin could sometimes know when one of their closest kin was in danger. It was a feeling deep in the liver that could only be felt to understand. That it had worked back then was completely unexpected since Hiccup was then only a two-leg.

He growled and shuffled anxiously as the floating-tree-den water-walkers continued on their journey.

 _I should be there to help fight._

He had never seen two-leg nests fighting with each other. How would that fight happen? What would it look like? Or would there not be a fight at all?

 _Why is he not taking any kin with him? They are much better for fighting. Maybe it would just be a battle of Alphas where each tries to show dominance by being strong. Perhaps threats or talk alone could make the other Alpha give up Hiccup._

He spread his wings, jumped from the cliff, and glided down onto a small cropping of rocks at the ocean's edge. Once he landed and settled down, he turned back to the rocky cliff face and took several deep breaths.

 _I can do this._

All his focus went to that feeling that had once been instinctive. To the act of letting his inner-fire-air mix with his mouth-water. He stared at one specific place on the rock wall, gathered the destructive mass in the back of his throat, and...

Coughed violently.

Then he growled in frustration with himself.

 _Am I still not big enough?_

It wasn't easy to remember how many cycles he had passed when he first learned how to wield his flame. It seemed like he should be able to by now. Not having that fire at his disposal was like being fangless and clawless in a way.

 _More waiting... grr... maybe I'll be able to flame next cycle._

He jumped from the rock and flew back up to the nest and nudged open the entrance to his and Hiccup's two-leg cave. His bed cushioned with furs was as comfortable as always, but something else was different about the cave.

It was empty and completely quiet.

He closed his eyes and dreamed of gliding over the enemy nest and raining down glowing destruction on the beasts that took Hiccup.

* * *

Astrid walked purposefully through the village toward the forge at midday. A full day had passed since Stoick took the ships out to sea, and she had spent the time since thinking long and hard about combat.

Her lessons of years past about how to fight dragons were as deeply ingrained as ever. All the techniques for blocking with a shield, thrusting with a spear, and hacking with axe and sword were still clear to her three years since she had practiced with them.

Dragons all had weaknesses. Only now she was in the position of having to worry for the safety of Berk's dragons. A single stray spear or a lucky arrow could kill any of their dragons. That was a risk that now needed to be considered and planned for.

Nords had armor and shields for protection, but dragons only had their natural scales. While those were certainly formidable defenses, they did not cover all vulnerable areas, like the neck and throat.

If Berk's dragons were going to see war, it was only right that they should be protected.

"Gobber, are you there?"

"Aye, around back."

She walked around to the rear of the forge and found Gobber sitting on an old stump, staring out to sea.

"You look quite thoughtful," she mumbled.

"I was wondering what's going to happen out there. I told him that I should come with, but he only wanted the best to go with him on the ships. Not this..." he waved his stump in the air.

"We will be going after him tomorrow. Everyone who can fly there at least. I hope that we only need to ensure a diplomatic solution."

"Who knows? Dragons can be useful in aggressive negotiations," he added.

"That's actually what I meant to talk to you about. We both know almost all dragons' weaknesses. It doesn't seem right to take them into battle without any protection at all."

"Hmm, I hadn't given any thought to that. Never thought they needed much more protection."

"I just think that we should do something to help them. Especially since we seem to be thinking of them like weapons now..." she let her displeasure seep into her voice.

Gobber easily noticed.

"You don't like what Stoick said."

"Obviously."

"That sounds like something Hiccup would say too. I guess I think that they are a definite advantage, and we would be stupid to not use them in our defense. Just like we would expect any great warrior to help out the clan."

"But think about it Gobber. If we start using them as weapons, the other tribes will have to do the same. Everyone will have to get bigger, meaner, and deadlier dragons of their own before other tribes can. That cannot end well."

"Maybe not, but that is out of our hands, or hand in my case, to decide. There have always been wars as far back as the histories tell even if we have avoided them for a while. We should be thankful that we are on the strong side now."

She reluctantly sighed.

"I suppose that makes sense even if I don't like it much. Anyhow, I have a few ideas for some armor that we could make for them. Mainly for the neck and belly since the main danger they would face would be from bows and arrows."

He took the sketch that she brought and looked it over.

"This is really good, Astrid. I daresay almost as good as Hiccup's old drawings. I can get started on these as soon as I get some measurements and a lot of leather. It'll be my next real project."

"But not before tomorrow?"

"Sorry, it takes time and a lot of leather..."

She mulled it over before voicing another question she had.

"Why do you think Alvin did this? Do you think he knows about Hiccup?"

Gobber looked unusually thoughtful as he rubbed his chin.

"I doubt it. It's possible Hiccup may have slipped up and let someone know who he is, but I think we'd know if that secret got out. No, Alvin probably just sent his men to capture Stoick's dragons. If I had to guess, I'd say that Alvin wants something from Stoick and thinks that he can negotiate by keeping Stoick's pet as prisoner."

That seemed like a reasonable explanation to her, but there was something else that was bugging her. Something that she couldn't ask anyone else on the island.

"Gobber, do Stoick and Alvin have a history together?"

Gobber sighed and took a deep breath.

"I really shouldn't say anything about it, but you and me are already keeping one big secret anyway. They were best friends once."

"What?" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, best friends. Got into all kinds of trouble when they were lads. Running off into the woods at night, hunting wolves, peeking at ladies, and pretending to be Chiefs. There was one big difference between them though. Stoick was better at following rules when it mattered. Alvin seemed to enjoy being chaotic and unpredictable without listening to anyone. So Stoick became Chief and Alvin's antics became more than a nuisance to the tribe."

"It was after Valka was taken and he was left to raise Hiccup on his own. Alvin disobeyed a direct order from Stoick and took several youths out into the woods for survival training. Out there they were attacked by a dragon that burned one of the kids. That's how Rangrim the Hideous got half his face melted. I'd never seen Stoick so mad. He and Alvin practically shouted themselves hoarse; Alvin saying that he was just keeping up tradition and making boys into men and Stoick saying that Alvin disobeyed an order from his Chief."

"I guess both were right. Anyhow, it ended with them both drawing blades and Stoick Outcasting his former best friend. They haven't seen each other since then."

"Wow, I thought that they had a bad history. What do you think they are going to do when they meet?" Astrid wondered.

"All I am sure of is that there will be a lot of shouting."

* * *

 _Gods, they couldn't have just taken some of these ropes off. But no... why think about whether the dragon is comfortable? I mean, to not even let me stretch my wings? So thoughtless._

Perhaps worse than the ropes was the collar. It had been strapped around his neck almost since the first moment they captured him, and it was starting to itch whenever he moved. His temporary solution was to remain still and keep doing what he had been doing for the last few hours.

Waiting and thinking.

Alvin was sure to want to come and gloat over his prize before too long.

Sure enough, a single voice announced its arrival late in the afternoon.

"Darrak, Ulfgar, get off your rears and stand."

"Sorry Chief." "Won't happen again."

"You two say that every time. Now, now, let's get to it."

The two guards and Alvin came around the corner and stood outside the cage. Hiccup stared calmly right back up at Alvin.

"Glorious lizard isn't it?"

Hiccup had to make an effort to still his twitching tail.

"It don't look too dangerous," one of the guards muttered.

"The legends say that it can blow a man's body into pieces with just one shot. And its claws can open you up from neck to belly in one swipe," Alvin replied.

"I'm sure glad it's in the cage," the guard said.

"Has it given you any trouble?" Alvin asked.

"No, it's just sitting there and being quiet."

"Seems like it knows its manners. Ulf, go get it something to eat. Dar, give me a moment with the beast."

Both of the guards headed out of the cave, leaving just the two of them behind. Alvin came over and knelt at the side of the cage, not a couple feet away from him.

"Such an impressive dragon. Kind of wish I could keep you myself and ride you when you get bigger."

Hiccup openly chuckled in amusement at the thought.

"Are you laughing at me?"

Yes, he nodded.

Alvin blinked in confusion, and Hiccup got up and stepped over to the bare patch of dirt where he had already carved his greeting. The ground was illuminated enough by torchlight that his message was clear to see.

 **Hello**

Alvin took a long, hard look at the scrawling.

"Darrak. Get back here!" he shouted.

"What's the matter boss?"

Alvin crossed his arms and frowned at the guard.

"Whose idea was this joke?"

"What?" the guard was clearly confused.

"Ok, I mean it. What is the trick!" Alvin growled at the man.

Hiccup angrily snarled and knocked into the cage with a loud clang. He waited until Alvin was looking directly at him, and then he started writing.

 **Alvin**

 **No trick**

At that, Alvin grasped the cage with a hand that trembled. His gaze darted back and forth between the writing in the dirt and the young dragon that he had just seen carve the symbols into the ground.

"Impossible…"

 **I can write**

"No… dragons are dumb beasts… you can't…"

Hiccup answered by pointing at the symbols and giving Alvin an obviously amused look.

"I… this is…"

Alvin wildly stepped back from the cage and turned to Darrak.

"Get out!"

The burly man was apparently very eager to oblige him and quickly departed. Alvin started pacing and only occasionally glanced over at him before resuming his pacing. Hiccup patiently watched as the terrible man started to wear a rut in the ground before the cage.

 _What must he be thinking? How hard is this for him?_

Alvin eventually turned back to him.

"Dragon, do you understand everything I am saying?" he gruffly asked.

Hiccup slowly and deliberately nodded once without breaking eye contact.

"How?"

 **My Chief taught me**

"Your Chief? Stoick taught you?"

Yes, he nodded.

"I don't believe it… He... how could he do that? Can any other dragons write like you?""

No.

Alvin suddenly turned away from him and started mumbling to himself. Something seemed odd about the way Alvin was surprised. He had to growl and point at the ground to recapture Alvin's attention.

 **Why did you capture me?**

Alvin didn't even appear abashed.

"I had my men capture you because… wait, do you have a name?"

 **Hiccup**

"Strange name for a dragon. Where have I heard that before?"

 **He named me after his son**

"Oh. Hmm, I bet it is a sad story. Really painful for Stoick. By the divines, I'm talking to a dragon…"

 **And it is talking to you**

"I see that! By my beard…"

 _Not an impressive one to be honest…_

Alvin paced a few more seconds before he spoke again.

"I needed to capture you and the other Night Fury to make a point to Stoick. He and his dragon-master girl gave other tribes dragons to use, but they didn't give us any of the beasts. My people don't know how to control dragons."

Hiccup growled at that.

 **No control**

"No? What then?"

 **Friendship**

Alvin stared at the word and did something very out of place. He burst out laughing.

"Friendship?"

 **Trust**

"Trust? I've never heard anything so stupid in my life! Well, actually I take that back. I have heard that before, but that was a long time ago. Look where that got her."

 **It's true**

Alvin just shook his head, clearly unconvinced.

"There must be more than that. I'm sure that the dragon-master girl knows tricks to get dragons to do what she wants. We need to know what they know too. Being the only tribe without our own dragons would make us weak, would make me weak. We cannot be left weak."

 _As much as I don't like his way of thinking, he does make some sense._

 **What about me?**

"I'll give you back to Stoick after he gets me beasts for my tribe."

 _That could take you a while... you remind me of the Volsung. In the meantime..._

 **Can you take these off?**

Alvin glanced at his bindings and muzzle in suspicion.

 **They hurt**

"I guess so. You're not going to bite, are you?"

He just rolled his eyes.

"Can I trust a dragon, a talking dragon?" Alvin muttered to himself.

Alvin stared suspiciously for a few moments, and then he unlocked the cage door and let himself in.

 _Almost funny how nervous he is. He's much bigger than me._

Hiccup held himself very still as Alvin undid the straps at his sides and removed the layers of rope wrapped around him. Alvin hesitated for a moment with the muzzle, but eventually pulled it off as well. That left only the collar by which he was strapped to the cage. Hiccup tugged at it while looking plaintively at Alvin.

"How do I know you won't try to escape?"

Hiccup glanced at the open cage door. He could try to escape if freed.

 **I promise**

"Promises. Those aren't worth anything."

Alvin backed away and through the door, which he then closed and locked. Surprisingly though, he walked over to the side of the cage.

"Come here."

Hiccup got up and shuffled over to the edge of the cage with the chains clanging with each step. Alvin glanced at his jaws, now free of the muzzle, and hesitated. Then he cautiously reached through the bars and unstrapped the collar, which fell to the ground with a dull thud.

Hiccup stepped back from the bars and rubbed his sore neck.

"Don't try anything, or I'll have to put them back on you."

Alvin then saw something else that he had never expected to see. He saw a dragon bow to him.

"Uh, you're welcome. Your food should be here soon."

"Darrak! Get back here."

The guard answered his call and came into the cave.

"You saw that the beast can write?"

"I think so Chief..."

"Do not tell anyone. Do you understand?"

"Yeah."

"And let me know if it starts acting up or tries to escape."

Alvin spared a single glance back at the cage and then left the cave.

 _Don't worry, I won't bother._

Finally being free of all the shackles and ropes, he was finally able to stretch and yawn freely, even if still in the cage. Plus, it seemed like he was going to get something to eat soon.

 _He isn't so bad really. Maybe a little harsh but not stupid like I thought. I just hope it isn't too long before he and my dad talk._

As nice as it was to be able to stretch his wings again, it could not compare to actually flying. But he knew to not complain about the significant improvement in his condition.

* * *

Stoick tightened his white-knuckled grip on the rigging. He did not even flinch as the longboat heaved in the waves, sending a spray of mist over all of their heads. The wind violently whipped his hair and beard.

He glanced back at the other three vessels following behind his. They had all been making good time for the first couple days at sea. Tomorrow, they would all arrive at the Outcast's island. Including Astrid and all the dragons that Berk controlled. And then...

It wasn't clear what was going to happen or what Alvin would do. He clasped his brother's shoulder and gave him command on deck.

"Keep it up men. I'll be below."

He ducked inside his quarters and lay down on the floor, only cushioned by the layers of furs he had laid out. He stared up at the roof as the ship slowly swayed and the minutes passed in relative silence. His fingers found his hammer's handle, which he gathered to his side. It was the one thing he had brought with him in case Alvin would prove to be stubborn, which was a definite possibility.

 _It's been so many years since we've seen each other. I don't know what will happen._

He closed his eyes and saw his men and women standing on the shore of Outcast Island. Hordes of vile outcasts crowded around them as axes flew every which way. Bodies fell and screams filled the air. Dragons swarmed overhead and flames sprouted from the village. He strode forth among the carnage, a visage of pure wrath with his hammer crushing skulls.

 _Is that who you are, my love?_

He bolted awake in alarm and looked around the cabin. That voice... it was too real.

"V... Val?"

Nobody was there, of course.

"What's wrong with me?"

 _I wasn't this nervous back when we went to Dragon Island. Maybe it's that we might be fighting people this time._

"I didn't seek this out. He brought it on himself."

One way or another, Berk was going to forge a new, stronger reputation tomorrow.

* * *

The island came into view on the horizon before midday. All hands on deck stared in the same direction, everyone whispering about their destination. The cursed place that many had once held as being worse than Dragon Island.

He arranged his cape and donned his helmet.

"Steady men, steady."

"Almost reminds me of the old days, eh Chief?"

There was indeed something about the possibility of imminent combat that got ones' blood flowing.

"That it is Hakon. Stay alert when we get close. They are not expecting us."

Sure enough, there was a flurry of activity on the port's docks as the ships came closer. It certainly wasn't every day that one of the tribes received four of another tribe's ships unannounced.

He glanced back out to the skies from where Astrid and company would surely arrive.

His four ships pulled into the inlet that sheltered the port but held off on pitching anchor. They all watched as an armed crowd gathered on shore.

"Alright, I'm going ashore."

He and several other men got into a rowboat and paddled ashore. In almost no time at all, they touched shore. He was the first to jump onto land and walk up to the gathering.

They stared each other down, fifty of them to just him. But he was a Chief, and he remembered how to let it show.

"I have business with your Chief. Go get him."

It was not a minute before the crowd parted from the rear and a single large figure strode forth as the murmuring increased. The two hulking men faced each other down on the shore.

Alvin the Treacherous and Stoick the Vast.

They both stared levelly, neither saying a word or betraying any expression. The tension in the air was palpable.

"Well, well. Stoick the Vast. Not quite as vast as I remember though. I am very surprised to see you here."

"Believe me, I'm not here because I wanted a vacation."

"I was actually about to send some of my boys to give you a message myself. Really surprising that you just happened to come yourself," Alvin announced.

"Must have been the gods' will."

"It's customary for a Chief to let another Chief know about plans to pay a visit."

"Normally yes, otherwise it might seem like an unprovoked attack or veiled threat."

"Certainly, but we all know that you're just here to visit an old friend you haven't seen in, what, fifteen years now."

A silence followed.

"Well, as you are my guest here please come join me for an ale. I'm thirsty."

Stoick gruffly strode forward and followed Alvin through the Outcast's village while the rest of his men disembarked and gathered on the shore. He recognized a couple of the men he passed by and stared them down. None of the former Berkians could hold his gaze.

"What do you think about it, Stoick?"

"About what?"

"My island. My people."

"Never thought a bunch of murderers, scoundrels, and betrayers could make anything of themselves."

Alvin laughed heartily.

"Don't think that describes everyone here. Some of us are only guilty of having bigger manhood than others."

"Is that what you tell yourself? I seem to remember that your 'performance' with women was nothing to speak of."

"Ha! That was a long time ago, my friend..."

They arrived at the Outcast's mead hall.

"Everyone out!" Alvin roared.

"Why?" a burly drunk man slurred.

"Because I said so and you don't want to be fish bait, that's why."

Everyone else left except the two of them and one serving girl who timidly brought them both drinks.

"So, why are you here, dear vomitbrains?"

Stoick slammed the table and almost spilled the ale at being called his hideous childhood name.

"I think we both know why I'm here. You attacked me."

Alvin crossed his arms and frowned.

"Well, I have no idea what you are talking about. Do tell."

"You sent men onto Berk and captured one of my dragons. I know you did."

"How do you know that?"

"It doesn't matter how I know. What matters is that you are going to give him back to me."

Alvin leaned forward.

"I know your secret. The dragon's secret."

Stoick forgot to breathe for a moment. Had Hiccup told Alvin the truth? Had he figured out on his own somehow?

"What secret is that?"

"That it is clever and can talk, er, it can write. That you somehow managed to teach it. And it is a Night Fury too. That makes it all the more valuable and special."

"Where is he?"

Alvin waved his hand in every direction.

"Hidden."

It was Stoick's turn to lean forward, his anger starting to show.

"I swear, if you have hurt him..."

"Oh no, I've done no such thing. My boys gave it a bit of a bruise when they captured it, but nothing else."

"Why did you take him?"

"Stoick... you should be able to figure that out."

"Tell me yourself."

"Getting a little slow I see. Fine. You've shared your dragon-knowledge with the other tribes, with the Vaina and the Volsung. I've heard that they are taming their own beasts now. We don't have any of them tamed."

"So you kidnapped one of my dragons to make us share our secrets?"

"Exactly."

"You could have just come to us and asked. Why didn't you just ask?"

"Stoick, would you have told us if I came to you and politely grovelled at your feet?"

"No, but that is not the point. You could have tried."

"I didn't see a point wasting time."

"Ok, I'll save us both some more time. You will give me back my dragon now, and we will leave in peace. I'll even consider sharing some of what we know about them."

"And what assurance would I have that you would honor your side of the bargain?"

"My word of honor."

Alvin naturally rolled his eyes and groaned.

"But I know you don't understand that," Stoick said.

"I see we still understand each other at least that much. And I don't think I am going to give it up. It's my leverage over you, so to speak."

Stoick got up from the table and opened the tavern door.

"Why did you come here Stoick? You knew I couldn't give it up for nothing."

"Yeah, I knew that."

Stoick marched out of the tavern and set out for the docks, where he was met by the same crowd and about thirty of his strongest men. Everyone had some form of weapon with them.

"So, you don't want your beastie back after all, is that right?"

He didn't answer. All he did was pick up his hammer.

"I mean it Stoick. Do you think you can frighten me with a few men? We have you outnumbered five to one."

"I know. You have more men, but I have them," he pointed out over the sea, where figures were fast approaching.

Alvin's smug grin faded quickly as he grasped what was going on. His men were ready to fight against people on the ground, but no one had grabbed bows, pikes, or shields to fight against dragons.

"So what are you going to do Stoick? Threaten us with your tame lizards? No, that's not you."

"You think you know me? I will protect my own!"

He couldn't add anything more before the air was filled with the beats of dozens of wings. Bright red Nightmares, sparkling Nadders, serpentine Zipplebacks, a couple of the heartier Gronkles, and even one Night Fury.

All the gathered Outcasts started looking up at the swirling mass gathering over their village and swarming over their heads as though they expected an attack at any second.

One of the blue Nadders separated from the flock and dove straight for the gathering near the shore. The Outcasts started to back away in fear, leaving a clearing right before Stoick. Stormfly gracefully touched down in the clearing and hissed at the assembled gathering.

"Chief!"

"Good to see you Astrid."

"So it's true, that's a sight I've never seen before," Alvin muttered as he stepped forward.

Astrid stared at him from her perch and then dismounted in a single fluid motion. She stood not twenty paces away from some of the vilest men in the realms and felt absolutely no fear. She even recognized a few faces from the previous evening, one of whom she would have gladly stabbed. Lucan stared at her in shock and disbelief.

"My, my, what a pretty thing you are..." Alvin teased.

"If you try to touch me, she will roast you alive."

"Oh, I believe it. Just teasing you. You certainly do control your beast well."

"It's not really about control, Alvin. I trust her, and she trusts me. I think she likes carrying me around, and I like caring for her needs. It's a relationship."

Alvin grimaced and seemed unconvinced.

"What! No... He said the same thing, but that can't be it."

"Nope, that's it. That is our big secret. Be good to the dragons, and they will be good to you. Of course, that requires that you are able to be good, so you might have some issues with that part."

They were then interrupted by a truly frightening sound, something that had been so ingrained into their collective memories that even the Berkians reacted on instinct and ducked for cover. The sound of a Night Fury dive.

Toothless pulled up at the last second and landed alongside Stormfly. Then he bounded up to Astrid and stared down the male two-leg who was clearly this nest's Alpha. He bared all his teeth and growled dangerously.

Alvin, to his credit, managed to not flinch, though he did look quite perturbed.

"So that is the other Fury. Guess it didn't die after all."

Another growl was all he got.

"It sure doesn't seem as friendly as mine."

"You captured his brother, so of course he is angry," Astrid explained.

"Enough, it's time to end this! Alvin, get my dragon and bring him here," Stoick exclaimed.

Alvin gave a signal and several men ran off into the forest. They emerged several minutes later leading their captive by a heavy metal chain. Stoick clenched his fists at the sight and barely managed to restrain his anger.

Toothless snarled openly and took several threatening steps in Alvin's direction before Astrid stepped in his way.

"No Toothless, wait..."

He very reluctantly settled down, though he kept his malice-filled eyes trained on Alvin.

"Alright Stoick, here it is. Alive and well as I said," Alvin said when he took hold of the chain.

"Set him free now."

"And what do I get back?"

"Your life."

"My life?"

"And the lives of all your people. Sounds like a good deal to me."

"You need to do better than that Stoick, that's not your style."

"Listen to me, all of you! You will give me back that dragon, or we will burn down every one of your buildings and ships!"

All the Outcasts and Berkians had by now drawn their weapons, though the Outcasts looked noticeably more nervous given the swarm above their heads and village. No one moved while the two proud men stared each other down in a battle of resolve. The seconds passed as nerves began to fray.

"Fine. Astrid, go do it."

"Just a moment Stoick! What is wrong with you?" Alvin blurted out.

"Nothing."

"But you would really want a war with us? How many people would die? You would threaten us like that all over a dragon, are you serious?"

Stoick rested a hand on his hammer hanging from his side.

"Yes."

Alvin now looked thoroughly flustered, and he was clearly weighing his options. Astrid decided to take the opportunity to speak up.

"Alvin, my Chief means it. You don't understand how special Hiccup is to Stoick and the rest of Berk."

Something seemed to change in Alvin's visage, a grim resignation became apparent.

"I do understand that. That's why I have to do this."

Alvin drew a dagger from a pocket and, quick as lightning, held it against Hiccup's neck, drawing a whimper of fear from Hiccup and gasps of shock from everyone else. Stoick's smug confidence was broken, and he visibly wavered. Astrid felt a chill like ice in her veins, and she barely managed to restrain Toothless from leaping at Alvin in desperation. This was not at all how she had hoped the encounter would play out, and something tragic could happen at any moment.

She quickly stepped forward and put herself in the clearing between the two peoples.

"Ok, everyone stay calm. Alvin, if you kill him, we will have no mercy on any of your people. Don't you know that?"

"Girl, what is your name?"

"Astrid Hoffirdottir."

"You have quite a fire in your belly. About my tribe, we don't stand a chance in the world anymore unless we get our own dragons, as Stoick knows quite well. So I'm not really risking anything that isn't already lost."

"But you aren't lost. We can still teach you what you need to learn to... get your own dragons as you say."

"Let me guess," he sneered, "give up the dragon first and trust that you won't turn on us the moment you have him back?"

"Of the two of us, who is the one who is known for treachery and being faithless?"

She held up her hands to show that she was unarmed and slowly walked up to Alvin. She lowered her voice so that only he could hear and chose her words very carefully.

"Stoick raised both of them. Hiccup is like a son to him, strange as it seems. Do the right thing... for everyone."

Alvin didn't move or say anything for a long time. Outcasts and Berkians alike started looking around at each other, unsure of what was going to happen.

"Well, when you put it that way..."

Alvin then put the dagger away and unlooped the rope from Hiccup's neck. Then he gave Hiccup a soft nudge on his flank.

"Go on, go home."

An audible sigh of relief went through the gathered crowd as Hiccup darted over to stand behind Stoick. Toothless also dashed over to Hiccup's side and snuggled close to him.

"So now what Stoick?" Alvin asked.

Stoick got back up and walked forward to meet Alvin again.

"You've got your beastie back. Now what are you going to do?"

Stoick was torn on what to do. His wrathful side still wanted vengeance for the wrongs that Alvin had done to him and to Hiccup. On the other hand though, Alvin had given in, and he did have a duty to keep his people safe and alive.

Give in to what he wanted, or swallow his pride and righteous anger? What kind of Chief was he?

"Astrid, go lead everyone back home."

"Yes, sir," she eagerly replied before hopping on Stormfly. The two were aloft a moment later.

"I'll tell you what Alvin. You pick ten of your people and send them to Berk when you are ready. We'll teach them what we know about the dragons, just like we have with the Vaina and Volsung."

"You would really allow Outcasts on your island?"

"No one will like the idea, but I will tolerate it."

"Ok Stoick, that's a good enough deal for me."

"Good."

Neither of them cared for pleasantries now that they had reached their agreement. Alvin called to his men, and they all turned back to return to their village. They were all visibly relieved that the dragons that had been circling over their homes had turned out to sea and were departing the island.

Stoick turned to his gathered troops. Everyone's relief was palpable.

"I know we are all tired of being at sea. But I don't think anyone wants to spend the night here on this island. Let's go home!"

Everyone raised their fists and cheered repeatedly. Even Toothless joined in with a triumphant roar at his nest's success. Then all the men and the two dragons started toward the port, with many of the men giving Hiccup a pat on the head and a few words of encouragement.

"Did those bad two-legs hurt you?" Toothless asked.

"No."

"Do I need to flame this nest when I am bigger?"

"No Toothless."

Toothless just grumbled in disappointment.

"You go with your sire. I will fly with water-walker."

Toothless then jumped into the air and started gliding above them. The rest of them arrived at the port and started reembarking on the ships when...

"Stoick!"

Stoick groaned and turned around at Alvin's voice.

 _Now what does he want?_

Alvin ran up to him all alone.

"I almost forgot to tell you. You should probably do something about Dagur."

"Dagur? Of the Berserkers? What about him?"

Alvin raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"You don't know? I thought if anyone would know, it would be you."

"Nope. No idea."

"Well, well. I know something that Berk doesn't know. You really should get out into the world more."

"Are you going to tell?"

Alvin paused for dramatic effect.

"I heard that he is looking for a Skrill."

* * *

Stoick stood on deck and stared out over the sea. The skies were clear of clouds and all but one dragon who had unsurprisingly stayed with the boat to keep Hiccup company. They had all been at sea for a full day since leaving Outcast Island, which gave him plenty of time to think.

Alvin had shared all that he knew, not that it was much. All he knew was that Dagur had the idea to unite all the Berserkers behind the ancient symbol of their peoples. No one knew why they had chosen the Skrill as their symbol. All that mattered was that if he were to find and tame a Skrill, the Berserkers would be a far greater threat as a united force.

And that didn't include how destructive a Skrill could be. He thought back to the last time he had ever witnessed such a dragon in battle. It had been decades ago before he was even the Chief. There were no other dragons in the air that night, the Skrill was destructive enough on its own. Everything metallic began to burn with the same lightning as the storm overhead. Those who did not drop their weapons got their hands melted, and only the rain prevented the homes and buildings from burning down. It was as though Thor's power itself had become incarnate in the Skrill's presence. The mystical power the beast seemed able to wield made it almost as feared and hated as Night Furies.

The idea of such a powerful weapon in the control of a warlike people who answered to a deranged leader was very unsettling. At least Alvin had understandable motives. Neither he nor Alvin had any idea where the Outcasts had gone to find a Skrill. There wasn't much that anyone could do except hope that Dagur never found what he was looking for.

He went back into his cabin to escape the activity for a moment. His heart was moved once again to anger and pity when he saw Hiccup apparently sound asleep, partly wrapped up under a few spare wool blankets on the floor.

Hiccup had done almost nothing but sleep in the two days since they left Outcast Island. He suspected that Hiccup was intentionally trying to avoid talking about anything. Could he really blame him? Hiccup had been captured and held prisoner by Outcasts for several weeks during which he was chained by the neck and treated like a dumb beast.

He walked over and knelt at Hiccup's side. Despite not being someone usually prone to outward displays of tenderness, he put a hand on Hiccup's shoulder.

"Son?" he whispered.

No response.

Sigh.

"I know you can hear me."

Hiccup slowly nodded without opening his eyes.

"I don't have anything to write on now. We can… uh… talk about it all when we get home. Deal?"

Hiccup grunted once in acknowledgment.

"Don't worry, you are safe now. I will never let anything like that happen again. I promise."

Hiccup peeked out and looked up at his father before solemnly nodding once.

"I'll be up on deck if you need me. It is a nice day. You might think about… flying. It might get your mind off what happened."

Then he left his son and returned to the deck. He folded his hands on the railing and looked out toward the horizon where Berk would eventually appear. Toothless continued to circle the boat up above on the evening breeze.

 _Astrid did very well. She got Alvin to come to his senses when I couldn't._

Her performance led to another significant realization. One which he hadn't made at the time but had been reluctantly considering over the last couple days.

 _She is becoming a real leader. Maybe even enough to lead us if... I cannot find a way to fix Hiccup._


	21. I - A Faustian Bargain

" _What I possess seems far away to me, and what is gone becomes reality." – Johann Goethe - Faust_

* * *

A Faustian Bargain

* * *

Toothless looked up from the bowl of freshly delivered fish, a large red-back-fish disappearing into his gullet. He prided himself on being the cleverest of the kin, except for maybe Hiccup of course, and for always knowing when the new-sun fish would be delivered. That let him get here first and get his pick of the fish. He just finished his second large ridge-fin-back fish when he heard a set of familiar wings approaching.

 _Odd, he doesn't usually eat out here._

Hiccup landed and hopped over to him.

"Toothless, you follow me?"

He grabbed one more fish and gave Hiccup a nod. They were over the thinning treetops and heading deeper into the forest moments later. As he suspected, Hiccup was leading him to the place deep in the forest that had changed both of their lives and that still gave him warmth in his liver all these season-cycles later.

 _What does he want to talk about? Maybe that bad nest and the nest-invader two-legs. It has been a pawful of suns since we got back. And I need to tease him..._

They both alighted on the mossy ground at the base of their cove. Then Toothless spun around on Hiccup in apparent amusement.

"Where your food? You need to eat more, get bigger."

Hiccup glared back at him with a clever glint in his eyes.

"Like your belly?"

Toothless just grumbled back and swatted at Hiccup's nose.

"I eat much fish before you get me. You are small for your number of season-cycles."

"Just like two-leg me."

"Yes, you were small then. That helped me carry you."

Hiccup rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue.

 _I don't know why Toothless cares about that. I'll eat when I am actually hungry._

"Hiccup, you did not fight the bad two-leg Alpha on the other island. Why? I want to burn him and his nest, but you said no."

"Toothless, that is bad to want to burn him. I not want you fight them because more fighting is bad. No reason for you go fight and maybe get hurt."

"He threatened you. If a kin shows you teeth in threat, you cannot be weak and submit. You should show you strong."

"I not angry at that two-leg. He want help his nest. He did wrong me, but I forgive him. That is a type of being strong."

Toothless stared at him and shook his head in confusion.

"You are very different, Hiccup."

"Not so different from you, Toothless. You did same for my hurting you in the past."

Toothless said nothing for a moment.

"Hiccup, you need learn how to fight."

"Fight? Why?"

"Why? This is why."

Toothless leapt at him as fast as lightning and ducked under his neck to knock out his front limbs and flip him over. While Hiccup was still stunned, Toothless leapt on top of him and clamped his jaws around his neck. He gave Hiccup a soft shake, tapped his belly with a talon, and then let him go. He stepped back and held his shoulders tall to celebrate his triumph.

"You dead if I wanted you dead."

Hiccup rolled himself over, gradually recovered his breath, and thrashed his tail in a bit of fear and shock.

"I was not ready!"

"You always have your head in clouds. Easy prey. You need know what is happening around you."

"But we not need fight now."

Toothless just shook his head in frustration.

"Why do we have claws and teeth?" Toothless asked.

Hiccup sheepishly glanced at his paws as Toothless continued.

"You do not respect yourself until you learn that you have teeth. A kin who cannot fight is weak."

"Toothless, two-legs have a saying that the writing-stick is stronger than the tooth-stick. The writing-stick is my strength."

"Will a writing-stick stop angry kin or a two-leg that wants your head on a stick?" Toothless retorted.

Hiccup had no quick answer for that and tried to change the subject.

"We are different. I want talk about you learning two-leg picture-talking."

Toothless had the same unimpressed and aloof look that he had the last time the topic was brought up long ago.

"Why?"

"You should learn because of many reasons. Two-legs should know you have a big head. Because... two-legs use creatures that have small heads. Like four-leg grass-eaters. I picture-talked with the other two-leg Alpha."

"Before it almost killed you?" Toothless growled back.

"Just listen Toothless. It did help me. You might need be able picture-talk one sun. Think about it like a new way of flying. Flying skies between two-legs and kin. And... what if I become a two-leg again? You would still want talk with me."

"Hiccup, you can not change back. I told you that before."

Hiccup deeply sighed and continued.

"You missed my thinking. You do not want picture-talking, but you should learn. I do not want other two-legs thinking you have small head. I want to change how two-legs think about you. They treat me almost like one of them because I picture-talk with them. You taught me how I fly, let me teach you picture-words."

Toothless got up and started pacing back and forth in front of him, grumbling all the while as he considered Hiccup's request.

Then another possibility crossed Hiccup's mind. Something that he was loathe to consider but which could not be delayed. They had briefly talked about it in the past, but he felt the need to bring it up again.

"Toothless, do you want stay here on this nest, or do you want to leave and go other place?"

Toothless paused and stared at the ground while he collected his thoughts. He knew how important his answer to this question was for both of them.

"This nest is not a bad place for kin. The two-legs are good to us here now. But I still think that I do not have a place here..."

"Why?"

"This place is for most kin and good two-legs. But kin like you and me are different from other kin. We are not small-minded. And we are also alone here."

Hiccup closed his eyes and let Toothless's words sink in.

 _He is right. He is... we are alone here._

"I cannot know what that is like Toothless," he eventually acknowledged.

"I do not belong with the other kin and I am not a two-leg. I feel lost in this nest."

"So learn to be more like two-legs. Learn to write. You can learn much from them."

Toothless swung around and almost looked like he wanted to shout something out of anger but thought the better of it.

"That is easy for you because you were one. They are still very strange to me."

 _That is because you do not really try to understand them..._

"So what will you do?"

"I will stay here until I am grown. It is mostly safe here and there is much to eat."

"And when you are big?"

Neither of them said anything for a long moment.

"Then we can go look for other Night-Fury-kin. I do not want to think that I... we are the last. All things leave their nest when they become too big."

Hiccup didn't want to say that he didn't particularly want to leave Berk. This is his home, no matter what else had happened to him. But the idea of searching for other Night Furies was very appealing. Especially so because he would finally meet and be able to talk to other dragons that were his equal. Even better if they could be convinced to come back here and live on Berk in safety with everyone else.

"And until then Toothless? You will understand two-legs better if you learned to talk to them. Are there no two-legs that you would like to talk with?"

"Maybe she-Astrid will want to talk," Toothless almost reluctantly mumbled.

"Yes, she would like that."

"You will not stop will you?" Toothless grumbled.

Hiccup toothily smiled back.

"No. I have rock-head problems."

Toothless chuckled at that and sighed in resignation.

"I know that... You teach me picture-talking, and I teach you how to fight."

"We can do that."

* * *

Stoick got home at the end of a rather long day and was greeted by a very curious sight. Both Hiccup and Toothless were standing upright around the table and one of them held a pencil. But it was not Hiccup who held the tool.

"Hiccup, what is going on here?"

 **I am teaching Toothless to write**.

Sure enough, the parchment was covered in sloppily written runes that were clearly not Hiccup's handwriting.

"I thought he didn't want to learn."

 **I convinced him**

"How long have you two been at this?"

 **A week**

"Well, I'll leave you to it."

He then left them to resume their lesson, complete with grumbling at each other and much instruction from Hiccup. In the meantime, he took a few minutes to tend to the fire and to his thoughts.

 _This would be a big change if he could learn our runes. If a real dragon can learn to talk to us... Humph, I wonder what he could want to talk about. Fish preferences maybe? Various smells?_

"You are so intent on changing the world, aren't you?" he whispered as he poked at the fire.

He wandered off to bed after casting a final glance back at the two dragons. Toothless looked a bit confused, but Hiccup seemed to be enjoying himself from his smug grin and animated tail.

 _Gods, with both of them writing we might run out of paper._

* * *

The young adults were gathered together without their dragons in a forest clearing to discuss a major upcoming event that had been on their minds for years. Over a month had passed since the drama with the Outcasts, and everyone had turned their thoughts to the future. This Wintersblott festival would include their coming of age celebration when they are officially recognized as adults. That means that they will shed their protective, hideous childhood names and take on their true names for the rest of their lives.

"This is like, a big deal guys. Whatever name we pick we are going to be stuck with forever," Ruffnut reminded them.

"Yeah, so make it a good one. Just think about if Ruff would approve of it, and cross it off the list if she would like it," Tuffnut explained.

"Careful bro, a sister is always there..." Ruffnut warned.

"Oh no, whatever will I do?"

"Come on, you two. This is serious. Getting rid of our old names is huge for us. We all stand up in front of the entire tribe and take our new names as their equals," Fishlegs extolled them.

"I've already got my name picked out," Snotlout confidently announced.

"What is it?" Fishlegs asked.

"A name that befits someone with my strength, my courage, my bravery, and my ability to lead and protect!"

"Wow, impressive. How long did it take you to come up with all that?" Astrid teased.

"Only an hour, but that is not the point. I will be known as Thorvald Firehammer Jorgenson!"

Everyone else glanced at each other and then started laughing. Snotlout glowered at them and angrily crossed his arms.

"What is so funny!"

"Your face!" Tuffnut hacked.

"Seriously guys!"

"Firehammer? Where did that come from?" Astrid paused to catch her breath.

"Well, Monstrous Nightmares are the dragons of fire. It makes perfect sense."

"But it seems so... overly grand," Ruffnut objected.

"Well, I will be the Chief one day. I must have a good name," he pointed out.

"That is true," Fishlegs admitted, "what about the rest of you? Any ideas yet?"

"Yeah," "No good ones," the twins replied together.

"I think my grandfather's name, Skald, would be a good one. He also liked reading," Fishlegs offered.

"What about you Astrid?" Snotlout asked.

"I... it's a bit different for me. My parents didn't follow that tradition. I think I will keep my name."

"As you should, it is a beautiful name," Snotlout announced.

Both Astrid and Ruffnut groaned and rolled their eyes at that.

"What? Feeling threatened by my honesty?"

"You are insufferable..." Astrid muttered as she stood up and left to return to the village. Unfortunately for her though, Snotlout got up and followed after her.

"Hey! Of course I'm insufferable, I don't suffer anything."

"Lout, that's not..."

"And," he interrupted, "I know why you are acting so strange around me."

"I'm the one acting strange?"

He crossed his arms, making an obvious point of showing his muscles.

"Yeah, you admire me. I know you keep looking at me when no one is looking. Denying it will just prove that you are playing hard to get," he added with a grin.

She stared at him in complete confusion and growing frustration.

"Lout, if you are looking to chase skirts do not bother with mine."

"Oh Astrid, it's not that... well, not only that. Just look at yourself."

He stepped back and gestured to all of her.

"You are not a girl anymore, and I am not a boy."

"I am well aware," she coolly answered.

"So you know how strange it is for as beautiful a woman as you to not be matched with someone."

"I do not want to talk about this anymore."

"Fine," he grimaced, "just remember that you cannot run from this forever."

He turned to leave but paused and called out to her.

"Who knows, your future Chief may have a special demand for you. For the good of the tribe of course."

With that parting thought, he ran back to the other young adults.

 _Gods, he doesn't know how to take a hint. Maybe he doesn't care._

She couldn't stop thinking about it all the way back into town. It was expected among her tribe that women would be married off soon after they were recognized as adults. These arrangements were always taken care of by the parents. But Snotlout was right that he could make a formal demand that she marry him once he became Chief. Then her only choices would be consent or refuse and risk banishment.

 _He has become a bit more responsible yes, but he is still far too arrogant. He is not a leader. What if it does come to that? What should I do?_

She grabbed a crimson leaf from the path and stared at it while weighing her options.

"I could run away. Leave behind the Academy and everyone. Or stay here and be his... wife..."

The idea sent shivers down her spine.

"Hey Astrid, wait up," Fishlegs shouted.

She paused and waited for him to catch up.

"Fish, what is the matter?"

He nodded back behind him at where they had all been gathered.

"I figured I'd follow you back in case you want to talk about anything. We both know how he can be. And it seems I was right, you were talking to yourself."

She nodded and smiled in appreciation.

"Thanks Fish, I guess I just don't want such an important decision as who I'm going to marry made for me."

"I've thought about it a lot too. I think that our parents know more about these adult life things than we do."

"Does that mean that their way is better? All that does is keep the same traditions established."

She paused and took a breath.

"It is so normal to get married, settle down, and have children. Everyone does it. Normal doesn't mean it is for everyone though."

"What do you want?" he asked.

"I like leading the riders of Berk. I like being the dragon-whisperer, or whatever they call me out there. I like teaching people about dragons and learning more myself. I only think I would be happy with a man who would let me be a part of all this, who could show me things I've never seen before and give me wonder, who can change the world, who..." her voice died away.

Neither of them said anything for a minute. Then Fishlegs spoke in an unusually soft voice even for him.

"If I may Astrid, it has been three years. I don't think anyone here is quite like he was. Everyone has to move on eventually."

"I know. He wasn't perfect of course but... it's complicated."

"Is that a don't-bother-trying-to-understand-why-the-woman-is-thinking-what-she-is-thinking complicated?" he nervously asked.

"Yes," she laughed, "let's call it that. So now that you have an idea about my situation, what about you? Do you have anyone special in mind?"

Fishlegs blushed at that.

"Well, there actually is someone. We both love playing Crypts and Dragons, and we both read a lot. I think her parents like me too. She is a couple years younger than me, but I can wait."

"Let me guess. Is it Vistra?"

"How did... you know?" he stammered.

"Call it a lucky guess. She is a sweet girl and she is more mature than her years. And she takes very good care of her Nadder, Shimmer. I think you will be happy with her."

Fishlegs managed to look pleased and embarrassed at the same time.

* * *

"Strange dragons approaching!"

The lookout spotted the flight approaching Berk from the southeast while it was still a few minutes out to sea. Astrid hurried over to the cliff to get a better look. It became clear as the dragons drew nearer that they were carrying riders.

"I know them! They are from the Vaina!"

Astrid stepped forward to greet the group of arrivals. She watched as their dragons spiraled around the village and gradually descended toward the main clearing.

It was everyone whom she expected would probably arrive on dragonback; Helgrid, Ralof, Orgnar, and a couple others she recognized from abroad. They dismounted from their beasts and remained together looking around at the Berkians gathering around them.

"Welcome to Berk!" she announced on behalf of her tribe.

"Astrid! Good to see you," Ralof stepped forward to greet her.

"Who are the new riders here?"

"Those would be Orsik and Falkrunn," Ralof indicated the two other riders.

"Well, well. Other dragon riders!" Stoick's voice boomed out from the crowd as he stepped forward.

"They are from the Vaina," Astrid explained.

"I see. You are clearly doing better than those Outcasts who were here last month. Why have you come here?"

"Sir, Chief Svana sent us here to learn more about dragons from you. And in return," Ralof gave a signal to his comrades, "we are supposed to give you what we have learned."

Helgrid and Orgnar brought forward several scrolls.

"There is a lot in there about Thunderdrums, Scauldrons, and Timberjacks," Ralof offered.

"Well, Fishlegs can add this to our Book of Dragons. Thank you for the offering. Astrid, you can handle them from here."

Stoick gave her a nod and left to attend to other duties.

"Let's get you some fish for your dragons. It's a long flight to get here. I'll also show you where the stables are."

After tending to their beasts they followed Astrid on a tour through the village. The Vainian riders were in clear awe of the sizes of the stables, the Great Hall, and the sheer number of dragons that Berk had. They stayed on Berk for nearly a week. All the while they shared stories and bits of knowledge they had gained about their creatures with their fellow riders.

* * *

Stoick looked out over his island and felt quite content. The fishing boats were hauling in some of the last loads of the season, not-so-terrible-terrors were singing from the rooftops, and the livestock were mindlessly gnawing on the grass, mostly unconcerned about the dragons wandering about. Berk had passed another year without major, permanent disaster, personal disputes were rather infrequent, and his people were safe and generally happy. No outside power would reasonably consider attacking them after learning about the dozens of dragons that now roosted on Berk. Astrid had built the Academy into somewhat of a center of learning; a place where people even from other tribes could learn about dragons and build good relations between the local tribes and Berk. The recent visit by the riders from the Vaina attested to that.

Not having all the major issues that normally plague a tribe allowed him to reflect on the only matter that still weighed on his conscience. Something that he had desperately promised two winters ago and had no idea how to bring about.

He watched as Hiccup spun and wove through the skies, obviously having fun on this brisk fall morning. There was always a deep conflict in his heart when he watched Hiccup flying. It was horrible of him as a father to prefer Hiccup to be thoroughly miserable, but something still felt inappropriate about how Hiccup had managed to embrace his existence.

He went back to his house to continue reading the most recent correspondence from the other tribes. Alvin the now Honest had proven to be a wealth of information about events in the world. His men had traveled far, albeit on some less-than-honorable missions, and shared news through Johan's most recent visit.

Some of the whispers and rumors they had reported were rather concerning. News of kings and tribal leaders disappearing or capitulating to unknown powers. Whole areas and peoples vanishing. Phantom flocks of dragons in the wild. It was hard to figure out how much was just rumor and how much might be something more.

"Chief!"

"Yes Astrid, come in."

Her hair was wind-swept, and she was still in her riding gear.

"Just come in off Stormfly?"

"Yes sir, I thought you would like to know that we have guests."

"Guests? Who could it be at this time of the year? New traders?"

"Perhaps. I don't recognize them."

"How far out are they?"

"They should dock soon."

"Alright, I'll go down and meet them."

He headed out and made his way down to the docks. A newcomer to Berk was always newsworthy. Someone would only come to his island if they had a good reason to.

Astrid was certainly right that it was not a familiar vessel. It was larger than a normal fishing vessel and built in a strange style. The hull had a shine that suggested regular tending. The black sails could clearly catch far more wind that any of their sails could. For being a larger vessel than any of their sloops, it was clearly faster.

As remarkable as the ship was, the people on deck were more so. All the men were beardless. Clearly foreigners. More surprising were the two women on deck and the amount of deference they were obviously given. They were both dressed in black traveling robes and were thoroughly engrossed in their surroundings. However, they were very different in age. The older of the pair could have been three score years of age. The younger looked not even one score and carried herself proudly.

Most of the wayfarers were staring at Stormfly, who Astrid had brought with her to help make a good impression. But none of the newcomers were staring with the usual fear expected out of first-time visitors.

"Greetings seafarers!" he announced himself.

The older of the two women walked over to the gangplank and stared him down. He almost considered it insulting when he reminded himself that she was an old woman, and was thus entitled to some deference.

"Greetings Nord, we sail for a place called Berk."

"You have found it."

"Do you know one named Stoick the Vast?"

"I do indeed. I am he."

The woman then walked down the plank and strode toward him. He could tell that she was a woman with attitude from how she stopped and put her hands on her hips in front of him.

"Well, I have been looking for you for a while. A mutual friend of ours told me that you might have need of… services."

"I do not understand, woman. What do you mean?"

She reached into a pocket and pulled out a dagger. She flipped it around and held it by the blade while handing it to him. He stared at the hilt in shock and felt his hand tremble as he reached out to take it from her.

The hilt had the Haddock family seal.

* * *

Berk welcomed the travelers from abroad with a feast. The five men from the ship easily mingled among the much burlier Nords, shared stories for hours, and traded various trinkets.

The old woman sat at his table and quietly ate her food. Stoick had no idea how to broach conversation.

 _How does one make small talk with a... a witch? What would they want to talk about, other than business? Hel, I didn't even know for sure that they existed until now._

She looked far more careworn and wrinkled in person. She had bags under her eyes and a slight rasp in her breath. There was also a frailty in her movement and action that bespoke her age. Had she been a native to Berk, she may have even been mistaken for an elder.

"How is the food?"

"Better than the hardtack, salted pork, and fish we had on the way here."

"How long was the journey?"

"Long enough. My crew are happy to be on shore now."

"Pardon me, but what is your name?"

"I am Moirai. You have a fascinating island here Stoick. That you have managed to tame the dragons is impressive. Magical even."

Her innocent choice of words tingled his spine.

"Well, there is a bit more to it than that…"

The Hall's door opened and both Hiccup and Toothless strolled in. They walked straight up to the Chief's table. Toothless took one look at the new people at the table and immediately dug into his bowl of beef. Hiccup waited though because he did not recognize this guest.

Both of them turned their eyes on the dragons.

"Chief, what are those?"

"They are Night Furies."

The woman's eyes, normally tired with age, almost shone in obvious recognition.

"Don't worry. They don't bite. This one here, his name is Hiccup. You can uh… talk to him."

"What do you mean talk to him?"

"I mean that he understands us and will write to talk to you," he said while holding up some spare parchment.

She looked confused for an instant and turned back to face the dragon.

"Is that true?"

Hiccup nodded emphatically and put his pencil to the paper.

 **My name is Hiccup**

"Hiccup… a talking dragon… this is incredible," she seemed understandably stunned.

"He is very special. You have no idea… I actually raised them both," Stoick explained.

"Does the other one talk too?"

"He is still learning."

"We saw a lot of dragons on your island. How many are there here?"

"About forty that are actually part of Berk. There are other wild ones that we don't bother and which don't bother us."

Moirai huffed at herself and slowly got to her feet.

"This place is more interesting than I thought it would be. How about we talk more in private."

"Ok," Stoick agreed.

"I will meet you at your house to discuss our… arrangement."

Aided by one of her sailors, she left the Hall.

 _She took it well, everything considered. I wonder if she suspects anything... She definitely is not what I thought a witch would be like._

He was still stirring his soup when Gobber wandered over shortly thereafter.

"Say Stoick, what's on your mind?"

"Nothing. Just thinking about the future."

"Don't you think there is something odd about her?" Gobber asked.

"Not really. They are just not from Berk or any of the other clans."

"But what are they here for?"

"I guess I'll find out."

"She didn't say?"

"Well... I think she wants to talk in secret. Could be something about another tribe or stuff they want to trade. Who knows?" he muttered while waving a hand nonchalantly.

Gobber muttered to himself and downed his mug.

"Just watch yourself, Stoick. There's something strange about them."

"Don't worry about me."

 _Gobber... this is one time I don't need you trusting your gut._

He got up from the table and went over to his son.

"I need to talk to our guests alone. Do you think you can both wait to come home for a while?"

Hiccup nodded back in the affirmative and went to join Toothless by the open fire.

With that, Stoick left the Great Hall and went back home. The mead he had downed and the heavy coat helped with the chill that now graced the evening air in advance of winter. He got a fire going once back at home and waited for Moirai to arrive. There was no telling quite what to expect. There were plenty of stories of men who had ruined themselves by consorting with the occult.

 _I won't make their mistakes. I am not doing this for power, only for my son._

Then there was a rapping on his door.

He opened the door and started in surprise. It was not Moirai, but it was instead the younger woman he had seen on the boat.

"Where is Moirai?" he asked.

She didn't answer and let herself inside past him. She was tall for a non-Nord, thin, had long, black hair, and had a strange poise and control in every movement.

The woman turned back to him and spoke for the first time after he closed the door. Her voice was slow and silky and her eyes were piercing far beyond her years.

"It is good to meet you, Chief Stoick."

Everything about her seemed just barely unnatural enough to make him shiver with an indistinguishable sense of wrongness.

"Who are you?" he stammered.

"I am Moirai. I must apologize for my mother, she is not always the most personable around strangers."

"No, she was fine. I thought she might be your mother. Why is she not here?"

"Because I am the one you need."

Her stare seemed to pierce his soul.

"Everywhere we go, she introduces herself first in case it is a trap. She would rather get caught herself than risk me unnecessarily. It is an occupational hazard for people... in my line of work."

"So, you are the… sorcerer?"

She grinned, walked over to the fireplace, and stood directly before it. Her voice was slow and deliberate.

"Everyone always thinks that the sorceress must be the old crone and not the young, beautiful lady. That wickedness cannot look fair."

She held her hand out over the fire, and the flames turned dark green and grew in strength. He gasped and stared in awe and a bit of fear at the unnatural tongues licking the sides of the fireplace.

 _It is real… she really is a…_

She withdrew her hand a moment later and the flames returned to their natural color and size moments later.

"Now that you know I am genuine, I need to know that you are as well. Payment was promised."

"Yes, yes."

He fetched the chest from down the hall and brought out several bags of gold coins.

"One for you now and the other two for when you do what I need done. Standard terms."

She took the offered bag and examined the gold coins to her satisfaction.

"The payment is fair. What do you need? Some foreign Chief you need struck down? Evil spirits that need warding off? Is there a woman you want to pleasure or win over?"

"None of those. I need you to work transformation magic."

She folded her hands and stared levelly at him, clearly deep in thought.

"That is no small feat. Love potions, strength charms, and curses, those are easy enough to work. But magic of change is one of the darker paths."

"But can you do it?"

"It depends. What is the change you want?"

"My son was changed into a dragon."

"Really? Which one do you think is…"

Her eyes gained a far-off look.

"Let me guess, the dragon you named Hiccup?"

"Yes."

"I see. So how did this happen to him? Was it another sorcerer?"

"I don't know. Here is what happened…"

He spent a good while recounting Berk's history, Hiccup's exploits, and finally the great and terrible day that the monster on Dragon Island was felled. He included every detail, the strange lightning bolt, the melted rock, and the inexplicable egg. He was just about to start explaining what happened after the egg hatched when she held up a hand and called for silence.

She stood up and paced for nearly a minute.

"I've heard enough. I think I understand what happened, but it is beyond your understanding. You love your son, right?"

"Of course I do."

"Your wife is gone."

"Yes."

"So he is everything you have left of your family."

"Thank you for summing that up."

She sat back down in her chair and frowned while staring into the fire.

"I can help you."

"Really? You can fix him?" he breathlessly whispered.

"Yes, but it will not be easy. As I said, magic to change something's nature is one of the more difficult types of magic to work, and I will need things to make it happen. I will need books and ingredients, a place to work here on Berk, and time."

"How much time?"

"Almost a year."

"A year!" he exclaimed.

"Any less and the potion will kill the one who takes it."

He sighed in resignation and forced acceptance.

"I have waited years already, and I can wait a little more. Take all the time you need to make it right."

"I will. What will our story be then? Your people hardly look like they would approve if they knew why I am here or what I am."

"No, they would not. I've thought about that. I will tell them that you are here to learn about dragons and that you represent a foreign tribe. We already have others who do that anyway now and then. What about your men? Do they know?"

"Of course they know. Don't worry, I only brought my best and most loyal. They know not to let out the truth. If anyone does get suspicious though, I do know normal medicine, so I could pretend to be a healer."

"That sounds good."

She folded her arms inside her cloak and leaned back in the chair.

"You are a strange man, Stoick. A Nord Chief now consorting with a witch and living on an island of tame dragons. But I understand your motives. You are a concerned father."

"Yes, I failed him once. I refused to listen to him when he was right. I almost got him killed, I did in a way."

"Does he know about this plan of ours?"

He paused, not sure if this was the kind of thing he wanted to tell Hiccup. As confident as Moirai was, there was still a chance that something would happen to stop Hiccup from being restored. Worse, he had a nagging suspicion that Hiccup might be hesitant about changing back to what he should be.

"No, I did not tell him. This should stay our secret. I want it to be a surprise for him."

"That is a good idea. No one else will know. Shall we seal our agreement?"

She reached into a pocket and took out a tiny blade. She acted before he could react by slicing her palm and holding the bloodied hand out to him.

To mingle blood with someone else in such a way was a solemn oath. Even the most savage tribes that were still gods-fearing were wary to break such oaths. The idea of striking such a bargain with a witch made his skin crawl. Would it threaten his own soul's place in Valhalla? Did he really have any choice in the matter?

He reluctantly took the knife and gritted his teeth as he sliced his own palm. His eyes teared over at the pain.

They clasped bloody hands to seal their agreement.

"It is done Chief, do you have any place that I could use while here? Preferably one away from people."

"Yes, an abandoned building in the forest. We used to store weapons in it. It's far enough away that no one ever goes there without a reason. I'll lead you to it tomorrow."

"Good. I'll have my men move everything up there. My ship will need to get more supplies that are not here, so we will leave over the winter."

"Just do what you need to do."

She nodded, put on her cape, and whisked out the door without a backward glance, her cape whipping around behind her.

He stood in a daze for a moment before grabbing a rag to staunch the bleeding, only now really feeling the sting of the slice in his hand. Then he knelt down by the fireplace to warm himself and gather his thoughts. The only sound he could hear was the faint crackle from the fire.

It felt like tradition should be offended. Except he felt an odd defiance growing in his heart. Why had the gods done nothing before?

 _I prayed and sacrificed to you, but nothing happened. You wouldn't send a witch to help me. I had to do this myself._

 _If only Gothi was still here. She might be able to help explain the gods' ways._

He glanced over at the table where she had left his family dagger. What paths had it traveled across the seas just to find its way back to him? How many times had he dreamed of being able to pass it on to his son?

With any luck, that might still happen.

He waited until he eventually heard a rapping on the door. Hiccup and Toothless were pacing back and forth just outside. He opened the door to let them in.

"You were not waiting long, were you?"

No, Hiccup shook his head.

Toothless wandered straight off to bed, but Hiccup lingered behind with a clear question on his mind.

"They are here to learn about dragons. It seems they did not need much convincing after your introduction."

Hiccup hummed with pleasure. He knew that Hiccup especially liked using every opportunity to make more people friendly to dragons. But then Hiccup sniffed at the air and looked at his bandaged hand.

"Oh this, it's nothing. I cut my hand by accident. Well, I think Toothless had a good idea. I'm going to bed. Do you… want a hug?"

Hiccup blinked in surprise and then stood up. Hiccup now stood taller than him when standing upright. Their previous hugs had been rather awkward endeavors because of how radically different they were in size and because it felt otherwise too unnatural. This time, he hugged Hiccup like he had not seen him in ages. Never mind the leathery skin under his fingertips or the claws on the paw-hands that awkwardly returned the hug.

It felt good to show his son affection.

"Alright, I'm off to bed."

Hiccup yawned widely and nodded in agreement. They each went their separate ways, though Stoick paused a moment to watch Hiccup curl up in his room across from Toothless.

That was another strange issue. What would happen if... when Hiccup was restored? Would he and Toothless become rider and dragon like most others on Berk? Would Toothless even stay?

 _I'll deal with that when it is an issue._

He climbed into bed and snuggled under the covers. It felt like a weight that had hung over his heart had shifted and might even fall away entirely with a bit more time. At the same time though, he felt a renewed urgency and an anxiousness that had been otherwise dormant over the last couple years.

 _Just a while longer, my dear son. I haven't given up on you._


	22. I - Hearthfire

" _Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home." - Edith Sitwell – Taken Care Of_

* * *

Hearthfire

* * *

The day started out like any other day. The night saw a couple inches of snow and a whipping wind, and the morning had only a few people get up and about early. In other words, it was a typical winter morning on Berk.

Except that all over Berk, the dragons started fidgeting and making a racket. No one knew what was wrong or what was going on as they shrieked, roared, and called to each other. Even Astrid was at a loss after Stormfly vanished into the sky.

Then the dragons started flying away. Similar to a flock of birds, they assembled into their respective kinds above Berk and flew off into the south.

The sight of their dragons flying off without even an apparent glance back or apparent hesitation was enough to nearly inspire a panic.

"Where did they go!" "Why did they leave!" "Are they gone!" "It's Ragnarok!"

Everyone started running every which way in a frenzy.

"Enough! Everyone get to the Hall!" Stoick bellowed.

The cacophony quickly subsided to be replaced by quiet muttering as everyone filled into line and shuffled inside.

"Now, I'm sure there is a good reason why the dragons have left us."

A good number of people in the crowd turned toward Astrid, plaintively looking for answers.

"I don't know. This has never happened before," she answered.

"Not all of them are gone, Chief," Gustav spoke up.

"What?"

"My Nightmare, Flame, is still here."

Stoick looked about the assembly.

"Did anyone else's dragon not leave?"

A few other hands went up.

 _If I remember well, they all have younger dragons._

"Hmm, so only the adults left," he rubbed his beard, deep in thought.

 _I know who to ask._

"Everyone, stay here and stay warm. I'll be back."

He marched straight home.

"Hiccup, Hiccup, wake up," he whispered while rapping on his shoulder.

Hiccup groaned in annoyance at being woken up.

 _Dad... le'mme sleep..._

"Hiccup, you have to wake up. The dragons are gone. They up and left us."

 _Dragons... gone... wait, what?_

Hiccup slowly got up and blinked in confusion, unsure whether he heard correctly.

"Most of the dragons flew away. We don't know where they went. Do you know anything about it?"

 _They flew away? Why would they do that?_

Hiccup went over and woke up a rather grumpy Toothless.

"Toothless, the other kin flew away from this nest. Why?"

Toothless could see that Hiccup's sire was very disturbed by something. It took only a moment of thought before the obvious reason came to his mind.

"They need drop their eggs."

Hiccup translated.

 **To lay eggs**

Stoick stared at the answer for a minute in deep thought before he continued.

"I wondered when that would come up. Why not here on Berk?"

 **He says they need a special place**

 **An island with bubbling water**

"An island with bubbling water? What? When will they be back?"

Toothless just rolled his shoulders in a shrug at that relayed question.

 **He does not know**

 **They need to stay with their babies until they can fly**

"But that could be a year!" he exclaimed in dismay.

Stoick started pacing, clearly agitated by learning that the dragons would be gone for a long time.

"That leaves us defenseless. How do we know they will even come back?"

 **Of course they will want to come back**

 **We are good to them and this is their home**

"I hope it is that easy. Do we know where they went? I've never heard of a place like that."

"Toothless, you know where is bubble-water-island?"

"Yes."

"But where?"

"Much past dead-monster nest."

 **He knows where it is**

"Where?"

 **Past Dragon Island**

"I really wish we knew where exactly that is, " Stoick grumbled.

 **Then let us go find it**

"What?" Stoick exclaimed.

 **Toothless can show me where it is**

 **And we will make sure they are fine**

"But it is the winter! What if it gets too cold for you? What if you get lost? What if something happens to you?"

 **We will be fine**

 **The other dragons are not bothered by the cold**

Stoick grumbled again and looked about to object.

 **We need to know where they went**

"Yes, but..."

.

"How long would you be gone?"

 **Maybe a week**

"A week, I really don't like it."

 _Please dad..._

Stoick eventually sighed in resignation.

"Ok, you two go straight there. Make sure our dragons are there and that they are safe. And then you come right back here. Don't try to visit anyone or do anything stupid."

Hiccup held up a paw to his chest and gave him a hurt expression.

"Oh, come on Hiccup, I just want you to stay safe."

 **I will dad**

 **No other adventures**

"It's not that bad out there today. How about you both get going after you both get something to eat?"

 **Ok**

"I'll go tell everyone. This will definitely ruin the festival... Try to be back in time for that too. Gods, what a day."

With that, Stoick left to deliver the news to the rest of his people.

Hiccup watched as his father left and was very tempted to bury himself under his bearskin blanket. But there was a question nipping at his tail.

"Toothless, why did kin need go to bubble-water island?"

"The warm water and ground helps keep eggs warm. And they were probably hatched there and feel like they must go there."

"Why?"

"I already say why. They think they must nest there because their sire and dam did."

"Can they learn to stay here?"

Toothless grumbled and covered himself with his tail.

"Maybe, I do not know."

Then Toothless settled down, clearly intending to go back to sleep. Hiccup tossed another small log on the fireplace his father had set up in his and Toothless's room.

 _I still don't understand why they had to leave. He almost made it sound like they didn't have a choice._

"Toothless, we need fly to bubble-water island."

Toothless quickly stood up and looked incredulously at him.

"Why?"

"My sire wants us to see the island and know that the kin are safe."

"Why would they not be safe?"

"I not know. Kin are part of this island-nest, and the two-legs... have fear for them."

"It is a long flight."

"I know, Toothless, I still want to go."

Toothless sighed and ruffled his wings.

"Can we eat first?"

"Yes, sire will bring us much food," Hiccup answered with a grin.

Though he wouldn't admit it to Hiccup, Toothless was also a bit interested by the idea of following the other kin. There was always the possibility, however little flight it may have, that other Night-Fury-kin may roost on the egg-nest-island.

 _I never saw any in past season-cycles. But maybe we are not the last..._

* * *

Stoick returned shortly after delivering the news to the rest of the tribe. He brought with him several large fish from the storeroom. It was while he was preparing Hiccup's portion that someone else knocked on the door. It was Astrid all bundled up against the cold and with something leathery in her arms.

"Astrid? What is the matter?" he asked after letting her inside.

"Nothing is the matter. I wanted to bring something for your dragons."

 _Oh, what is that?_ Hiccup wondered to himself.

"Well, it sounds like they will be gone for a while. Right?" she turned to Hiccup.

Yes.

"I brought them a pack. It can easily fit around his neck. There is some salted pork and dried fish in there in case they get hungry out there."

He carefully checked inside and, sure enough, there were dried meats inside.

"Thank you Astrid, I'm sure they will appreciate it."

She nodded to him and then glanced at Hiccup.

"You two stay safe out there. Go and find our friends for us."

She flashed him a wistful smile and then left.

"That was thoughtful of her. Yours is done now."

Hiccup eagerly ate his large portion while Toothless did likewise and then slung the pack over his head and neck so that it rested against his breast.

"Alright, remember what I said. No side adventures. Just see where the dragons went, make sure they are ok, and then come back. Got it?"

 _Yes dad, I know..._

"Alright, I'll see you when you get back."

Stoick then grabbed his cloak and headed out the door. Toothless perked up from beside the fire as soon as he was gone.

"Hiccup, you ready?"

"Yes."

He followed Toothless outside, hopping through the banks of snow to the nearest cliff. Toothless fanned his wings and turned to him.

"I hope your wings not get ice-cold."

"What!" Hiccup exclaimed in alarm.

Toothless just laughed, struck him in the face with his tail, and jumped aloft. Hiccup growled in mock-annoyance and leapt after him. Both of their hearts were lightened by being aloft again even if the winter winds did have sharp teeth.

After a long day of flying, they arrived at Dragon Island just before sunset.

"We should sleep here," Toothless shouted over the wind's whistle. They found a sheltered part of the southern coast and landed together.

"Why stay here?" Hiccup shivered at the memory of what they had seen last time they were here.

"Not good to fly in dark-cold-wind. We fly to egg-island next sun."

Toothless curled up against a large boulder. But not before trying something. He aimed at small patch of driftwood immediately before him, and tried to summon his flame for warmth.

But he only succeeded at coughing and hacking with no fire or even sparks to speak of. He grumbled at himself and noticed Hiccup's look of bemusement.

"No, no laughing."

Hiccup only chuckled to himself but didn't tease Toothless over that failure. Then he walked over to Toothless and snuggled up against his side for warmth. Toothless extended a wing over them both and lay his head down on his paws. But Hiccup remained awake and stared up at the stars and the faint green aurora shimmering over the northern sky. The surf continued to roll down the coast and the faint dusting of snow continued to fall all around them.

He thought about the passage of time and the cycle of life that he was soon going to witness. And for a brief moment, he felt like he was a part of all existence itself. The stars in the celestial ceiling untouchable far above, the soft wind bringing the dusting of snowflakes, and the warmth felt from the company of loved ones.

Then he remembered who he was and where he was on Dragon Island, leaving him with only a wistful feeling that the moment had passed.

* * *

It became clear that something was happening on the island even while they were still far out over the sea. There were what looked like hundreds of dragons flying about above the strange place.

It looked like a mountain peak had once jutted out of the water, only the center of the island had collapsed in on itself and was now a dark pit of deep blue. The rest of the island around the remains of the central mountain was a mix of rock and sand and had steaming pools of water all throughout. There was no snow anywhere on the island. And of course, the place glimmered orange, white, dark red, green, and yellow because of all the dragons already roosting on it.

 _Woah, I've never seen so many of them!_

He and Toothless glided over the island, surveying all the sights below. They alighted on a ledge overlooking the island's northern plain.

"There are many kin here," Hiccup observed.

Toothless hummed as he looked out over the many pairs.

"I think all kin this area of the great egg come here to drop their eggs."

Hiccup noticed that the pairs of dragons were generally gathered around the steaming pools.

"Why are kin at bubble-waters?"

"The warm-bubble-water is good for eggs."

"How?"

"Warm ground helps eggs stay warm."

 _Really! I never knew that. Now it makes sense why there are eggshells around the pools._

"There are no other Night-Fury-kin here," Toothless grumbled with an obviously disappointed expression.

"Is this where you hatched?" Hiccup asked.

"No, I hatched in a rock-cave far toward where sky-fire breaks its shell."

Then Toothless hummed with an idea that gave lift to his life-fire.

"Maybe Night-Fury-kin not need fly here to drop eggs."

"That is a good thought, Toothless. How much time for hatchlings to break their eggs?"

"I not know. Different with each kin."

Hiccup was about to ask another question when he noticed a pair of Nadders that looked very familiar. The blue on the male's back was unmistakable.

 _Stormfly, Blueback!_

He leapt from the ledge and glided over to the nesting pair. They both perked up and watched him as he landed and approached over the warm sand. Stormfly did not get up from where she lay on the sand, but Blueback did hop over to him and sniff him. Then he gave a happy trill, apparently recognizing him. Considering that as permission to approach, he slowly advanced on Stormfly. She remained admirably calm and didn't once raise her spines at him. Though it certainly helped that she was far larger than him and shouldn't feel threatened. He sat down on his haunches and looked up at her.

"Hi girl, so how is the laying going?"

Warble.

"Any chance I could get a peek?"

She only sniffed at him and nuzzled his head.

 _Well, you take as long as you need._

He stepped away from them and flew back to the ledge, now noticing several other of the dragons from Berk. Toothless was still on the ledge and had a very unimpressed look.

"Hiccup, you rock-head."

"What?"

Toothless put his face right in up in his and growled to emphasize his point.

"Nesting kin are dangerous. Do not go to them."

"But they are from our nest. They know me."

"Them yes. But I will not lose my head. You forget that kin have teeth. Like when we go in cave up the mountain and the bad two-head-gas-breather almost eat you."

Hiccup grumbled at being reminded of that.

"Toothless, you worry much."

"One of us must. The kin are safe here. We fly back to home-nest?"

"Yes," Hiccup relented, "we should be back before cold-season food-eating-ceremony."

That made Toothless perk up like little else could.

"Is that when the two-legs and us get in the most-big-tree-den and eat many meats?"

"Yes."

Toothless licked his lips in clear excitement, already having forgotten his frustration.

"Hiccup, we fly fast and not let two-legs eat all the meat."

Toothless did not even wait for a response and leapt into the sky. Hiccup took another look around the island and somewhat reluctantly followed him.

 _There is so much still to learn here. Things we don't know. But I don't want to miss the Blott._

* * *

Stoick stood at the Great Hall's front door and scanned the horizon one more time in the hope that they might return in time. But alas, he had already tarried after sunset long enough and had to get the festival underway. He shut the door and made his way to the head of the Hall.

It was a far more subdued experience compared to last year. There was less laughing and mirth and more muttering.

He took a deep breath and stood up in front of the main fire, quickly garnering everyone's attention.

"Brothers and sisters! What a year it has been. We've strengthened our alliance with the Vaina and we showed those Outcasts that we protect our own!"

That drew a faint cheer.

"Now, I sense a gloom hanging over you tonight. We all know what the reason is for that. For why we are a bit grumpy and anxious. Do not worry. We have plenty of drink and enough food for everyone."

Scattered laughter followed.

"Mostly because it looks like we will get more of the food to ourselves this time. I know you're all wondering about them somewhere out there. They can handle themselves. And I'm sure that they will come back to us when they are ready."

"How do we know that?" "Yeah, they just left us."

"They will come back because they know how good it is for them here. They do not go hungry and no one is trying to kill them here. They left us for a time and for a good reason. That doesn't make this time without them easier. We all know what it is like to miss someone you are fond of this time of year. So what do we do? We celebrate them! Celebrate everything we have done this year and the great future we will have. May the gods be with us!"

Everyone gathered in the Hall gave him a roar at the conclusion of his speech, especially when they saw the plates of steaming meats and the barrels of drink being rolled out.

Unsurprisingly, the first person to approach him was Gobber.

"As inspirational as always, Stoick."

"I try."

"You do more than just try, my friend. Do you think your dragons will get back tonight?"

"I hope so."

"Well, I'll make sure to save a lot of the meats for them if they don't get back. Say Stoick, what happened to our odd guests, the old woman, daughter, and company? Are they here?"

"No, they left to go home for the winter. They might be back in the spring. Probably didn't want to tough it out up here with us!"

Gobber smiled at that and raised his mug to Stoick's. The rest of the evening progressed at it usually did at the Wintersblott festival. People got happier and rowdier as the night went on. A few innocent scuffles broke out. Jokes were told. No one was taking themselves seriously until the time of the ceremony.

This was one going to be more important than the prior years' because of who was going to be taking part. This group had been instrumental in the changes that Berk had undergone over the last few years.

The festivities continued for hours of story-telling, drinking, feasting, and flirting. It was after midnight when there came a commotion from the main entrance to the Hall. Stoick couldn't make out anything distinct over the din of voices but the people noticeably started to part from the rear. And then he saw a very welcome sight.

Two Night Furies had let themselves into the Hall and were making their way up the main isle. Even though it hadn't even been a week, he was sorely tempted to run up to Hiccup and throw his arms around his neck. But he didn't do so out of concern for appearances.

"They came back!" "Where are the others?" "Did you find them?" several people shouted out.

Hiccup visibly nodded at this last question and went straight for Stoick's table.

"You're back! Did you find the other dragons?"

 **Yes, they are safe and warm**

"And they have gone to lay their eggs, right?"

 **Yes**

"Alright good, how about you two go warm up by the fire."

Hiccup nodded and joined Toothless over by the bonfire. Stoick then addressed the entire Hall.

"Everyone, they saw the other dragons. It is as I said. The dragons are off to lay their eggs. They are doing what they have to do. My Furies came back to us. The others will be back eventually and until then, life goes on for us. It is time!"

Everyone got to their feet and crowded around the central bonfire where he and Elder Vuulthir had gathered beside the two Furies.

"Come forward, children of Berk!"

The riders stepped forward and stood before the rest of their tribe. Their parents all assembled nearest to them, ready to welcome their children as adults.

"You have all proven your worth to the tribe. You have fought bravely and learned from your mistakes. You have helped Berk to grow as have you. You are no longer children to us. Cast off your old name and come forth."

As he said this, he used a Holly branch to sprinkle them with consecrated water.

The riders each nervously looked at each other until Snotlout took a deep breath and stepped forward.

"Who are you?" Stoick's voice echoed in the silent Hall.

"I am Thorvald Firehammer Jorgenson."

Stoick embraced him and then stepped back to let the Elder do his work. Everyone held their breath as Elder Vuulthir painted ash figures on Thorvald's forehead.

The twins and Fishlegs stepped forward and were asked the same question in turn.

Ruffnut answered "Sifa Thorstondottir" and Tuffnut answerered with "Theron Thorstonson." Fishlegs proudly announced himself as "Skald Ingermanson."

Stoick embraced each of them, and the Elder gave them the same ash symbols. Then only Astrid was left.

"Who are you?"

"Astrid Hofferdottir."

Stoick nodded in satisfaction and gave her a hug. She waited as Elder Vuulthir painted the symbols on her forehead. And then it was over, and her parents were embracing her as the feasting and revelry resumed. A number of other villagers she knew also congratulated her. Then she joined the other riders and returned to the feasting.

 _Strange, I thought I would feel different. I guess this doesn't really change anything. I'm not really any different._

She looked around the Hall and appreciated how different it was this year compared to last year. There were no dragons in the Hall this time other than the drowsy Furies. The other few dragons that were still on the island were in deep sleeps from which no one had bothered to wake them.

The issue of the dragons had been on her mind all week since hearing what Stoick had told everyone. The dragons had left to lay their eggs on some strange island. That was certainly the one part of dragon lives that they knew the least about. Her thoughts turned to her dragon somewhere out there in the world.

 _I'll have to ask Hiccup for more details. I hope she is ok. I wonder how many babies she will have and when I'll see her again._

The ceremony to recognize the latest adults into the tribe being finished, the rest of the night was reserved for more food, drink, and dancing.

* * *

Watching Astrid and his former classmates get formally recognized and admitted into the tribe as full adults was both heartwarming and left him wistful. It was one of the biggest days of their lives, one that he had dreamed of many times in a past life.

For now though, he was entirely content to rest by the fire and warm up after flying straight through into the night. At least he was content until he saw several plates of meats brought up to the Chief's table.

"Toothless, meat for us now."

Toothless needed no further encouragement and dashed up to the table to feast. Hiccup was pleased to notice that Toothless controlled himself and didn't drool all over the place. There was nothing quite like several plates full of warm and juicy goat, pork, and chicken after a long and frigid winter flight. They feasted while watching the other people dance to the music. Toothless then turned to him after finishing his food, his eyes drooping with drowsiness.

"I am sleepy."

"I will stay here Toothless."

Toothless nodded and saw himself out of the Hall, though he did stop to let a few people toss some more food into his open maw. Hiccup couldn't help but purr in happiness that everyone was happy to see them both again. Then he settled down next to his father's table and watched the festivities. The swirling mass of dancing Berkians was such a contrast to their normal way of life. The men were actually being gentle with their ladies and were heartily laughing. The ladies had put on dresses to tantalize the men and share gossip in the Hall's corners.

Astrid finished another group dance and stepped aside to catch her breath. The dancing seemed to be winding down as everyone was getting slower and sleepier as the night got old. There was only one more slow dance remaining, and there was a problem, a rather obnoxious problem.

Snotlout, now Thorvald, had spotted her and was weaving his way through the crowd towards her as he had tried to do all night.

 _Gods, not him... anyone but him..._

Hiccup found himself watching Astrid. It wasn't just her pretty green dress or the way she had let out her hair to fall over her shoulders that grabbed his attention. What really caught his eye was that she was looking around the gathering in dismay. She was clearly looking for a partner for the last dance.

It did not even occur to him that it would be strange. All he knew was that his dear Astrid needed someone to dance with, and he had certainly wanted to do this for a very long time. He hopped to his feet and walked out to her.

"Hiccup, what are you doing out here?"

He plaintively glanced from her to the dance floor. It took only a moment for her to understand what he had in mind.

"Oh, I didn't know you could... Ok."

"Come on Astrid, don't bother with him," Thorvald pleaded.

"He asked me before you."

"It is a dragon, Astrid! It can't dance!"

"I think he can."

A hush went through the crowd as they watched Astrid and the Night Fury walk out onto the dance floor together. He stopped in front of her and stood up using his tail for balance. Then he placed his paws on her shoulders as she did likewise.

"Don't worry, we'll go slowly."

He nodded in agreement and purred in happiness.

The music haltingly started a few moments later, and only a few couples were actually paying attention to their own dances. The novelty of a dragon, even one admittedly as smart as a Night Fury, dancing with someone was too incredible to ignore.

It left him very nervous. He had never danced with her, or anyone for that matter, before and had no idea what to do. It didn't help that there were dozens of people staring at them.

"Hiccup, look at me."

He did so and focused on her mirthful blue eyes.

"Step," he barely heard her whisper at the same time as she pulled on his shoulders.

He stepped forward while she stepped back. Then she pushed softly and he knew to step back. They fell into this simple pattern for several steps until he started feeling more relaxed. He didn't mind that she was essentially leading him. A quick glance to the audience showed many gaping mouths and astonished looks. But he did not care about them.

He saw Fishlegs, now Skald, spin his partner in a simple loop.

 _I can do that…_

He reached out and gently clasped her left hand in a paw. Then he spun her out in a loop and gathered her back in as she laughed aloud in delight. And they began spinning around the dance floor, completely oblivious to everyone around them. Their antics finally started turning the audience.

They did not attempt anything more elaborate than a simple spin, but they enjoyed it all the same and shared laughs at each other's many missteps.

The music began to slow down several minutes later, signaling the end of the dance. The crowd began cheering each other and the odd pair as the dance ended. A few of the couples even shared a passionate kiss.

"That was nice. Thank you."

Maybe it was the warm atmosphere or maybe it was just something he had long wanted to do. Regardless, it happened before he was even aware of doing it or thinking about it. He leaned forward and licked her on the cheek.

She gasped and raised a hand to her cheek while staring at him in surprise. Then he seemed to realize what he had done.

 _Oh no! What did I just do?_

He shamefully let her go and dropped back to the ground. The laughing crowd started gathering around Astrid and bombarding her with questions and a few teasing wolf-whistles. He even got a couple pats of his own on his head. But he did not want to go back to his father's table. He couldn't even remain in the Hall anymore. He ran out the front door of the Hall without looking back. The snow crunched underfoot as he walked through the snow with his tail dragging behind him. The numbing wind helped with the heat and shame pouring through his veins.

He stood outside his door and let the cold wash over him for a few more moments before opening the door and walking inside. He went straight to the bedroom and curled up across from the ember-filled fireplace still popping and cracking from the last log. Toothless was asleep on the other side of the room. Thankfully, Toothless had left the party early and could not tease him.

Something felt broken in him, and he sadly knew exactly what it was.

Astrid could not be his.

She was kind, responsible, tough, and very beautiful. She was no longer a girl; she was a woman now. He had liked her for as long as he could recall, even back in his more pathetic moments when she had berated him for being weak. She was beautiful in his eyes even then. And she had eventually changed after meeting Toothless. She had held him tightly in the skies on Toothless's back and had even given him a peck on the cheek after that fortuitous flight. She had now done things that no woman of her age had ever done before.

Then his life had been completely changed.

That dance had shown him how great the chasm was between them. Her muscular shoulders felt strange under his paws. He stood much taller than her now after only a couple years. It wouldn't even be possible to dance safely with her in the future.

They could never be as close as he had hoped they might be. It was not the gods' will.

 _What must she think of me?_

* * *

Her eyes never left Hiccup as he dashed out the Hall. She knew him well enough to see his distress.

She somehow endured the inane questions and managed to escape the crowd. But she could not escape the swirling and confusing emotions in her heart. She had danced with Hiccup. That had been very fun and strangely pleasant.

And he had kissed her! Sort of.

The others had laughed about how smart the Fury was and about how it tried to imitate others around it, but she knew that was not just a casual gesture brought on by festival cheer or innocent imitation.

She sat down at the table where she had left her coat and steadied herself. Her heart was left racing in a way she hadn't felt in a long time.

 _I guess he would still… even after this time and everything…_

"Enjoying yourself I see," Thorvald said while crossing his arms.

"Not now," she sighed.

"Why not now? You avoided me on every dance."

"Because I do not want to dance with you. You know I am not interested…"

"What does that matter? When has that ever mattered ? My father has told me that I need to marry soon, and there is no one better than you on Berk."

"And tell him that I will make my own choice of who I marry."

He scowled and stepped forward, pushing her up against the wall.

"That is not how we do things. I've waited years now. What are you going to do? Marry the dragon?"

"What did you say?" she seethed.

He sneered openly and glanced immodestly at her.

"You seemed very interested in the dragon. Humph. Should we expect you to… I don't know… lay eggs soon?"

She rammed his face with her head and heard his nose crack. He howled his pain and staggered back from her, clutching at his bloodied face. She picked up her coat, quickly wrapped herself in it, and stormed out of the Hall. The cold wind helped to cool her anger.

She marched home and went straight to bed without changing. But she could not sleep even after tossing and turning for over an hour. There was too much on her mind, too much left unsaid that did not feel like it could wait.

 _This is stupid. No, this is crazy._

So she got back up, put on her boots and coat, and slipped outside after checking to make sure that no one would see her. Naturally, everyone had long since gone to sleep. She went straight to the Chief's house and slipped in through the side entrance. The door creaked noticeably, but the wind helped to hide the sound. She did not worry that Stoick would be awake considering how much she had seen him drinking at the festival. The snoring she could hear from his bedroom left no doubt that he was out cold.

She tiptoed to Hiccup's room and found both him and Toothless apparently asleep. She set aside her coat, walked over to Hiccup, and reached out to tap him on the shoulder when he stirred and opened his eyes. His eyes went wide in shock for a moment and then he looked away in obvious discomfort.

"Shush, I need to talk. Just listen," she whispered.

He nodded slowly and settled back down. He couldn't quite meet her eyes though and stared at the fireplace.

"I know you... like me. Even now. I was never nice to you before you showed me Toothless, before you changed the world. You helped me become a better person. I am not as angry or as stubborn as I was back then. I feel wonder again."

She sat down next to him.

"Snotlout wants me to marry him. That will not happen. We couldn't respect each other. My parents want me to marry someone, but they said I can make my own choice who. How could I marry anyone here and be happy? Anyone other than… Do I wish things could be different? Do I wish that you were human right now?"

"Yeah, I do," she whispered with an obvious blush.

Neither of them could look at each other for a brief moment.

"But only the gods know why this had to happen to you. There is no sense pining over what is not."

She sighed softly and then noticeably shivered.

"I am cold. Talk tomorrow?"

He slowly nodded once, and then she vanished. He lay his head back down on his pillow and listened to the crackling of the fire's embers.

And he sobbed himself to sleep.

* * *

Hiccup woke up later in the morning than he was accustomed to. It was still unsettling how much less energy he had during the winters and how much more he wanted to sleep. He spared the dozing Toothless a glance. Then he got to his feet to stretch.

It was only then that he smelled the very strange smell and remembered that Astrid had been there last night.

 _That really happened?_

Only her faintly lingering smell reassured him that it was not a dream; that she had actually been here at his side last night after the dance. After he essentially kissed her in front of everyone at the dance.

He gave a sigh of resignation.

 _Oh great, I know dad will want to talk about that. Let's get this over with._

He left the bedroom and was immediately assaulted by the sound of snoring from down the hall. He rolled his eyes and grumbled.

 _I should have known. Never expect anything from a man the day after the winter celebration. He might not remember anything after all._

He went into the kitchen and looked outside. It did not look fierce at all. He went outside and, reassured that it was not too cold, took a short flight out to sea to relieve himself.

Someone dressed in a heavy coat was waiting for him when he returned. He would have blushed if he had been able to.

 _Uh, Astrid… hi Astrid… hi Astrid._

"Good morning Hiccup, shall we go to the Academy?"

He nodded once and followed her down and inside the Academy. She tossed a log on the fire in her alcove and they both settled down on the ground.

"So… I guess we should talk about yesterday. Of all the dragons I have danced with, you are the best."

They both stared at each other, completely deadpan and serious until they gave in and chuckled heartily.

 **I should not have**

"Should not have what? Kissed me?"

He managed to look thoroughly embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it, everyone thought it was cute. Everyone except that idiot Snotlout. Gods, he is lucky I didn't have my dagger."

 **What did he do?**

"He said something very… crude about you and me because I danced with you instead of him. And because I avoided him all evening. He just wouldn't stop! He is so stubborn. So I hit him."

 **Anyone else interested?**

Astrid sighed deeply.

"Yes, of course there will be others who will want me. Most of the ones from other tribes just think that they will be a dragon master or want power through me. I will not have any of them."

 **What do you want?**

"I just want to keep leading the riders and the Academy. I want to keep learning about dragons and keeping the peace. I want to see dragons bring their hatchlings back here because they know it is a safe place. How could I do any of that if I were to settle down? Become a housewife? Live a normal life? I can only think of one person whose life would have fit with what I want and…"

"You know the problem with that. Who knows though? If you ever do get changed back, then maybe things can be different for us."

 **Thank you for summing that up**

She at least grinned at that.

"For now though, we have to do what we can with the time the gods give to us. We are both doing some good for the world, after all. We are keeping the peace, and you are showing everyone that dragons are not just dumb beasts to be abused. Gods, even the Outcasts are being better than they used to be."

She paused and looked very pensive.

"Hiccup, I want you to tell me the truth. Do you want to be changed back?"

 **Yes**

"Really think about it Hiccup, would you give up flying and being able to talk with Toothless?"

He stared down at his claws while he tried to consider her question. The more he thought about it, the more of a gnawing doubt he felt. There was truly nothing else he had ever experienced like feeling a warm breeze press on his wings as he effortlessly glided higher. The total freedom of being able to come and go as he wished was something humans definitely did not enjoy. But, as he knew all too well, there were other parts of life that he couldn't partake of as a dragon. Things that seemed too painful to abandon all hope of enjoying.

 **It would be hard but yes**

 **If I could be with you**

 **Toothless said he would let me fly with him like before**

"Has he ever gotten around to learning how to write?"

 **Not yet but I am teaching him**

 **He knows a few runes**

"Really? He seems as stubborn as a Nord at times. Actually, he is most all the time."

They both chuckled at that.

"So did you see Stormfly out there?"

 **Yes, she seemed fine and happy to see me**

"Good. What is the place like?"

He spent over an hour carefully writing out everything he had learned about the nesting-island and the behaviors of the dragons on the island.

"And they really put their eggs by the water to hatch them?"

Yes.

"Wow. I wish I could have seen it myself. Any idea how long they will be there?"

 **Until their babies can fly I guess**

 **So probably into the summer**

"That's so long. We depend on them a lot now. Any idea what we can do to bring them back sooner?"

He gave it a few moments of thought.

 **Maybe sent a boat and bring their hatchlings back**

"Will they trust us like that?"

 **I think so**

 **Do you think Stormfly would?**

"I want to think so, but I cannot know for sure. That might just work though. I'll see what your dad thinks about it. Maybe we can try that in the spring."

"About your dad, has he said anything to you about yesterday?"

 **He was still asleep**

"I hope he isn't angry with you. As I said, everyone thought it was cute."

He had to huff at that to preserve what was left of his pride.

"Well, I'm going to go home Hiccup. I skipped breakfast for this. Thank you for talking to me."

They both got up and set off for their respective destinations. The first thing he saw when he got home was his father sitting at the table and holding his head in his hands while groaning.

 _Uh, dad?_

"Mmmhhhhrrrr, Hiccup... my head..."

He gave his dad an amused and concerned look.

"Don't drink that much. It's not good for you," Stoick offered as sage advice.

 _Obviously._

"There was something I wanted to say. I saw you dancing last night. That was new. It looked like you were having fun. I couldn't help but think what if..."

 _If what dad?_

Stoick raised his hand back to his temple and groaned.

"If only this pounding would stop."

 _Dad, you brought that on yourself._

Hiccup left his father to his self-inflicted misery and returned to his room. Toothless was still sound asleep. He took his place in his own bed and turned his thoughts to everything that had happened.

It almost felt like he and Astrid had come to more of an understanding of where they stood in relation to each other and of what they hoped for out of life. He closed his eyes and imagined what might happen in the future if his condition were to ever be changed. She had clearly let her thoughts be known, and it greatly warmed his heart.


	23. I - Ultimatum

_**Author's Note - The end of volume I was written without RTTE material in mind. If any character in this chapter or the following chapters feels OOC try to remember that RTTE development never happened in this world.** _

* * *

" _War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend." ― J.R.R. Tolkien - The Two Towers_

* * *

Ultimatum

* * *

The snow began to thaw with the coming of the warm, southern winds. None of the trees had yet sprouted buds or indicated the approaching spring though. Things were different on the island this time. There was far less activity and less that needed to be done. Everything was more quiet since most of the island's largest denizens were away taking care of other duties. There was more time for everyone to tend to the animals, hunt in the forest, and learn new skills. Not that everything was perfect though.

Stoick waited as his tribesmen filtered into the Hall at his request to hear him speak about the main problem still facing the island. That of the dragons' continued absence.

Most people had managed to adapt to the changes despite feeling distraught at missing their beloved pets. But not having the dragons around did have certain negative impacts such as not being able to catch as much fish and not being as secure against possible attack.

Astrid had previously approached him with a possible solution to that issue. It seemed like a dangerous solution, not that dangerous solutions were to be avoided for that reason alone.

"I have an idea for how to bring the dragons back here."

That got everyone's attention.

"The Furies told us where the other dragons are nesting. We are going to send a ship to the island and will try to bring back our dragons' hatchlings by boat. They won't be able to fly yet and their parents will follow you back here. But you need to go on the boat if you want your beasts to come back. That is the best way to make sure they trust you."

"Yeah, we'll go." "I want to see them again."

He was pleased to see that there was enthusiasm for the idea.

"Good. We are going to wait a few months before we go and get them. Until then, we are going to be tough like we always are!"

He got all-around cheers, and everyone else seemed to have perked up quite a bit at the assurance that he had a plan. He fielded a few questions about exactly what the plan was and then set out for home.

 _It hasn't been that bad with the dragons gone. We don't need to get nearly as much food, and there is less work. It does feel different with them gone though._

"Hiccup!" he shouted when he got home.

There was no reply.

He went back outside and looked around the village and the skies. Sure enough, there were a pair of dark specks chasing after each other far out over the cliffs. He put off everything else he had planned to do and watched for a while as they played tag in the skies.

They had both grown significantly over the winter. They stood a couple hands taller and their tails were several feet longer than they were at the start of winter. It was a further reminder of the extent to which he was dependent on Moirai's services once she returned.

He went back inside, feeling strangely anxious. He lay on his bed without trying to sleep, instead just staring up at the ceiling, lost in his thoughts. Thoughts of Hiccup stretching his wings. Thoughts of his little boy struggling to lift a hammer. Hiccup practically inhaling fish one after another. Little Hiccup repeatedly declining to eat anything, using the excuse that he wasn't hungry.

 _'There's no point wishing for what can't be...'_

He resoundingly rebuked that doubting part of himself.

 _"_ No, this can work. She will be back, and then... then I'll make this right."

* * *

A battle raged on a beach near the other side of the island from the village.

He held himself at the ready, his claws kneading at the ground underfoot and his hind legs coiled, ready to leap at a moment's warning. Breathing in and out, staying mindfully in the moment. Holding himself low to the ground and staring into the narrowed, green eyes not a single wingspan away. Toothless returned the same posture.

Hiccup ran though everything Toothless had taught him about combat. About watching how the other shifts their weight, whether they plan to leap, will they try to bite or slash with their claws, what to do if they look about to try to flame him...

He shifted his weight and blinked when he felt something small wiggling underfoot.

And Toothless took that brief lapse in concentration to leap towards him. He bellowed and stumbled backward to give himself a moment to react. Then Toothless stood tall in front of him, a paw raised to strike. He quickly stood upright using his tail for balance and blocked Toothless's slashing strike with his own forelimb. He correctly expected Toothless's counter strike using his other arm and dodged by arching his neck back.

However, he did not anticipate Toothless lunging forward during that moment he was not visible and clamping his jaws around his neck. His breath was huffed from him as Toothless fell flat on him. He let himself go limp, knowing that the duel was over and Toothless had won.

Yet again.

Toothless released him and stepped back with an infuriatingly smug grin.

"You did better, Hiccup. Good learning."

"Still lose," Hiccup grumbled.

"Why you think you lose?"

"You much faster."

Toothless shook his head in obvious disagreement.

"Yes, I faster but that not why I win. Need see my attack before I move. Like flying, you need doing and not thinking."

Hiccup hung his head in frustration.

"I not know how to do that."

"We play and you learn. Remember, attacker always wants to get your neck or wings. Those are death for kin."

"So keep head down and wings in?"

"Yes, easy to hurt wings in fight. You cannot roll with wings out. I bite them or break them. A grounded kin is a dead kin."

 _Well, that sounds familiar._

"Only use wings to fly away?"

"Yes," Toothless nodded.

"Toothless, why would kin fight me? I do not try to fight them."

"They might want your cave, your food, or your female."

Hiccup rolled his eyes at Toothless's teasing remark.

"Not a problem for me."

"I know, you could not keep any of those," Toothless replied.

He returned Toothless's snide comment with a glare and a bit of righteous indignation.

 _You will pay for that!_

He leapt at Toothless just as he started to turn away. His plan was to throw himself on top of Toothless and pin him to the ground in retaliation.

However, Toothless reacted faster than he thought possible by dodging and rolling to kick him away. Hiccup tumbled onto the warm sands and bellowed at the burning pain in his belly.

"Hiccup!" Toothless yelled.

Hiccup clenched his teeth against the pain and carefully rolled onto his side to look at his belly and the blood-soaked sand. One of Toothless's claws had punctured his underbelly and tore a gash in his skin.

"Let me see..." Toothless's voice held a hint of panic.

He inspected the injury and breathed a sigh of relief that it was not a deep cut.

"It is not bad."

"What! Hurts much," Hiccup growled in pain.

Toothless knelt at his side and bent down to his bleeding belly. Then he started licking the bloody cut.

"What are you doing?"

"Lick hurts. Mouth-water makes hurts better and not hurt."

Despite how strange it was to let Toothless lick his bloodied wound, he couldn't deny that the burning pain was immediately cooled and numbed. He swallowed his pride and let Toothless do his work, as he knew best on such a matter.

 _I guess Night Fury saliva has healing properties..._

When Toothless was finished giving him the treatment, he looked back down at his wound and was pleasantly surprised that it had entirely stopped bleeding.

"Better?"

"Yes," Hiccup mumbled.

"Are you angry?"

"No Toothless. I just want you be more careful."

"I am sorry. Not want hurt you," Toothless whimpered.

Despite his remaining frustration with how careless he thought Toothless had been, he still sidled up next to him and gave him a brief nuzzle.

"Will this hurt leave mark?" Hiccup asked.

"Maybe small. Not big mark that shows you win fights."

 _Great, my first scar._

"I not fighter."

"And I not two-leg, but I learning two-leg picture-talking," Toothless retorted.

Those words made Hiccup perk up with an idea.

"Show me your name now in sand."

Toothless grumbled and shuffled on his feet, but he stifled any objection. He looked down at the sand before him, put a single talon to the sand, and carved for a minute. Hiccup came over when he was finished.

"Good, you are learning."

"You try making the shapes more times than there are trees on this island..." Toothless muttered.

"That is how two-legs learn. Do many times like learning flying. Hmm, I want Astrid see you now. Follow me."

Toothless shook his head at Hiccup's antics and silly excitement.

 _He would want to have Astrid see that I can write a little now. I do not understand it._

But he went aloft and followed anyway.

* * *

She stood at the ready, staring down her target approximately fifty paces away. She held her back straight, fitted an arrow to the line, and draw back the line.

 _Breathe in and out... feel the sight..._

She let the arrow fly on its ordained course. The arrow cut through the air initially on course and then drifting slightly to the right. It buried itself in the side of the tree, and she gave a sigh of disappointment at her performance.

 _Only four out of ten. Gods, I've gotten sloppy. I guess I deserve it for not practicing for years._

She went to collect her arrows. There was very little for her to do on Berk with most of the dragons still gone. She had decided to take up practicing again to pass the time. After all, there would always be a need for hunters to bring down deer, rabbits, or bears.

Though she would need a bit of practice to get back to her form from prior years when she could freely hurl axes and never miss or could hit her target with the bow nine times out of ten.

She was about to start over again despite the strain in her arm when she heard the rush of approaching wings.

 _I wonder..._

Sure enough, both Hiccup and Toothless swooped overhead. She set aside her bow and ran to the clearing to meet them.

"There you are. I was wondering where you two had gone."

Hiccup found a patch area of dirt.

 **We were playing**

"Why should today be different? What is going on with you?"

Hiccup then turned to Toothless and muttered something to him. Toothless then stepped forward and wrote his own name in the dirt.

She stared at the writing for a minute, mouth agape in surprise, before reacting further. Toothless glanced at her, unsure about what she thought.

"Toothless... you learned. This is amazing!" she eventually shouted.

 **That is almost all he knows right now**

"Still Hiccup, think about it. Toothless, a real dragon, can learn to write. That is wonderful. Tell him that I'm proud of him."

"She says you did good Toothless," he related.

Toothless rolled his eyes at what he considered pointless praise.

"They are only shapes in the dirt..." he mumbled.

Hiccup was going to reply that this meant more than just knowing some shapes, but Astrid beat him to it. She stepped over in front of Toothless with a bit of a scowl and stared at him.

"What is your problem mister grumpy lizard? I don't need Hiccup to translate that for me."

Toothless blinked first.

"That," she pointed at his writing, "is good. You are learning how to talk to us. Everyone has to start somewhere. I at least want to hear what you have to say."

He cautiously stepped back from her.

"What did she say?" he whispered to Hiccup.

"That you should not complain and that learning picture-talking is good."

Toothless briefly glanced back at her.

"She has fire in her belly. She would be a good, dangerous kin."

"What is he saying?" Astrid interjected.

 **You are scary**

"What? A big dragon like him scared of me?"

 **And you would be a good dragon**

Astrid looked at his words for a moment and then burst out laughing. Hiccup joined in a second later, leaving Toothless confused at their antics.

"Me, a good dragon? I didn't know he thought so highly of me. Looks like you have competition Hiccup."

 **In addition to Thorvald now?**

"Not anymore. He has stopped chasing after me. The broken nose I gave him may have contributed to that. No, he is interested in Sifa now."

 _Really? Lout and Ruff? That's news._

"I don't know how good his chances are. Her brother certainly had a laugh when he found out."

Then she stepped back from both of them and turned toward her improvised shooting range.

"I'm going to get back to training. I need the practice."

They watched as she left and picked up her bow.

"What is she doing?"

"Practicing with hunting tools."

Toothless yawned in boredom.

"I want to go sleep. You stay with your female."

Toothless leapt away before Hiccup had a chance to retaliate.

 _I might as well keep her company._

He followed after her and stopped at her side. She spared him a questioning glance, to which he replied by looking at her target and laying down next to her. He was quite content to watch her practice her archery. Even though she seemed frustrated with herself with every errant arrow, he could still appreciate how skilled she was.

It also helped to remain relatively inactive so as to not agitate his minor injury.

* * *

Stoick stood on the cliff's edge and stared out over the ocean, hoping that he could see the return of Moirai's vessel. He had already done this almost daily for a couple months now.

 _She said she would be back around now. Where are they?_

He had started spending so much time standing alone on the cliff and staring out over the ocean that Gobber got intrigued one day.

"Stoick, what are you doing?"

 _If only you knew..._

"I'm thinking."

"Sure are doing a lot of that now. What about? Let me guess, you're worried about our beasties."

"Of... of course, I'm wondering when we will get our dragons back. How much longer should we wait before we go get them?"

"Eh, there's no rush. We are getting on well enough without them for now. Sador has had a very good haul of haddock and perch."

"Good to see that they haven't forgotten how to fish."

"Oh Stoick, there are some folks here to see you. Those odd guests with the black ship."

Stoick wheeled around on him.

"Where! When did they get here?"

"They're in dogfish cove over on the south tip of the island. Not sure when they got in though."

Stoick set out immediately for the converted storage building. It was a long walk and gave him a long time to think about what he was going to say. It also gave him time to worry. What if she couldn't get what she needed? What if something had happened to her?

He stepped through the hedge that had grown up around the place and beheld the old hut. It had been used by his people for as long as they had been on the island to keep extra weapons hidden away from the village or as storage for extra food or furs.

Moirai had already left an odd mark on the place. There were crates around the building, which itself had been reinforced and patched up into a proper dwelling. There was also a thin trail of smoke emanating from the hut's smokestack.

He moved to sweep aside the drapes covering the door when he smelled strange herbs that made him feel very light-headed.

"Hey! Don't go in there!" a woman's voice shouted.

He withdrew his hand from the drapes and stepped back to face whoever had yelled at him. There were a couple beardless men approaching, leaden with sacks of supplies and strange glass tubes. But he didn't focus on them for long.

It was her, and she seemed surprised to see him.

"Chief Stoick, I didn't expect to see you here."

"Moirai, I... I wanted to make sure you and your people made it back safely."

"Of course, of course. We did. I have everything that I need for now."

He breathed a sigh of relief and felt his heart leap with hope.

"Well, I will make sure that you are not bothered out here."

"That would be good. I did notice that there are no dragons in your skies now."

"We had an issue while you were gone. Most of the dragons have left for a while."

Moirai froze and slowly looked back at him, a worried expression on her face.

"What do you mean they have 'left for a while?'"

"They flew away to lay and hatch their eggs. I think we can get them to come back in a few months."

"That would be good. Do you mind if my people come and go on Berk?"

"Of course not, they've been here before and we got along well then.

"Good. One more question, and it is an odd one. Do you happen to know if any dragons died here over the winter?"

"What?"

"Yes. I'm really wondering if you have anything like spare claws, scales, or teeth that I could use. They would help me a lot with our... project."

"Ah," he mumbled, "I see. I'll see what I can do. Let me know if there is anything else you need."

"Only time, and then you will see your dear son again."

She quickly vanished inside her hut. He gradually made his way back home, thoroughly lost in his thoughts the whole time.

There had never been any dragons that had died of natural causes on Berk to the best of his knowledge. Most of the old trophies that his people had kept had been gotten rid of after they changed their attitude toward dragons years ago.

 _We can find some old bones and scales though. Maybe the Academy will have some spare samples._

He was so oblivious that he almost didn't notice Hiccup standing outside and clearly waiting for him to get back. His attention was drawn by Hiccup's rumbled greeting, and he stared at Hiccup with a budding feeling of revulsion and impropriety.

Then he shook his head and buried such feelings.

"Hey... let's go inside."

Once inside, Hiccup broke the ice first.

 **Are you ok dad?**

"Yeah, I'm fine. It has been a long, stressful day."

 **Sorry about that**

"No, no, it's nothing that you did."

 _It's what you are..._

 **Toothless is making good progress**

"Progress? Oh, you were teaching him runes. Right. Is he ready to show everyone?"

Hiccup thought for a moment before shaking his head no.

 **Not yet, he is a slow learner**

"Speaking of learning, those people are back. The odd guests we had last year."

Hiccup seemed very interested by that.

"They will be here a while to keep learning about dragons. I gave them the old storeroom to stay in. Talk with them all you want here in the village, but no one is to bother them at their camp. Got it?"

Yes, Hiccup nodded.

* * *

Life progressed as usual through the rest of the spring. The few dragons still left on the island gradually woke from their long slumbers and became more active. The number of duties required to tend to animals and crops grew. Hiccup even volunteered to help pull the plow through the fields after watching the men struggling to till the soil by hand. The guests from the mainland were generally welcomed back as a source of coin, trade, and stories of the world beyond. Stoick started spending more time on his own, though no one knew why.

And then the routine was broken. Another foreign ship dropped anchor in Berk's harbor, except this ship was known to everyone on the island and was a source of much rejoicing.

"Trader Johann came early!"

The crowd swept down to the docks, eager to investigate the goods that Johann brought with him for barter. This time, Hiccup was awake and about when the man's ship arrived, so he flew down to the docks himself.

 _Just as I remember it. Vials of squid ink and paper at good prices. Good times._

Despite there already being a small crowd gathered to be the first to see the trader Johann noticed him first and hopped down from the docks to approach him.

"Ah, my favorite Night Fury. I have more parchment and ink for you to write with."

 _Thanks Johann..._

He dipped his head in respect.

"Awe shucks, you know I used to bring the same things for your namesake. A human boy named Hiccup. He used to draw all kinds of things. Very odd for a Nord lad."

 _Oh, I know._

"Could you tell your Chief that I need to see him?"

Yes, he nodded.

Then he stepped back and watched as Johann returned to doing what he did best, trading and bartering goods and stories. It always made him feel a bit nostalgic. He flew back home and found his father where he could usually be found, sitting in his chair by the fire.

 **Johann is here**

"Really? He is early this year."

 **He wanted to talk to you**

 **It sounded important**

"I guess I should. I owe him a lot for what he's given me."

Stoick reluctantly roused himself and went outside, not noticing Hiccup's slight confusion. He took notice of the large crowd gathered at the docks. The trader noticed his approach and broke away from the rest of the crowd.

"Stoick, good to see you again my friend."

"Johann, always a pleasure," Stoick stepped forward and embraced him, something he hadn't done in all the prior years.

"What's that for Stoick?"

"She found me," he leaned in and conspiratorially whispered.

"Who?"

"You know who. The person I wanted you to find."

"Oh," Johann lowered his voice, "and is she here?"

"Yes."

"As long as I don't have to meet her. She gives me the creeps. You don't want to know how we met."

"You wanted to see me?" Stoick continued.

"Oh yes, follow me. There is something I'm supposed to give you."

He followed Johann back onto the docks and out to his ship. Johann hopped on board and rummaged around before finding what he was looking for. He emerged with a strange, serrated axe.

 _Where have I seen that before?_

Johann handed him the weapon, which he grasped and closely inspected.

"Where did you get this?"

"I was minding my own business at one of the Berserker villages when one of their Chieftains arrived. Dagur, I think it was. He paid me a handful of gold to take his axe and give it to you."

Stoick stared levelly back at Johann as the realization of what this event meant flooded over him. No Chief could misunderstand the message. His grasp on the axe grew shaky, and he drew a deep breath.

"Did he say anything else?"

"Yes, he wanted to meet you himself at Eirene Island on the first of Einmanudur."

"I see," he turned aside and wandered away from the docks, Dagur's axe in hand.

He found an isolated place outside of town and leaned against a tree, suddenly overcome with exhaustion.

 _No Chief gives an axe to another Chief unless in threat. But why? We have not been at odds with the Berserkers. What game is he playing?_

 _The first of Einmandur... I need to leave soon then. And I need to bring a few ships just in case. I'll announce it tomorrow at lunch. No sense distracting them from Johann now._

* * *

His ships bobbed in the waves just off shore of the council island. He remembered it well from his last encounter here. Forging the first compact with the other tribes to share dragon knowledge. Meeting Osvald for the last time. Minor sacrifices that had to be made for the greater good.

He let a small number of his men go on shore at a time, but he kept the best fighters with him on the ships. There was no telling what Dagur had planned and the ships had to stay defended.

The others arrived just before noon.

The three Berserker sloops, aided by the wind, sped toward them with their red sails billowing. It was ominously like how he imagined a boarding at sea would look.

 _But they would not break the peace of council island. I hope._

Sure enough, the ships started spilling the wind from their sails and slowed down just outside of calling distance. He saw activity onboard both ships as a group of Berserkers piled into the small rafts and set out for shore.

"Alright men, let's go ashore and see what he wants. Keep your blades close."

He hopped into his landing craft, Dagur's axe in hand. The other men in the craft with him noticed the weapon and shared knowing glances with each other. A faint sense of impending doom seemed to hang in the air.

The company was securely on shore not long after, and they kept a close eye on the approaching Berserkers. The two groups of twenty men marched toward each other until they were a stone's throw apart.

 _They aren't heavily armed. Maybe it isn't a trap._

The central Berserker, a tall and lanky fellow, stepped forward and removed his mask. It was Dagur.

The two Chiefs regarded each other for a moment.

 _Dagur looks... calmer than I remember. Maybe he has grown some._

"Greetings Chief Dagur, I believe that I have something of yours."

Stoick took a few steps forward and nonchalantly tossed the axe at Dagur's side. Dagur didn't move to pick it up.

"Johann did as I told him to. I don't have to impale him after all. Shame..."

"You wanted to talk to me Dagur. Speak."

"Things have changed a lot since my father's untimely demise."

Stoick gritted his teeth and glared at him.

"I bet they have. He was a good man."

"And he was a terrible Chief. Too weak. He never made war on anyone."

"A wise leader only takes his people to war in their defense."

"And defending them against future weakness does not count? Who fears Berserkers now? No one. The world has forgotten how strong we are. Worse though, we have forgotten ourselves how strong we can be. I will change that."

"So what then Dagur? Are you going to declare war on Berk? Try to fight us and all our dragons?"

Dagur pulled out a small knife from his pocket and calmly inspected it.

"Not if that can be avoided. You see, I've united the Berserker tribes. But the many tribes do not think of themselves as one under me. They need to spill blood before they truly think of themselves as brothers and sisters and of me as their Chief."

Dagur looked back up at him with a dangerously calm grin.

"We want to hunt dragons again."

"I don't see how this matters to me. Go hunt dragons then," Stoick answered.

"And I thought you had gone soft, Stoick. But there aren't enough dragons anywhere to be good sport except on Berk."

"No."

"Think about it though. Berk is a big island. We could do our hunting on one half of the island and leave your half alone. It would give my people a way to quench their desire for blood and to bring back some trophies."

"Dagur, you know that will not work. It is too dangerous to have another tribe with a history of violence on my island. And we are fond of our dragons."

Dagur paced for a moment, seemingly deep in thought.

"Stoick, everything is competition. My tribe must fight something. I convinced them to settle for hunting dragons instead of skinning people. They can be very savage."

"I know that."

"There is one type of dragon that they will not kill. You know which one."

"Of course. The Skrill. If you are going to ask for one do not bother, we do not have one."

"I don't need to ask you for one."

Dagur stepped closer and lowered his voice.

"I already found one. I found it, and I broke it. Now it obeys me and fights for me."

"You trained a Skrill?" Stoick muttered in disbelief.

"Yes, I did. A Skrill is the match of any dragon except for one. The Night Fury. You have two of them I believe. If you won't let my people peacefully hunt for dragons on your island, then give me your Night Furies."

"Impossible."

"It is possible. You just don't like it. What will it be, oh dragon Chief? Will you give me what I want so that we can have peace?" Dagur sneered.

Stoick's fingers twitched on the weapon held at his side.

"And what if I don't give you them?"

Dagur laughed and waved at his sloops and guards while raising his voice.

"Then we will come to Berk, we will burn your ships and village, rape your women, butcher your beasts, and you will watch as I skin your Night Furies alive. How about that?"

Everyone standing behind him angrily shuffled on their feet while muttering obscenities. Most of them raised their weapons as well.

"Then I'll let you go so that you can remember that you lost everything."

He steadied his men with a gesture and returned Dagur's gaze. A strange calm seemed to come over him. He knew what Dagur and the Berserkers were capable of. Everyone knew.

"You won't do it," Dagur grinned.

"Never!" he growled back.

"So it's war then?"

Stoick unhooked his axe and held it out directly at Dagur.

"And I will kill you myself."

Dagur turned from him without another word, and his men followed him back down to shore without incident. Stoick made sure to hurry his people back to his ship in case Dagur turned his sloops on him. But the Berserkers made no such move and went their separate ways.

"Make sail. Let's get home."

No one needed anymore encouragement. Stoick even joined in at the oars, feeling the urgency to get back to Berk as soon as possible to begin preparing.

He took a final glance back toward the island and at the distant ships. A dark shape rose from the ruins on the island and seemed to set off after the Berserker ships. At this distance it could have been a large bird.

It made him keenly aware of just how perilous his situation was with the dragons gone.

 _We have to change that and bring them back now._

 _Gods protect us._


	24. I - The Calm Before The Storm

_"_ _By the pricking of my thumbs/Something wicked this way comes." - William Shakespeare - Macbeth_

* * *

The Calm Before The Storm

* * *

An eerie melancholy had descended on Berk overnight. Word of what had transpired with Dagur had spread almost as soon as the ships had returned.

Stoick's sleep had been extremely restless. He pondered the most obvious problem for a long time before even leaving bed. Berk was defenseless without her dragons. Even back in the most glorious days of his tribe, Berk was not the match of the Berserker tribe. No tribe was.

 _We have to bring our beasts back now. They are our best defense. And we must let the other tribes know what Dagur plans. Maybe they will help us. Or maybe they will join Dagur._ _No, they have their own dragons now. Dagur is as much their enemy as he is ours._

He got up and called an emergency meeting of the entire tribe at dawn.

"I am sure you all know why I have called you here. Dagur the Deranged, Chief of the Berserkers, intends to lead his tribe here and to attack us. He wants to hunt our dragons for sport and to kill us."

The Hall was deadly silent.

"I told you all that we were going to go bring back our dragons eventually. Now is the time! I need volunteers for three ships to go to the island where the dragons went. You must find your dragons and get their babies on the ships. Then bring them both back here. Astrid will lead the mission. Follow her direction. Everyone else will stay here and prepare the defenses. Spitelout will lead the preparations."

He held a fist in the air and raised his voice.

"We have always endured, and we will again."

He walked out among his people and clasped shoulders in encouragement.

"I see in your eyes the same fear that would chill my heart! But what are we? We are a fire in the winter! We live rightly as the gods wish. We do not make war on other people like the Berserkers do!"

He returned to his pedestal at the front of the Hall.

"Do not be afraid of them! The gods will favor us!"

Everyone in the Hall got to their feet and raised their voices in a united cheer. Then everyone began to disperse without any apparent signs of panic. A crowd gathered around Astrid, clearly eager to volunteer for the mission to recover the dragons.

"Motivating as always, Stoick," Gobber said after he came forward.

"We have to move fast. Dagur could get here in as soon as a couple weeks."

"Yeah, I've been thinking about that. What about the other tribes, the Vaina, the Volsung, and even the Outcasts?"

"What about them?"

"Do we tell them? Do we ask them for help?"

Stoick stared down at the table and avoided his gaze. Some suspicious thoughts started creeping into his mind about the possible intention's of the other tribes.

"Can we trust them?" he eventually asked.

"What do you think? Dagur wants to hunt the beasties for sport, as you say. That makes him and the Berserkers the enemy of the other tribes too. I think they will join us."

"Even if they will help us, how do we get word to them? None of the riders have their dragons except for Gustav and the Frostbeard children. They don't know where to go and they are not old enough. Sending ships might take too long, and we need the fighters here. We are losing enough on Astrid's mission as it is."

No one proposed anything until Gobber spoke up with an idea.

"So send Hiccup. He knows where to go."

"I'd rather not."

"That is the fastest way. You could write down everything, and he could take your message to the other Chiefs."

"Let me think about it."

He left the Hall and watched as the crowd dispersed, most normal duties being abandoned out of necessity. Astrid led a contingent, unsurprisingly significantly weighted in favor of riders, toward the docks. Spitelout had already gathered together the best carpenters and craftsmen, presumably to discuss defenses for the upper level of the village.

 _I hope it doesn't come to that. If we can get the dragons back, we might be able to hold the Berserkers off._

He was almost back home when he heard the rush of wings. Hiccup swooped down in front of him, landed, and approached him with a clear expression of confusion and interest.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. Let's go inside."

They did, and Hiccup sat down, clearly eager to hear the news.

"You know that I went to meet with Dagur?"

Yes.

"Dagur wanted to hunt dragons here on Berk. I said no, and now we are war with the Berserkers."

Hiccup nodded once and then froze, as if he hadn't understood at first. Then he looked up in clear shock and disbelief.

"You heard me right. He said he was going to pay us a visit. We cannot waste any time. Astrid is going to bring back as many of the dragons as she can, and the rest of us are going to fortify Berk."

 **What can I do to help?**

His first thought was that a strong dragon could help by hauling logs or assisting in construction, but that would be treating Hiccup as a pack animal. He wouldn't allow that. Gobber's suggestion came back to him, and he begrudgingly admitted to himself that Gobber was right. There was no one better to take the request for aid than Hiccup.

"I am going to let the other Chiefs know what Dagur plans to do. Will you take a message to them from me?"

 **All of them?**

"Yes, all of them. You do know the way, right?"

Hiccup nodded.

"Ok, go get yourself something to eat. I'll write up the letters for you to take."

Hiccup wasted no time and darted outside. Then Stoick sat himself down at his table and began drafting his message to the other Chiefs. It was a short message that contained only the essential information that Dagur and the Berserkers intend to make war on Berk and that Berk requests the aid of the other dragon-friendly tribes against this threat.

Hiccup returned soon thereafter and quickly carved his fish on his own. Stoick finished the last copy of the message and set it aside to dry.

"Alright, the letters are here, and I'll put them in your pack. I need to go see the ships off. Remember, no wandering off. Just go straight to the Vaina, the Volsung, and even the Outcasts, and then come right back here."

He acknowledged his father's words and watched as he went outside.

Hiccup absentmindedly finished his raw fish, closed his eyes, and tried to imagine what it would look like. A true war of tribe against tribe. It wasn't something he had ever seen before. Despite his own desire for peace, he knew that this was a different case. He had direct experience with how cruel Berserkers could be.

 _There is no talking to Dagur. He is not the listening type. But why would he want to attack us? What did we ever do to him?_

He collected and secured his pack and paused at the door.

 _Should I bring Toothless? No, probably not. No distractions. I should tell him about the danger though._

His mind made up, he left home and quickly jumped aloft. He found Toothless sunning himself and looking around the village with interest.

"What is happening? The two-legs are moving much."

"A different, bad nest will come here to fight us. We are working to make this nest more safe."

"What are you doing?"

"I am going to other good nests to get help."

The idea clearly intrigued Toothless.

"Why will they help?"

"Because they should. Because good nests help each other. You should help here when I am gone."

Toothless looked around and casually nodded.

"Stay safe Hiccup."

"You also Toothless."

Hiccup turned around and leapt from the cliff. He briefly glanced over at the docks where three ships were being prepared. He thought he could just spot Astrid out from among the crowd.

Then he turned out to sea, focusing his thoughts only on the air flowing over his wings and the warm sun on his back. But now there was also a faint sense of urgency at the thought of the impending threat. That feeling of danger added a bit more haste to his flight.

* * *

Stoick watched as Hiccup flew off into the distance and gradually vanished into the distant skies.

 _He'll be fine. Just don't think about it._

Then he went down to the docks to help with loading the remaining supplies on the ships.

"Do what you have to do Astrid!" he shouted up to her.

"We will sir!" she answered.

He stood back and watched as the ships unfurled their sails and began to pull out into the harbor.

"Gods watch over you. And us," he whispered.

Then he left the docks and headed back through the lower level of the village.

 _We will need to abandon this level. Can't hold the port. We will also need to move the ships. The far side of the island should work._

He considered the narrow path up the cliff to the main level where everyone lived.

 _Collapse the path and they cannot reach us this way. That leaves only the long way if they land this side of the island._

He gathered Spitelout, Gobber, and a group of the better warriors in the Hall at his table to plan for the inevitable invasion.

"Ok, we have never had something like this happen before. Dragons we know how to fight. Another tribe though..." he began.

"How many is he bringing?" Spitelout asked.

"No idea. It could be all of them. Over a thousand."

That sent groans all around the table.

"We will be fine. We will have our dragons by then."

"So what? What good will a few dragons do about all the Berserkers?" Spitelout wondered.

"We can attack from above while their ships are still at sea. And we can get them to fight for us on land. Fire is just as dangerous as ever," Stoick answered.

"But the Berserkers know that they will need to fight dragons. They will be ready. It will be a slaughter both ways."

"Don't tell me yer fond of them now," Gobber teased.

"So what if I am, they're our beasties."

"Maybe we can help protect them. Make some armor for them." Finnbjorn proposed.

"Can you do that, Gobber?" Stoick asked.

The smith stroked his beard, deep in thought.

"Astrid suggested something like that before. It's mostly arrows and spears they need to worry about. Some plates for their necks and bellies could help. Something for their heads though, that's harder and would need to be made for each one of them since they're all so different."

"Just do what you can."

"I will," Gobber answered.

"I sent Hiccup to carry a message to the Vaina, Volsung, and even the Outcasts. I let them know what Dagur was going to do. I told them that all dragon-friendly tribes are on the same side and we must defend each other."

"Do you really think they will come?" Spitelout wondered.

"Maybe some of them if they have any honor. But for now we need to plan on our own. Suppose the Berserkers do get to Berk. We abandon the docks and bring everyone up to the top level. We cannot fight them all in the forest. It has to be in the open where the dragons can fly. What should we do?"

Spitelout thought long and hard.

"The best we can do is to build a wall here," he pointed to a place on the map, "and funnel them into one area and hope to hold the line. We could dig pits to stop them from scaling the wall everywhere. It will be a lot of work, but I think we can do it in a couple weeks."

"Do it," Stoick declared.

"I did have another idea, but you probably won't like it," Spitelout began.

"I'm open to anything right now."

"Ok, we know where there are large supplies of weapons and armor waiting to be taken. Your dragons found them underground."

Everyone took a moment of silence in honor of their ancestors.

"Yes, but we would be disturbing the dead," Stoick began.

Elder Vuulthir chose that moment to speak up.

"The bones of our ancestors rest down there, right? They are in Valhalla right now. I don't think they would mind if we disturbed their bones and claimed the weapons to defend ourselves. Our ancestors would consider it an honor for their blades to see battle again."

With that reassurance in mind, Stoick nodded.

"It is agreed then. We will recover all the weapons and armor we can from underground."

"What about the women and children? We can't have them fighting too," Gobber asked.

"Clearly you don't know our women," Ignis interrupted.

"That is not the point," Gobber protested, "Not everyone can fight, and I do not want the Berserkers to have a chance to take any of them alive."

"We will hide everyone who cannot fight on Mount Thor. There are enough caves to keep everyone hidden," Stoick declared.

He didn't need to say that it wouldn't matter where they were hiding if the battle was lost. Everyone understood that without needing to hear it.

"Is there anything else we need to know?" Spitelout asked.

He considered letting them all know that he might have seen a Skrill. That Dagur may have tamed one of those arcane beasts.

But he said nothing.

 _It wouldn't change anything except to make everyone more afraid._

"Let's get started. No time to waste."

He stood up, signaling the end of the meeting. Everyone except Spitelout marched out the doors, eager to spread the word and get to work.

"I don't need to tell you brother, but we cannot hold if we don't get the dragons and other tribes to help us."

He clasped Spitelout's shoulder and gave him a grim smile.

"Have faith, Astrid has never let us down yet."

* * *

Hiccup arrived at the Vainian island at sunset without even realizing how sore his wings were from an entire day of non-stop flight. The sight of the other dragons comfortably lounging throughout the village was a testament to just how far this people had come.

Still, his arrival and touching down in the main square sparked quite a reaction.

"Where is its rider?" "It's the Fury!" "What's that on its neck?"

 **Please get Svana**

He sat down and waited while the Vainian Chief was fetched from their Hall. He recognized several of the younger people among the gathering crowd as being dragon riders and gave them a bow of acknowledgment. Then he noticed the massive woman marching toward him from behind the crowd. She stepped forward and regarded him.

"It really is you. Welcome."

 **We need to talk**

Then he overtly glanced at her house. She nodded and led him up to her house. It was just as he recalled except that there was now a stable with a dozing Nightmare located next to the house.

 _She did say that she got one of her own._

She let him inside and watched as he found a place by the fire in the living room. He managed to knock over a chair with a swipe of his tail.

"You've grown a lot since last time you were here."

Yes, he nodded.

"You will have to forgive me. This is still strange for me to be talking to a dragon."

He just shrugged his shoulders and grumbled casually. Then he reached inside his bag and pulled out one of the sealed letters which he handed over to her. She unrolled the message and began to read it by the firelight.

Her brow began to furrow in apparent concern as she read the letter. When she finished, she gave a great sigh and turned back to him.

"Do you know what it says?"

Yes, he nodded. He could reasonably guess at what the letter said.

"I don't know what we can do. We are not fighters, and most of our dragon riders are still youths."

He turned away to yawn politely as his exhaustion started to catch up to him.

"You are sleepy. I am sorry. Follow me."

She led him outside to a new stables where she let him have his pick of stall.

 _Much cleaner than last time at least._

The only problem was that there was a large crowd gathered around for no apparent reason other than to look at him. Fortunately, she noticed and intervened.

"Alright, get going everyone. He has had a long day and wants to get some sleep! All dragon-riders to the Hall..."

 _Thanks._

He set aside his pack, covered himself with a wing, and abandoned himself to his exhaustion.

He woke up the next morning to the glorious smell of smoked fish placed on a wooden platter before him. He grinned and happily rumbled to himself when he realized that she had remembered this detail from their last encounter. Chief Svana showed up shortly after he started on his meal.

"Sleep well?"

 _Other than the wooden floorboards, yeah._

Yes.

She walked over and sat down next to him with a gesture towards his pack.

"You are going to take this message to the other Chiefs, aren't you?"

Yes.

"I shared the news with my riders and elders. They understand the danger, but they agreed that we should help Berk."

 _Really?_

He looked up at her in surprise.

"Yes, I don't know what we can do, but we will think of something."

* * *

 _Well, this is less friendly. Not surprising though._

He nervously shuffled about on his feet as he looked around at the Volsung welcoming party. The men crowded in around him while the dragons glared in his direction in clear suspicion. The dragons all had bridles in their mouths and large saddles on their backs. They also seemed an odd combination of docile or submissive and also angry at the same time. Completely unlike Berk's dragons.

 **Get your Chief**

Everyone started muttering and pointing at his inscriptions, but no one moved. He eventually had to growl at them to get someone to go fetch the Chief.

Edgaras eventually came up to him, leading a particularly angry-looking Nightmare by a leash. The man stood back and regarded him after glancing at the writing. He clearly recalled their very brief prior encounter.

"What are you doing here?"

 _Not one for chatting. Ok then._

He handed over a letter to Edgaras who carefully took it from him and read it over with growing amusement.

"Oh really, well that is interesting," the Chief said when he finished.

Edgaras began to pace while clearly weighing his options.

"The Berserkers want to war with Berk, and Stoick wants our help to defend his people."

 **And all dragon-friendly tribes**

"They could be a threat to us. Dagur is very unstable, that is for sure. But who knows? He may have no quarrel with us. I might sit back and watch the two of you destroy each other and then move in afterwards."

Hiccup bristled at that and barely restrained a growl of anger.

"Or maybe I will teach the Berserkers a lesson for certain... offenses they made against me."

 **What should I tell my Chief?**

"Dear Stoick... tell him... that we will be there. Any opportunity to get back at the Berserkers and maybe take their lands is welcome. Plus, we'd like to see our beasts in action now, won't we?" he shouted to the gathered crowd.

They roared aloud at the thought of battle.

 **I will tell him**

Then Hiccup leapt into the sky and left the village behind. Edgaras tried to shout something after him, but he had no interest in staying there any longer than was absolutely necessary.

 _Can't say I like their reasons. Alright, just one more to go. My favorite too. Good old dragon-knapping Alvin._

* * *

He wheeled in above Outcast Island just after sunset. It looked very different from above, not much unlike any other tribe's island. The main difference was that he could not see any evident signs of there being any dragons on the island.

 _Alright, here goes nothing._

A group of men down on the island noticed him and raised the alarm. Concerningly, there were a good number of people who emerged with nets, so he landed on top of one of the houses and out of their reach. He stayed there until a familiar figure pushed its way through the crowd.

Alvin stood before the house and stared up at him. Then he gave a signal to the crowd and they lowered their nets and backed away.

He glared at Alvin for a minute before he decided to take the risk. He spread his wings and jumped down to the ground, then he cautiously walked up to Alvin while keeping an eye on everyone else.

It couldn't hurt to be cautious when dealing with the Outcasts.

"What should we do Chief?"

"Let it be," Alvin replied.

 _Hmph, it indeed..._

Alvin did a very good job of maintaining his composure in front of everyone, but Hiccup could tell that he was nervous. The usually proud and confident man could not even properly meet his gaze.

 _Maybe looking into a Night Fury's eyes by firelight when he knows he wronged me before is a little scary. Yeah, that sounds right._

Even so, he was a bit surprised that the thought that he was a bit scary felt good. It certainly was not the aura he intended to give off. Though with Alvin, he couldn't say that any discomfort the man felt was undeserved.

He reached into his carrying bag and pulled out the last letter, which he handed off to a very surprised Alvin. The man grabbed a torch and quickly read over the message, then the Chief started to pace when he finished reading. Hiccup let him pace for a minute.

A soft grumble got the man's attention again. Then Hiccup remembered that the rest of the Outcasts hadn't seen that he could write.

 **What is your answer?**

That set off a firestorm of shouting and disbelief within the gathered crowd. Several people began screaming for his head and even made threatening gestures.

"Stop! You will not touch it!" Alvin's voice carried over them all.

Everyone looked around in surprise at their Chief, but they all complied. Then Alvin purposefully walked up to him and stood within his reach. It was a noticeable statement of trust that he was sure that the dragon would not lash out at him.

"You tell Stoick that we will be there. We hate the Berserkers too."

He gave Alvin a curt nod and then launched himself into the sky and vanished into the night.

 _Alright, find somewhere safe to sleep tonight and then get home tomorrow. Hmm, I wonder where their dragons are._

He landed after several minutes of flight down the coastline. He found a nook at the top of the cliff and hid himself inside to rest as his exhaustion began to catch up with him.

 _Maybe they didn't get to train any dragons of their own after all. Still, anything they can do will help if the Berserkers are really coming._

* * *

Gobber frowned and stared down at the plans on his table. He had somewhat hastily drawn the sketches only this morning based on his years of experience with the subjects of the drawings. He even had the latest Book of Dragons brought out to him to help make the designs as proportioned as possible.

Still, these were easily going to be the most bizarre constructions ever to come from his forge. Dragon saddles were just modifications from horse saddles. Armor though...

 _Blazes this is hard. They are all so different. I don't even know where to begin. Probably going to need something to protect their bellies first._

The enormity of the task gradually set in as he thought about how much leather and chain-weave would be needed to make enough armor.

"Gobber, you sent for me," Spitelout announced as he entered the forge.

"Aye, I did. How did the underground recovery go?"

"They brought back a lot of stuff. Armor, shields, arrows, bows, pikes, axes, everything we could need. They did say that some of the bones looked like they had been disturbed."

"Disturbed?"

"Like someone took parts of dragon skeletons."

"I see. Someone probably did sometime. Maybe after the battle that happened long ago. Anyway, that is not why I called for you. This is about the dragon armor."

"What about it?"

"I cannot make it all in time. We have twenty-six dragons with riders if they all come back. We don't have enough leather or metal to make armor for all of them. And it can take days just to make the armor and a helmet for just one of them even if I have enough supplies."

Spitelout grimly nodded.

"And don't even get me started on making sure everything is sized correctly. It cannot be done without having each beastie right here."

"Just do it for a few then. Make what you can. Maybe some of the chain mail we got from below can be reused."

"We should have started on this long ago. Should have known the peace wouldn't last forever."

"Yes, we should have, Gobber. We won't make that mistake again."

* * *

He struggled under the backbreaking weight of the log as he made his way back from the forest for the fifth time this day. He heaved the weight off his shoulders in front of the beginnings of the barricade and stepped inside to survey the progress.

Everyone had been at work in one way or another for the last week. Cutting down trees to build the barrier wall, digging ditches, organizing supplies, mending shields, preparing meals for those working. No task was too small. Even the children were helping to dig.

The wall was progressing nicely and would be completed within the week. It should be high enough to prevent anyone from being able to easily scale, especially when combined with the ditch.

He briefly glanced to the forge where Gobber was hard at work. He had apparently run into some problems making armor for dragons, but he had been able to produce some protective coverings.

His gaze was drawn out toward the sea.

 _Where are you?_

"Chief Stoick?"

He turned around in surprise and found a strange man standing there. It was one of the foreigners whose name he did not know.

"She wants to talk to you."

It would mean leaving his people for part of the afternoon, but when a sorcerer his hopes depend on summons him, he must answer.

"Let's go then," he answered the man.

They both left and set out through the forest. When they finally arrived at the hidden shelter, Stoick was very exhausted and short of breath. The man went inside to fetch the Moirai, who emerged immediately.

"Stoick," she began without wasting any time, "is there something I should know about? My people tell me that you are fortifying the village."

"Yes, we received a threat from another tribe, the Berserkers."

"I have heard about them. Vicious warriors. And they are going to come here?"

"Yes."

"How do you intend to fight them?"

"We are bringing back as many dragons as we can from their nesting grounds. They will help defend the island. We are building defenses in case the Berserkers do get on the island."

"Were you ever going to tell us?"

"Of course I was. You are welcome to shelter with us inside the village."

"It is still a great risk to stay here," she seemed unconvinced.

"Can you help us?" Stoick asked.

"Help you how?"

"You know, with your powers..."

"With my powers..." she mumbled.

She gained a distant look in her eyes as she was deeply in thought.

"I suppose it is worthwhile. Will there be a place outside the wall where many Berserkers will need to gather?" she eventually asked.

"Yes, we are digging trenches around most of the wall. They will only be able breach the defense at the gate."

"Good," she gave an evil grin, "we sorcerers know things that normal people do not know. For example, did you know that rock contains fire and light?"

"What?"

"Yes, some rocks can be turned into fire and light under the right conditions. A lot of fire and light. Enough to burn scores of people."

"I don't understand how that could happen," Stoick muttered.

"No, you cannot, but you don't need to. I will bring you a container. All you need to do is set fire to the container and my power will be revealed in battle. Any around the place will die."

"I am in your debt again."

"When will your enemy arrive here?" she wondered.

"We don't know. We probably have over a week."

"A week... you should know then that I will be taking my ship away from the island before they arrive here. I don't want to be in the way and have all the work that I've done for you be lost."

"No, of course not," he agreed, "that would not be good. You do what you must."

* * *

Stoick returned to the village just before dawn. He had a fast dinner of soup and bread and then went out to get back to work. It was hard to stay focused because of how drowsy he had become after working almost non-stop for the last few days. His brother waved him over after he helped lift another beam.

"Go on Stoick, you need to get some rest. You've been working yourself too hard," Spitelout said.

He was about to protest when Elder Vuulthir lay a frail hand on his forearm.

"No sense in stumbling about out here Stoick. We need you strong and rested."

"Well, if you insist Elder."

He dismissed himself and struggled back to his home, fighting exhaustion the whole way. Secretly, he was a bit thankful that the Elder had given him a good excuse to get much needed rest and save face before his people. He let himself inside and started down the hallway toward his bed when he noticed motion from the living room.

Hiccup lifted his head from the ground and quickly got to his feet. Stoick felt his own exhaustion vanish when he realized who had returned.

"Hiccup! You're back!"

He ran over and unabashedly threw his arms around Hiccup's great neck in a hug that made the dragon purr in happiness. The moment lasted for a few seconds.

Then the feeling of pebbly-leathery skin under his fingers and the claws on his back reminded him that this creature was not really his son as nature and the gods intended. His son was trapped inside this alien form. He stepped back from the Fury and easily feigned exhaustion.

"So, any news for me?"

Hiccup nodded at the table. Stoick went over to the table and retrieved the already-written response. The words were more than he could have hoped for.

"All of them? They all said they would help!"

Yes, Hiccup nodded.

"That is amazing. I didn't expect... Even Alvin?"

Yes.

"I hadn't hoped for all of them to come to our aid. Even if they don't know when they will get here, this is still wonderful news. None of them gave you any trouble I hope."

No.

"Good. Well, I have had a long day and I am going to bed."

Perhaps the mention of bed had some magical power, but Hiccup yawned at that precise moment.

"You should rest too. You've been doing a lot of flying."

He walked Hiccup down the hall and watched as the dragon lay down. Then he went to his room and collapsed into his bed. As tired as he was though, his mind was still unsettled as he thought over the news Hiccup had brought. The Vaina, Volsung, and Outcasts were all willing to sail or fly to Berk's defense against the Berserkers. This could change all the dynamics between the tribes, if they were victorious of course.

 _We might have a real chance with all of them on our side. Dagur won't know what he got himself into._

* * *

The next week passed uneventfully as the preparations continued. Most of the barricade was completed and the ditches were being deepened. With the main defenses completed, several men started hauling out from storage the old catapults. Hiccup helped to pull the devices and helped to erect watchtowers on the nearest structures from which one could oversee the battlefield. Even Toothless had joined in by helping to carry logs and by taking instructions from Hiccup.

Stoick felt very confident about Berk's readiness as he watched everyone working together. His peace was interrupted when one of the lookouts ran up to him with urgency.

"Chief! Chief!" shouted Hirgon.

"What is it man?"

"They are coming!" he breathlessly said.

Stoick frowned as a coldness settled on his heart. It was too soon. He had hoped for more time, enough at least to get help from Astrid or the other tribes.

"Then we shall meet them in battle anyway," Stoick grimly declared.

Hirgon just stared in confusion for a moment before he continued.

"No, not the Berserkers. It's our ships and dragons!"

It was Stoick's turn to look confused before realizing with joy that this was only a misunderstanding. He went from thinking that doom was about to befall his people to elation that their greatest strength was just returned to them.

"Well, why didn't you say so before!" he happily shouted.

He immediately ran to the cliffs and looked out to sea. There were three ships inbound and bearing the Berk flag upon their sails. And above the ships was a flock of swarming dragons.

A small flock.

He quickly counted only about twenty sets of wings hovering over and around the ships, far fewer than the flock that called Berk home.

"Where are the rest of them?"

He made sure that he was the first in line to meet the people returning from the ships. It was very strange though to see so much activity from the gathered dragons. They crowded in closely on the shore, surveying the ships more intently than they ever did for fishing runs. It was not hard to imagine why.

Astrid shouted to the people gathered on the beach.

"Stay back and don't try to touch them!"

People started to emerge from the ships while carrying little bundles no one had ever seen before on Berk. Some carried their passengers in baskets and others they carried by hand if there were only one or two to carry. Several dozen hatchlings of all different types were welcomed onto Berk.

Some were clearly drowsy and completely clueless and others were wide awake and looking around in alert curiosity. The one commonality between them was that they all had large heads and looked very clumsy. Almost all the gathered women and girls gave a collective sigh and even the men in the crowd grinned despite themselves.

As soon as each person came forward, the parents of the hatchlings would come forward, shoving other dragons or humans out of the way, to stand protectively near their brood. A lot of chirping and calling went back and forth between the hatchlings and adults.

It was an experience that no one on Berk had ever had before.

Astrid was the last one to leave the ship with hatchlings in tow. She carried a small basket and walked straight over to the patiently waiting Stormfly and Blueback, the former of which bent down to inspect the basket.

He slowly walked over to her and saw something that no one would have thought possible. Astrid picked up the three hatchlings one at a time and put each one in Stormfly's open mouth. Once she had her three babies secured, the dragon and her mate flew up into the village leaving Astrid behind on the beach.

"Astrid, how did it go?"

She looked back at him, still with a bit of a dreamy look in her eyes.

"There is a lot to talk about," she answered.

"We can talk on the way to the Hall."

She nodded and they both set out together.

"We found the island easily enough. There had to be a couple hundred dragons there not including the little ones."

"Ours?"

"We found them all there, sir."

"So, where are the others?"

She frowned at that question.

"Well, the rest stayed behind. They didn't all like us getting close to their babies."

"What! They don't trust us?"

"I think that most of those cases were that the mother is a wild dragon and the father stayed with her. But even outside of those, there were some that are ours and still would not let us take their babies."

"Why not?"

"I do not know. Maybe they want to wait longer to let their babies get bigger. Maybe those people didn't do enough to earn the dragons' trust."

"Trust... we only have twenty dragons now. How can we trust that they will fight for us? What if they decide to fly away and betray us!"

She glanced at him in surprise and a bit of dismay that he would suggest such a thing. But he seemed to realize what he had blurted out and sighed heavily.

"I'm sorry... I'm just very worried about us here."

"I understand. I am sure that they won't fly away. Remember that this is their home, or nest, now and their hatchlings are here too. True, we have not taught our dragons how to fight people, but I don't think they have forgotten how to. They are smart enough to know who an enemy."

"Hopefully you are right, Astrid."

"Did anything happen while we were gone?" she asked while they ascended the narrow path to the upper level.

"Yes, Hiccup took word to the other tribes, the Vaina, Volsung, and Outcasts. They will all come to our aid."

 _That is good news indeed!_ she thought to herself.

"I'm glad they will. We are all on the same side now."

She observed the substantial progress that had been made in fortifying the village since her departure. She also noticed a certain Night Fury helping out in the construction of the barricade.

 _I'll have to go talk to him soon. After some real food though..._

* * *

It was now the third day since the dragons had been brought back to Berk. Stoick had needed volunteers to take on patrol duties over the south-eastern seas, so naturally Thorvald had volunteered first. His main goal was to impress Sifa with his bravery. His first day of patrol revealed nothing, but the morning of his second day of patrol brought a number of specks on the distant horizon.

His usual bravado and smug confidence began to dissipate by the time he started counting the number of longboats on a fifth set of ten fingers.

"How can they possibly have that many ships?"

He coaxed Hookedfang lower to get a closer look at the ships. It didn't even matter that they saw him at this point. Most of the ships flew the Berserker's flag, but some had a flag he had never seen before and could not identify. One of the ships launched a shot at him from its crossbows, but he made sure to keep his dragon high enough to be beyond their reach. The vessels looked packed to the rims with soldiers, and a loud roar echoed from the ships below as hundreds of men raised their voices together.

He tugged on the reins and turned Hookedfang for Berk with great haste.

 _Odin Allfather, help us..._


	25. I - The Five Armies

" _The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him." - G.K. Chesterton – Illustrated London News_

* * *

The Five Armies

* * *

Almost everyone except those keeping watch had gone to sleep earlier than usual. Even the dragons seemed to understand that something was amiss and were more anxious than they usually were. Every sound from the darkness or apparent shape on the moonlit waters at night was a crouching Berserker or the incoming fleet.

Dawn finally came without incident. People were walking about nonchalantly, except for that they were carrying their axes, pikes, and helmets to always be prepared. The forge, Great Hall, and docks were all far busier than normal.

Stoick stood on the cliff's precipice, a silent watcher against the impending doom. His cape billowed out behind him in the wind as he stared out over the sea and toward the horizon. There was nothing yet visible, but he knew that there was an entire armada approaching. Several of the riders had flown patrols over the seas where the Berserkers were gathering and had tried to count the number of ships. They, like his nephew, had lost count at over fifty ships.

 _It feels like the old times again… back when we still fought dragons. Only now the enemy will be far smarter._

He eventually turned away from the cliff and made his way back to the village. He nodded at those he passed and clasped forearms with those he knew best. It felt eerie to know that anyone he greeted today could be dead tomorrow. Every spare hand was being used to prepare for the defense in some way; from mending leather armor, sharpening axes, preparing sacrifices to the gods, digging ditches, or building the barricade at the village's upper level.

He passed Astrid and the other riders busily sharing ideas for both attack and defense.

 _Damn good we have her and Ingermanson. They will come up with something. Maybe the Thorstons will find a way to use their mischievous side well too._

He had a quick breakfast amid the quiet tension. Usually, someone would approach to share some complaint, tell a story, or just want to be heard by their Chief. No one did so this morning.

He quickly finished his soup and bread and headed for the forge. Gobber had worked at the forge through the night to sharpen swords and spears and mend bows.

"Stoick, how are you this fine morning?" Gobber seemed unusually chipper.

"Better than you, I imagine."

"Eh, nothing like the threat of imminent death to put everything in perspective again. No reason to be unhappy today. It's almost exciting actually."

Despite the situation, Stoick reluctantly managed a grin at his friend's forced enthusiasm.

"There is the crazy bastard I remember. Though honestly Stoick," Gobber gestured at a pile of weaponry, "I don't know how much this stuff can really help us."

"What?"

They both looked around to make sure they were out of earshot of anyone else.

"How many of us are there Stoick? Two hundred including our fighting women. Dagur will have thousands if he has all the different Berserkers behind him, and they are better fighters than we ever were."

He frowned and clasped Gobber's shoulder.

"I know they are. Man to man it would be a terrible fight for us. But we cannot let it come to that. We'll have to use our advantages."

"Let me guess, the beasties?"

Stoick nodded and gestured at the rugged, steep cliffs.

"And the coastline. They cannot bring their full number against us at once."

Gobber also frowned, clearly not convinced.

"That seems too easy though. You'd think Dagur would have planned for that."

"Not if he is as deranged as he seems."

"I guess. Do you really think that our dragons will fight for us? It's not like we ever trained them for war."

"Astrid seems to think so. I bet they will know to defend us though. And the other tribes said they will help us. I just hope they come in time. Until then, we will hold. We must."

* * *

"I tell you it will work!" Theron insisted.

"Why don't we just burn their ships?" Sifa asked.

"Because we can't get close enough without being in danger from their bows," Thorvald answered.

"Since when have you been the cautious one?" Sifa teased him.

"I don't have a problem risking myself, but I don't want to get Hookedfang killed."

"Which is why we should do what I said. The dragons can sink their boats from above, beyond the reach of bows or spears," Theron repeated.

"How do we know that they can carry the extra weight?" Sifa wondered.

"If Meatlug can carry Skald, then anything is possible," Theron answered his sister.

"Hey, I've lost twenty stones, thank you very much," Skald proudly replied.

"This is not the time for that everyone," Astrid interrupted, "I think it can work. But how do you know where to aim? It is not something we practice. And how are we going to drop the rocks? Have the dragons carry them?"

Theron clarified his plan.

"It's hard, but here is what I was thinking. We get our dragons to dive toward the boats and then we drop the rocks ourselves. They don't even need to be super big rocks, maybe thirty stones heavy. Those will break through the ships' hulls for sure. And then the Berserkers better hope they can swim."

Everyone thought it over.

"What he said," Sifa offered.

"Thanks for the support, sis."

"Anytime. When you have a good idea of course."

"Guys, I've never tried to drop rocks on anything before. We should practice out in a field or something," Skald proposed.

"Agreed," Astrid nodded, "we should practice today. I'll let the Chief know our plan."

"And what about me?" Gustav asked.

"What about you?" Thorvald wondered.

"Can I join you all? Flame and I want to help."

"To fight for your tribe, I don't see a problem with that," Astrid answered.

She dismissed the others and set out to find Stoick. It was a crazy plan, but it was the best one any of them had come up with. As she contemplated the idea of actual battle, the terrible reality of it started to draw nearer. Death was approaching Berk's peaceful shores.

* * *

Stoick gathered everyone inside the Hall except for the watchers on duty at the cliffs and shores. There was an old tradition which had to be fulfilled prior to battle. He raised his hands and the murmuring quieted down until there was dead silence.

"Brothers, sisters, there is a darkness approaching. But do not fear. We will prevail. We will stand strong! We implore the favor of the gods, that they may give us their protection and give our arms their strength!"

He stepped aside and everyone respectfully stood as the sacrifice, a goat, was led up to the Elder standing before the statues of Odin and Thor. Vuulthir took the animal, spoke the ceremonial words of favor, and slit the animal's throat. The blood dripped into a bowl which the Elder placed at the foot of the statue. One by one, those gathered in the Hall came forward before the statue, knelt or bowed their heads, and spoke different prayers. All of them though anointed themselves on the forehead with a dab of the goat's sacrificial blood.

Then the feasting began. Meats and fish were brought out alongside lots of bread. The conversations started back up, but understandably were more subdued than they usually were. There was more talk of weapons and glory compared to normal.

Stoick had no great appetite at the moment, though he casually munched on some food to keep his strength. He was too concerned about the welfare of his people and of trying to plan for the inevitable battle.

 _Her plan will help us. Every ship they can sink is at least twenty Berserkers._

He glanced at his side where Hiccup was casually sitting and looking out over the gathering. Hiccup was the only dragon in the Hall this time. Dagur's parting words gripped him and he tried very hard to not picture what would happen to Hiccup if he was captured.

 _I can't have him here during the battle. It's too dangerous for him or Toothless. I can send them off with the younglings into hiding. That will keep them safe and out of the way._

He called Hiccup over as soon as they got home and explained his plan. It was not what Hiccup hoped to hear.

"What!" Hiccup exclaimed.

 **Why do I have to hide?**

"Because it will be too dangerous down here, and I don't want you getting hurt."

 **I will be fine**

"Dagur said he was going to kill my dragons in front of me, and that he wanted to wear a Night Fury coat."

That mental image greatly disturbed both of them.

 **I will stay out of the way**

"No, you... and Toothless will go with the children and the women who cannot fight. Stay out of the way. If we win the battle, then you can come back here afterwards. If not... then you can escape..."

Hiccup reluctantly admitted to himself that there was some sense in his father's thinking. But it still wasn't what he wanted to do.

 **But I want...**

"No. You have to do this for me. It would... make me feel better knowing that you are safe, whatever else may happen. Do you understand?"

Hiccup reluctantly nodded.

 **I will tell Toothless**

"Good."

Stoick watched as Hiccup sullenly walked down to his room and presumably began to explain the demand to Toothless.

 _As long as he is safe. I don't want him to see how terrible war can be. He doesn't need to see that._

* * *

The dawn came all too quickly, again without any change. This dawn the sky was very red, perhaps a sign from the fates.

 _Red sky in morning, Nord take warning._

With the old proverb in mind, Stoick left just after sunrise to inspect the village's preparedness. The wall and ditches were all finished and the caches of weapons were prepared. Everything continued as the last few days had until one of the scouts flew in at midday. The Nadder landed in the clearing next to him and a man hopped off and hastily sought him out.

"Chief!"

"Finnbjorn, what is it?"

"They are coming."

Stoick took a deep breath to steady himself.

"How long do we have?"

Finnbjorn thought for a moment.

"I would give us this sundown at the latest."

"So the doom of Berk will be decided today. So be it."

"What should we do now?"

"I will tell Astrid to get the other riders ready for their attack. We will also get the women and children to safety. Your wife, Katrina, she is with child?"

"Yes."

"She will go with the rest of them then. They will be hidden and safe in the caves of Mount Thor."

Finnbjorn visibly relaxed at the reassurance.

Stoick immediately sought out Astrid and the other riders as they trained with their dragons. The field that they had been dropping rocks onto was riddled with impacts rather closely dispersed. It was rather impressive.

He waved her over from where she stood overseeing the practice.

"Astrid, why aren't you up there practicing too?"

"Stormfly's mate is out with Finnbjorn on patrol, and she wasn't going to leave her babies alone."

"I see..."

"I can actually see things from here that I wouldn't see in the air too."

"Hopefully you all have gotten enough practice. It is time."

Her expression became grim with that declaration.

"Ok, we will do what we have to do."

She left to take Blueback to the barn so that Stormfly would be willing to follow her. Upon her return with her dragon in tow, all the other riders gathered for training crowded closer to her from atop their beasts.

"They are coming. There are a lot of ships out there, but no one be afraid. Our job is to sink as many boats as we can before they get here. Let's do this!"

Everyone gave a cheer and dismounted to pick up their choice of boulder. The small flock of dragons, nine strong, turned out to sea.

Back on the island, Stoick managed the transfer of all the women who could not fight and the children to the chosen cave partly up Mount Thor. It was a rather hidden cave tucked into a nook. Outside the cave was a ledge which overlooked the entire forested plain and from which one could see all the way down to the village.

It was also where a particularly sullen-looking Night Fury was lounging.

"Get those supplies inside!"

"Yes, sir!"

Then he walked over to Hiccup, who didn't bother looking up at him. It wasn't hard to imagine why. But this was for his own good.

"Remember, stay here. Got it?"

Yes.

"Good, and make sure Toothless stays here too. I don't want him being made into a coat either."

He ignored Hiccup's glum look and checked on everyone inside the cave. The children started playing games with each other like it was a normal day, and the women were clearly worried but were putting on a brave appearance to keep everyone calm. They had enough food and supplies.

He then returned to the village and was let inside through the main gate. A wall of armed men, women, and strong lads met him.

"That's what I like to see! Dagur doesn't know what he is walking into!"

"What do we do now?"

"We wait and practice. Are the ships moved to the far side of the island?"

"Yes, the other captains are with them."

"And the docks?"

"Empty. We brought everything of value up here. We also broke the stairs." Gobber answered.

That last part sent groans around the whole party. Losing the stairs meant a very long walk every time one wanted to get from the docks to the main level.

"It had to be done. I want us all to spar and practice with the pikes."

"Where are the riders and our dragons?"

"They are going to sink as many of the Berserker ships as they can."

He left the crowd as they began to practice and as old timers began instructing the younger soldiers. He took up his place on the cliff and stared out toward the horizon.

 _What is going on out there?_

* * *

The fleet was awe-inspiring. Sloop after sloop in many rows.

They got into formation themselves, everyone following Astrid's hand signals. Then they all spread out and urged their dragons higher.

She could barely control her racing heart as they moved into position above the fleet.

 _Ok, this is really crazy!_

"Let's do this, girl!"

Stormfly dove for the nearest boat. Astrid felt that same giddy feeling of weightlessness that always took her in a dive. She held out the boulder, now weightless during the dive, aimed it, and hurled it. Then she tugged on the reins to urge Stormfly out of the dive. They pulled up and regained height.

First, she looked around at the other dragons and let out a sigh of relief that they all appeared unharmed. Then she looked down at her target.

It was hard to make out from a distance whether the shot had struck, but it did look like there was a flurry of activity on the ship. Possibly a breached hull.

 _No point waiting around._

She turned Stormfly back for Berk and urged her on. The agreed plan was that the faster dragons, the Nadders and Nightmares, would try to make two runs on the ships, whereas the Zipplebacks and Gronkles did not have the endurance for another attack.

Stormfly turned her head to look around at her and warbled questioningly.

"It's ok girl. We will be fine."

* * *

Stoick, and nearly a hundred others as well now, watched from the cliff late in the afternoon. The Berserker fleet had come into clear relief on the horizon. Adding to the ominous feeling other than the number of ships though was the giant thunderhead cloud rolling in over the ocean.

 _Damn, they will arrive before the storm. That would have been ironic if Dagur had lost his whole fleet to a storm._

They all watched as Berk's fighting dragons flew back across the waters and, one by one, landed in the village square. The riders got off and gave their dragons much needed attention and removed the riding gear before sending their dragons off to their nests. Astrid marched straight through the crowd and up to Stoick.

"So? What is the word? How many did you get?"

"I think we hit ten ships."

"Ten... ten ships... that's good," Stoick fumbled.

They looked at each other and didn't need to say what they were both thinking. Ten ships out of that armada, while helpful, wouldn't change the outcome of the battle.

"That's two hundred Berserkers! Three cheers for the riders and our dragons!" Gobber shouted.

Everyone cheered three times except for Stoick. He stayed right where he was and stared at the approaching fleet and storm.

He was still there at dusk when the Berserker ships began to pull up onto Berk's shores and filled the port. He watched as men poured onto land by the hundreds. There was a lot of murmuring behind him, but he refused to show any fear or weakness, despite the cold gripping his heart. It was the duty of the leader to stand up tall with his shoulders straight to inspire his people to bravery.

He eventually left the cliff and sought out his brother. Neither of them said anything when they met. They just clasped forearms and embraced each other.

"Victory or death," Spitelout offered.

"Victory or death indeed."

Then he found Astrid spending time with her parents.

"Astrid, I need to speak to you."

She got up and joined him.

"Sir?"

"There is something special I need you to do when the Berserkers reach the wall."

"What is it?"

"I'm going to have a barrel left outside the gates, right where the Berserkers will gather. I need you to shoot the barrel and set it on fire. I soaked it in lantern oil."

She let her confusion show at the strangeness of the order.

"Set a barrel on fire? Why?"

"Because it is filled with... something that will burn very hot and kill a lot of Berserkers."

"I don't think I understand, sir."

"You don't have to... even I don't really understand it, just do it. And when you do light it on fire, get everyone down from the wall."

"I will."

He clasped her shoulder, a proud look in his eyes.

"I know you will. You are the best shot of us all."

She kept wondering at his instructions even after he left.

 _What are you playing at Stoick? How will a burning barrel help?_

* * *

Several men ran out from the forest and dashed for the wall. Recognized as fellow Berkians, they were given hands and pulled up to safety.

"What is it? The fighting hasn't even started yet. What were you doing out there anyway?"

Everyone nervously chuckled in amusement.

"There are more of them!" Sador breathlessly shouted.

"More what?" Stoick came forward.

"Ships. They found our boats and took them. Everyone else is gone."

A wave of angry muttering went through everyone.

"So the Berserkers are too scared to attack us that they think they have to attack our fishermen!"

"No Chief, they were not Berserkers!"

Stoick froze, terrified by this news.

 _If it isn't the Berserkers then who? Who betrayed me!_

"Who are they?"

"They looked like the Cenhelm!"

Stoick stepped back, a grim and cold expression on his face.

 _So Esmond is helping Dagur. He must really hate dragons. Damn._

"It is no matter. So we cannot flee now. We were never going to flee! We will remain here within these walls and we will outlast the Berserkers and the Cenhelm! We have the dragons and the gods' favor!"

Everyone took a torch and assumed their positions on at the top of the wall or behind the gate. People fiddled with their shields and shifted their grips on their pikes and axes. They all watched as the distant lights of the approaching army grew nearer.

The thunder rolled overhead as the storm drew nearer.

Eventually, a line of men appeared and advanced through the trees. The line seemed to extend endlessly behind the first wave, so great was the number.

Out from the mass stepped a single figure who held out his arms almost in greeting.

"Well, Stoick, you have been very busy," Dagur teased.

Stoick stood tall on the wall and stared him down. He found it slightly odd how lightly Dagur was garbed, with no chain mail or anything other than leather armor. All the Berserkers were similarly attired.

"You can still surrender, and we will let your people leave alive," Stoick shouted.

"That's funny. I was about to say the same to you, only without the leaving alive part."

"How do you think you can take us? We have dragons!"

Hookedfang and Stormfly added a burst of their fires to the cheer that went up from the defenders.

Dagur didn't react to the display except to give a signal to his army. No one moved, but a drum started pounding from somewhere in the forest. The lightning flashed overhead.

"So do I," Dagur laughed before he stepped back to his battle line.

Several moments passed with nothing happening. Stoick realized what was going to happen a few seconds before it became apparent.

A glow appeared in the skies and descended toward them.

 _A Skrill!_

The dragon, crackling with lightning, hovered over the village.

Then it screamed. The sound was physically painful and sent men on both sides of the battlefield to the ground covering their ears.

More significant was the effect on the dragons. They reared up and began roaring at the new creature. Then two of them, the twin's Zippleback and a Nadder, rose to challenge the arrival. They chased it further into the sky for a moment until it suddenly turned and dove past them. There was a blinding flash of light and both the Nadder and the Zippleback went limp and fell to the earth with crashes audible even over the storm.

Both clearly dead.

The rest of the dragons were sent into hysterics and took to the sky as well, but kept their distance from the Skrill, having just seen two of their nest fall to it.

Dagur screamed for the attack, and the line advanced with a battle-cry.

* * *

Astrid recovered from the arrival of the Skrill and its terrible display of power. It was only the threat of death and necessity that kept her from grieving over the two dead dragons. She had obviously known the twins' dragon and she felt a special fondness for every Nadder because of her Stormfly.

But she had a task to do, something that Stoick had seemed certain would help. She dipped the arrow's tip in the nearest torch and fitted the flaming arrow to her bow.

 _Ok, easy shot. Can't miss this one._

She ignored the screams and yells of the Berserkers and took a deep breath, feeling the rushing beat of her heart and the sweat on her palms. All sound died away as she remembered her training and focused on the barrel over fifty paces away. She popped up from hiding, took aim, and loosed the flaming arrow. The oil soaked barrel quickly went up in flames.

"Alright! Everyone down!" she screamed.

She took a final glance back at the burgeoning fire and at the clearly confused Berserker fighters gathered around the fire. Then she took cover behind the wall. All the other defenders gathered on the ramparts also crouched down as the command filtered down the line.

A few seconds passed with nothing happening. With no one actively opposing their advance, the Berserkers began to erect ladders, their maniacal battle-cries drawing louder.

Then there was a blinding flash of green light and a crash that melted into a constant buzzing sound in her head. The air felt choked with heat and a strange wind was whipped up out of nothing. She lay in hiding behind the wall, her hands firmly planted over her ears.

Her senses slowly returned as the world stopped spinning and the buzzing sound gradually faded.

All around her, fellow Berkians were slowly scrambling to their feet in various states of disarray and confusion.

Sound returned to the world. The first thing she could distinctly make out was a terrible, almost feral screaming from beyond the wall.

Even knowing that the sight could not be anything but horrific, she scrambled up the wall and looked over toward the forest.

Bodies. Parts of bodies. Green fires. Uprooted trees. And in the middle of it all a crater deep enough for a man to stand in.

She felt her limbs go weak and almost lost her grip on her bow.

 _What... I... I did this..._

Berserkers began to recover themselves and staggered to their feet around the blast area. Many of them had their hands clutched to their ears. Easily a hundred of them did not move to get up.

She backed away from the ramparts and climbed down, feeling sick to her stomach at what had happened.

Her musings on the unnaturalness of what happened and the fact that she had fired the shot were interrupted by another terrible sound.

The Skrill's menacing and ethereal call as it too returned for another strike.

* * *

Toothless sat on the rocks and stared off into the night toward the nest. A flash of sky-light far above distracted him for a moment before he looked back at the many small-fire-lights set around the two-leg-nest.

It felt completely wrong to be sitting up here and not doing anything to defend the nest. He glanced back at the two-leg females and younglings hidden in the cave.

 _The two-leg hatchlings and females should be hidden, but not me!_

His wings itched to be used, and he stared longingly down the mountainside.

 _Why am I sitting here?_

"Toothless..." Hiccup mumbled as he padded over and lay down next to him.

"This is not good. I want to fight for my nest," he flexed his foreclaws and growled in frustration.

"Alpha-sire say we be here. Much danger there."

"And much more danger for them. We are not nestlings! We strong!"

"What Alpha-sire say is what we do."

Toothless was about to respond when he saw what looked like sky-lights down near where the fighting was happening. He looked more closely for a few moments to confirm what he thought he saw.

 _The sky-cloud is not down there. What? Is there a sky-light-eater-kin there?_

"Hiccup, did you see that?"

Hiccup rumbled as he stared down the mountain, clearly intrigued by the odd lights.

"Do you know if..."

They both looked away from a blinding flash of green light. The intensity was unbearable for a few moments until it died down and they were able to open their eyes again. A column of green fire had erupted from the forest and spread out like a pillar above the trees. The tallest tendrils of fire stretched several times higher than the tallest trees.

Both of them stood transfixed with their mouths agape in shock. Neither of them had ever seen such destruction as it happened. There was no sound except for the soft whisper of the wind and the occasional rumble of thunder for the longest time until...

...the loudest boom that either of them had ever heard followed several seconds later. The otherworldly crash morphed into a growling thunder that seemed to roll underfoot. They both felt a faint tremor in the rock itself. Many of the women and children in hiding started to wail in fear.

Toothless recovered himself first. He spread his wings and sprinted for the cliff, determined to involve himself in the fight. The Alpha-sire's wishes could rot.

 _By my yolked egg... me sitting up here with the hatchlings while the adults fight for the nest..._

He thought he heard Hiccup calling out for him, but he didn't stop to check.

The devastation from the green blast and the other fighting became clear as he approached. Too many bodies of two-legs for him to count from above were laying motionless on the ground outside the made-tree-cliffs. More importantly for him though was the sky-light-eater-kin darting over the nest. It was a kind of kin that he had never seen up close.

 _What is it doing? And where are the other nest kin?_

His question was answered when he saw the kin loose its sky-light-breath at his nest's two-leg fighters. He growled in anger and shock at the realization that this kin was helping the bad other-nest two-legs attack his own nest.

 _That is why the other kin are not fighting. They are afraid of it. They know they cannot fight it._

He angled his flight to take himself above the attacking kin.

* * *

Stoick recovered himself from the shock of the blast and the ringing in his ears. The eerie green fires and unnatural light from beyond the wall tortured his soul. For an instant, he wondered at the bargain he had made, that man should not be able to harness such power.

Then the Skrill screamed its haunting and bone-tingling cry as it dove past a Monstrous Nightmare. The Skrill's lightning arced through the air and danced through the red dragon's flaming body. The Nightmare seized up and fell limp from the sky, tumbling head over tail until it crashed onto a house, which then collapsed in a blaze of fire.

The surviving Berserkers recovered from the shock of the arcane blast and staggered to their feet. They looked around at their fallen and burned companions and at the still-burning green fires all around them. Whether they all shared a group madness and thirst for blood and violence, had unshakable bravery, or all the above, they recovered themselves and started to form outside the wall. Dagur, having survived the explosion, gave his maniacal battlecry, and the Berserkers took heart again. They renewed their charge, and then everything became chaos.

Arrows whizzed overhead and the defenders lunged with spears. The attackers re-erected ladders against the barricade. They also set fires to the base of the wall.

The defenders shoved with pikes at those ascending the ladders and covered themselves against arrows from above.

"Hold the line!" Stoick's voice roared out over the din.

The defense continued to hold as the Berserkers could not gain a foothold on the wall. The attackers had not brought much in the way of advanced weaponry to help scale the wall.

All the metal spears, axes, and armor began to spark with purple energy as the Skrill came around for another pass.

"Drop everything," Stoick yelled.

All the combatants had to drop their axes and swords. Only the long wooden spears were still safe to hold. Everyone on the ramparts tried to take cover as the Skrill flew by overhead.

* * *

Theron, his heart still heavy with grief at seeing his and his twin sister's dragon killed, watched as the glowing dragon approached, the deadly lights dancing all around it. He no longer cared about the danger. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as he knelt, picked up a sparking spear, and hurled it toward the beast. It was a good throw and should have buried itself in the beast's breast, but instead the spear seemed to be pushed off-target mid-flight and turned into a glancing blow.

Just as a massive bolt of light swept his direction and everything went dark.

* * *

Astrid watched in dismay as a handful of her tribes fell on the ramparts to the fiendish storm that dragon could summon. Then everyone, defender and attacker alike, covered their ears as the Skrill howled out in pain. It beat its wings to gain height and struggled to glide over the village. None of the other dragons dared engage it directly after seeing another of their nest fall to it. It howled and trembled as it glided, its wreath of deathly light temporarily lost.

A dark shape became illuminated above the Skrill from the flashes of lightning in the clouds. She instantly knew what it was and she had a guess at who it had to be.

 _Toothless, what are you doing?_

She watched with baited breath as the Night Fury dove and struck the Skrill from above, quickly cracking one of its wings and kicking off from it before it could light itself again. The Skrill tumbled from the sky with a howl and crushed a barn before vanishing in the central square.

She recovered her bow and dashed through the village after blindly grabbing a handful of arrows from the cache. Something told her that there was going to be a confrontation that she had to be present for. She arrived at the square just in time to see Toothless land near the dazed Skrill. The Fury's visage reminded her of how his kind got its name, what with his glistening fangs showing and his massive wings extended at his sides.

The Skrill rolled itself upright with a whimper and turned to regard the Fury. The Skrill was the larger of the two dragons. The two dragons stared each other down with shared snarls while she cautiously crept closer. Even knowing as little of how dragon speech worked as she did, it was clear that these two were not sharing words. The Skrill made the first move, slowly and painfully dragging itself towards Toothless with its body once again wreathed in lightning. Its broken wing hung out partially at its side.

 _No Toothless! You can't fight it!_

Toothless backpedaled several steps, unable to let the creature get close. Then he growled, reared up, and hurled a ball of glowing purple fire which struck the Skrill on the shoulder. The Skrill recoiled in pain and surprise. Even Toothless seemed surprised at himself for an instant, and then he leapt towards his enemy while breathing a steady stream of flame. The Skrill cowered and howled. She watched in morbid fascination as the arcs of lightning wove around and through the current of fire. All the while, she crept closer until she felt that she could take a reliable shot.

Then Toothless screamed aloud and lost his flaming stream. The Skrill continued to cower and hid its head while drawing several slow and pained breaths. Toothless shook his head and yelped in tortured pain.

The battle seemed paused.

Then the Skrill growled in pure menace. She reached behind her back, grabbed an arrow, and fitted it. In that final moment before she committed to this action, it finally struck her that she was about to become a dragon killer.

A very faint shimmer seemed to grow around the Skrill just as she raised the bow and tried to aim it. The arrow started to quiver and resist on her drawn bow, and her knife started pulling against its sheath.

 _What in the name of..._

The shimmering erupted into a sphere that spread outward in all directions. Everything made of metal was hurled backwards, everything from swords to pails and parts of houses were affected. Her knife flew away into the night. Even the arrows in her quiver were carried away by an unseen, intangible force. Several glowing balls of light appeared all around the square, and everything they touched was set alight. Lightning arced out at random, starting fires on the surrounding buildings. Her hair even billowed as through it was being blown by winds, but there wasn't even the faintest zephyr in the air.

She ducked behind a barrel as an arc of death swept through the air and set alight the barn behind her. This was completely beyond her or anyone's comprehension. Every instinct told her to turn away to flee, that she was helpless against such unnatural forces.

Then she felt something shift in her quiver. Without thinking, she reached back and grabbed an arrow that had not betrayed her. It was one of the ancient arrows tipped with dragonscale instead of metal. She fitted the arrow, took a deep breath, and, knowing that she could easily be running to her death, dashed out from behind the barrel. She strode through the unearthly environment as nails, shields, and swords rolled and quivered on the ground like leaves on water. As she drew closer to the dragon, spots of light began to fill her vision, blocking her view. She could feel her muscles start to weaken and seize up, almost making her stumble and making it impossible to aim.

Toothless's eyes gleamed with the strange lights as he stood his ground. He must have somehow caught sight of her because he lunged forward, disregarding the danger of the lightning, and flamed one more short burst of fire in the Skrill's face. The Skrill shook its head and closed its eyes to protect them from the blast.

The strange force that had been blinding and weakening her on approach vanished. She caught her breath and froze for an instant when she saw the Skrill's hideously charred and melted forehead.

And then it happened just as she had practiced thousands of times before. A distance of ten paces. Her sight was perfect. Her fingers released the taught string without conscious thought. The arrow flew true as if it were guided by the hand of fate.

The Skrill recoiled with a scream and rolled onto its side, its body rolling over several times and being wracked with tremors for a minute. Its death scream faded into oblivion. Then the Skrill went completely still with the feather of an arrow protruding from its visible eye.

The scraps of metal stopped moving, the arcane balls of dancing lights vanished, and her hair fell back to her shoulders.

The sky continued to rumble far above and it began to rain. There were no sounds except for the storm clouds, the gathering rainfall, and the crackle of the fires burning in the main square. The battles at the barricade were too far away to make out over the sounds of nature.

Astrid fell to her knees and let her bow drop to the ground. She stared in shock at her trembling hands as everything washed over her at once. She had killed an unknown number of people with the strange emerald fire and she killed a dragon.

The dragon that had killed several dragons she knew and surely several of her fellows as well. The dragon that had an impossible control over unnatural forces. The dragon that could possibly have killed everyone on the island.

She cried freely.

Something large and breathing heavily advanced on her and brought her back to herself. A pair of green eyes, still alert but no longer enraged, on a very familiar face. The Fury knelt before her, and they silently regarded each other. After a few seconds, Toothless leaned forward and nuzzled her cheek with a relieved purr. She didn't even scowl when he affectionately licked her cheek.

She gasped when she saw new, strange markings snaking down his neck and onto his shoulders. They could only be burn marks from the Skrill's attack.

"Toothless, you're hurt."

He followed her gaze and grimaced, though he didn't seem too concerned. He only gave the burn marks a quick lick and then turned his attention back to her.

"Not bad, many of us would be jealous of those scars."

She tried to get up, but her legs were cramped and didn't seem to obey her well. Even her arms were unusually weak and frail. Something about just being near the Skrill had drained much of her strength.

 _Add that to the list of impossible things._

Toothless noticed her plight and bent down to let her brace herself against his neck. He helped her to her feet and supported her as they shuffled out of the square.

"Thanks Toothless," she whispered, to which he softly rumbled back.

She glanced back to where the Skrill's dark bulk lay motionless on the ground, and she shivered despite it being a warm night. The rain began falling in earnest, not that she cared.

 _I'm never telling anyone what it could do. They can't know. It's too terrible._

* * *

Hiccup remained on the mountain for a few minutes after Toothless disappeared into the night sky. Gradually though, his concern for Toothless and everyone else grew strong enough that he was willing to disobey his father's command.

He jumped from the mountain and set out for the village. Even before he arrived, the sounds of battle, the screams of the wounded and burning, the roaring of the combatants, and the clash of weapons, assailed him all the more potently than they ever had before. He stared in horror when he passed over the broken bodies of a Nadder and a Nightmare, the first on the open ground and the other visible in the burning wreckage of a building.

 _No, no, no..._

He glided in and awkwardly landed on a straw-thatched house inside the sanctum wall but close enough to the main battle to see the slaughter. There was no sign of Toothless anywhere, and the front lines were too chaotic to clearly make anything out.

The smells of charred wood and flesh and the tang of blood were very strong on the air and made him gag. In all the battles he had been in before, he had never seen this level of savagery. Everywhere he looked, there were piles of the dead, dying, and injured.

And he became terrified for the first time he could remember in years. Not for himself, but for everyone else. For his father, Gobber, and Astrid somewhere down in the battle. For the other men and women of Berk whom he knew by name but had never been close to. For the dragons that had come back to the island out of trust.

He cowered on the roof with his eyes shut, trying to resist the horror that squeezed at his heart. But the cacophony and the paralyzing terror were too great. He could not fight.

Shivering and whimpering, he reluctantly opened his eyes and looked away from the battle. An old man was helping a younger fighter set a bandage on the fighter's arm. A wise-woman was treating a man's puncture where he had been shot with an arrow. Several people lay on the ground in pain, having been dragged from the main front with surely terrible wounds.

 _I... I can help..._

He struggled to his feet, finding some strength from seeing even the elderly of Berk helping in what ways they could, and leapt down from the roof. Directly fighting was something he knew he would not do, but saving life and easing pain was certainly within his power.

He walked over to the nearest wounded person, an unconscious man with a deep gash in his side.

 _Ok, this is disgusting..._

He dripped his saliva into the grizzly wound. Then he moved on to the next person, a man clutching his arm which had been hacked down to the bone. He blanched at the sight, but stepped up to the man anyway. The man's eyes, already watered in pain, went wide in fear at his approach.

 _Gods, I can imagine how this must look to him._

It took a lot of coaxing before he was able to convince the panicked man that he did not intend him any harm. He very reluctantly licked the forearm directly, almost immediately gagging at the taste of blood.

But the man stopped whimpering in pain only moments later. And he continued on helping the others he could help who were in need of treatment. More than once he found only a corpse, and he was sure he would have nightmares about those for a long time.

 _I can't let this ever happen again. Never again. So much death and reckless hate._

He was so engrossed in his grizzly task that he didn't pay any heed to when the storm clouds broke overhead and it started to rain.

* * *

Both attackers and defenders watched as the Skrill whirled about through the air, howling its pain to the skies. Then a living shadow dove from the heavens and knocked the lightning dragon to the ground.

The Berserkers seemed unsure of themselves. They shuffled about, glancing at each other in confusion. Even Dagur seemed shocked that something had apparently downed the Skrill. Then he roared for the attack, and the Berkserkers renewed their offensive. A large portion of the wall was weakened by the burning fires. The Berserkers piled against the weakened wall with their shields and pushed, their combined weight fracturing the weakened wood and collapsing the ramparts.

The Berserkers stormed through the gaping hole in the barricade and met a charging wall of Berk defenders lead by Stoick the Vast himself. He swung his hammer overhead with a massive roar and brought it crashing down on a Berserker's helmet. The man's skull was audibly shattered, and he collapsed dead. All along the line men on both sides fell to the ground in the savage fighting.

Thorvald leapt up onto the ramparts and hurled a torch out into the mass of charging Berserkers. No one who was watching knew what to make of it for a moment, and then a Monstrous Nightmare raised its serpentine neck up over him from behind the wall and rained liquid fire onto the attackers. The Berserkers partially covered themselves with their shields, but many were set alight regardless.

The battle seemed to have settled into a stalemate with the Berserkers struggling to crawl over the bodies of the fallen and the defenders aligned in formation. The rain stirred up the blood and dirt into a sloppy mud.

But then the battle was joined by new entrants just as it started to rain.

The skies were suddenly filled with a dozen new dragons with riders on their backs. Stoick backed away from the front lines for a brief moment to investigate this change in the battle from a lookout tower.

The newly arrived dragons were not from Berk. They immediately set upon the Berserker horde, raining fire down on the mass from above.

 _The Vaina! They came!_

He glanced toward Berk's northern waters. There were flashes of fire and illuminated wings in the night. Several of the Cenhelm ships were already burning. It looked almost exactly like the old raids. He was just barely able to catch a glimpse of a Volsung flag. On a hunch, he glanced toward the docks where the Berserker ships lay moored. Sure enough, a new fleet had arrived and was raining burning arrows on the defenders and was boarding ships one by one.

 _They all came._

One of the new Nadders landed in the clearing behind the defenders and its rider hopped off.

"Where is your Chief?" the young man shouted.

Stoick got down and ran up to him.

"Chief Svana sends her regards. We tried to get here sooner."

"Odin bless you all," Stoick replied while giving the young man an embrace.

"Talk later. Let's end this!" the Vainian shouted as he returned to his dragon.

Stoick returned to his lookout to survey the battlefield one more time. The Berserkers had broken apart into two groups, the group inside the barricade and the group outside being flamed from above. Those outside retreated for the cover of the forests under the unrelenting aerial attack.

He grinned in smug satisfaction that they would find only ruin at the hands of the other tribes if they fled for the docks.

The Berserkers that had breached the wall were still about a hundred in number and were putting up a fight under Dagur's direction.

He hopped down and, bloody axe in hand, strode back to the front lines, pushing aside his own men in his haste.

"Dagur!" his enraged voice thundered out, almost making himself heard over the clash of shields and steel.

Then a far more powerful voice roared out from the abandoned wall next to the battlefield. Berk fighters and Berserkers alike briefly paused and glanced over at the source of the noise. A Night Fury was perched on the nearest house, its wings held out in menace and its teeth gleaming white. Seeing that it got everyone's attention, it lifted its head and roared to the skies in clear triumph. The effect on the attackers and defenders was immediate.

The Berk fighters cheered and beat their shields with their weapons while the Berserkers cowered, their spirits broken by the sight. Only Dagur stood defiant and unmoved. Stoick passed through the front line, stepping over several bodies, and faced Dagur.

Neither said anything for a long time.

"You have nowhere to run," he eventually said.

"Why do you think I want to run?" Dagur spat at him.

"I don't. I just want to know why."

Dagur took out one of his wet knives and licked the blood from it.

"Every leader must make a name for himself. And as long as there are dragons, there will need to be dragon-killers. I didn't think you would be able to get the others to join you."

"You are crazy."

"Yes," Dagur grinned, "everyone must play a role in the game. I know my people, war is part of who and what they are."

"You could have changed them."

"People do not change Stoick. I know that and you know that. This would have happened eventually. I put my life in the hands of the Fates."

Dagur gained a fanatical look in his eyes to match his breathless rambling as he looked up at the Night Fury.

"Death and glory!" Dagur shouted.

Dagur drew another long knife and lunged at Stoick. Stoick swung his padded forearm and knocked Dagur aside. He swung his axe and buried its head in the ground where Dagur had been before rolling to the side. Dagur kicked Stoick in the shin and got a kick in the ribs in return.

Wrought with pain in his leg, Stoick wrenched the axe from the mud and stumbled over to Dagur. Dagur somehow managed to stand while cradling his side and his likely broken ribs. Stoick swung his axe again, and Dagur barely managed to dodge the blow by stepping back. With speed almost impossible for a wounded man, Dagur slashed with his knife a strike that would have opened up Stoick's belly except for his thick leather armor. Stoick sidestepped the next strike and swung his axe down into one of Dagur's legs, sending the Berserker to the ground with a scream.

Stoick turned and raised the axe high.

"They will... remember me," Dagur choked out.

He buried the axe in Dagur's chest.

All the Berk fighters and even the Night Fury roared in triumph. Stoick stepped back, his front covered in blood and his leg throbbing. His attention turned to the remaining Berserkers who were dropping their weapons and trying to back away only to be blocked by several menacing dragons sitting outside the breach in the wall.

"Where is Spitelout?" he shouted to his people.

Everyone shuffled about and looked around, waiting for their commander to step forward. The crowd parted from the back, but it was not Spitelout who came forward.

It was Thorvald.

The young man had a pained and hardened look that he had seen too many times. Thorvald slowly shook his head at his Chief without saying a word. Nothing more needed to be said.

 _Dead... my brother is..._

Stoick turned around, his wrath rekindled. He wrenched the axe from Dagur's body and took out his grief on the corpse until nothing was left but a mass of bone and meat. Then he turned toward the surviving Berserkers.

"Drive them to the cliff!" he shouted.

His men picked up their weapons and surrounded the defeated fighters. The Berserkers started jostling and pushing at each other, but they had no choice against the dozen dragons and Berk fighters wielding pikes. Several of the men fell to their knees.

"Please! We had no choice. We were only following orders!"

"Orders? You could have disobeyed them!"

"He would have killed us."

"Then you would have died with honor!"

He hewed the man who had been groveling at his feet. The wall of pikes advanced at Stoick's command, slowly driving the mass of Berserkers up to and off the cliff. One by one the men fell into the darkness, their screams swallowed up by the distant crashing of waves.

Then they were all gone and the Berk fighters all stepped back from the cliff, save for Stoick. He stood at the cliff's edge and stared over into the darkness where he knew dozens of bodies lay broken on the sharp, jagged rocks.

He remembered to breathe again and turned around to face his people. He could see it in their eyes. The same look that had been terribly common years ago. Exhaustion, pain, resignation, fear, and also relief.

He lifted his axe high and roared in triumph. They all did.

* * *

Astrid slowly stepped down from the lookout post and wandered back into the square where Hiccup was helping tend to the wounded. Try as she might, she could not get the sight of Stoick's mutilating Dagur's body or her own tribesmen driving prisoners off the cliff out of her head.

 _It is war but still... it feels...wrong._

She paused for a moment as she observed Hiccup among the injured. It was an odd sight indeed, a dragon sitting among a large group of bloodied and wounded people who were clearly grateful to have him there.

 _I guess we now know that Night Fury saliva does help with pain and injuries after all. Who would have thought?_

She walked up to Hiccup and threw her arms around his head after he looked up at her. His green eyes were filled with exhaustion and solemnity. She didn't doubt that they would both be changed by everything that had happened and that they had seen.

"It's over. We won."

* * *

Dawn finally broke over the horizon, not that many people got much sleep. Almost everyone worked through the night. Fires were extinguished. Spoils were collected. The wounded were bandaged and cared for. Berk's fallen were gathered together to be claimed by their families for burial. The Berserker fallen were stripped of all valuables and clothing and were unceremoniously thrown off the same cliff to be food for the fish and birds.

The hundreds of Berserkers who had departed the battle had been allowed to flee. None among the Berserkers or the other tribes had the heart to continue fighting and dying for no further purpose.

Elder Vuulthir was very busy presiding over the many funeral ceremonies. Berk had lost all its ships during the fighting. None of the few remaining captured sloops could be spared for the traditional departure, so all the dead were to be burned on land.

Astrid's main task was to oversee the disposal of the dragons killed by the Skrill. She got help from the families whose dragons had died and from a few other volunteers to drag the bodies out of the village and push them off the cliff, far from the Berserkers' resting place, and into the sea. Ideally, they could be given a proper resting place like one would give a faithful hound, but the devastation was too great for that right now. While she knew and had interacted with each of the three dragons many times before, seeing the corpse of the twins dragon hurt the most. That Zippleback had been one of the creatures they had trained against and had first come to really know.

Her one task being completed by early afternoon, she walked around the remains of the village, feeling very numb and exhausted. Her parents and house had, by the blessings of the gods, both escaped any harm. Others whom she knew had not survived.

For a while she did not believe or accept that Theron was gone. It felt wrong that someone as carefree as him had fallen. They had trained together and were both in the same class of riders and dragon-friends. She had not seen Sifa at all.

 _I can't imagine what she must feel. To lose your twin and your dragon on the same day. Gods..._

Far more important to the tribe as a whole was Spitelout's death. It directly grieved Stoick and left Thorvald the next heir to become Chief.

She glanced at the Jorgenson residence. Despite her deep frustration with Thorvald's former obsession with her, she couldn't remain bitter toward him considering what had happened.

 _I didn't know he even could cry. But he did just lose his father._

She wandered over to the stable and stood at the entrance to gaze in at the happy scene inside. Stormfly lay curled up on the ground, watching her three hatchlings as they alternately sniffed at everything and leapt at each other in play. The largest one noticed her and fearlessly scurried over to garner attention.

"Hey there little guy," she mumbled as she carefully lowered her hand, being careful to avoid getting her fingers nibbled on, to its chin to give it a scratch. The blue baby Nadder went drowsy very quickly and collapsed under her hand, much to Stormfly's amusement.

"Time for your nap," she picked up the baby and lay him at Stormfly's side.

She gave Stormfly's proud head a quick nuzzle for good measure and then left the happy nest. She felt far better leaving than she had been when arriving.

 _I needed that. We all need more of that._

She intended to go to Stoick to find something else to do to stay busy. Staying busy helped to smooth over the pain that everyone was sure to feel for many moons to come. That was when she noticed something strange.

Both Sifa and Thorvald were sitting together outside what was now his house. She had her head on his shoulder, and he had his arm around her side.

Though she wanted to go comfort them, it felt right to let them be alone for now.

 _Maybe they will help each other get through what happened._

* * *

Toothless glanced down at the mass of bad-two-leg bodies broken on the rocks below and at the carrion birds busily feasting. Never had he seen so many dead two-legs. It filled his life-water with fire that his nest had won and shown itself the stronger nest.

He jumped from the cliff and flew for the cliff where Hiccup was perched. His nest-mate lay sullenly on the ground, just staring out over the ocean.

"Why you sad?" he asked.

"Many dead two-legs and kin. Hurts me much."

Toothless weighed his words carefully, knowing how sensitive Hiccup was to the harsher realities of life.

"All things die. Our nest two-legs that are dead fought well."

Hiccup slowly shook his head while giving a sad rumble. Toothless didn't seem to understand or feel much sadness at the loss. He then looked around at him, intending to say something. But he froze and found his eyes drawn to the burns running down Toothless's neck.

"You fought the sky-light-eater-kin."

"Yes. Astrid helped me kill it. She is very good fighter."

"You have hurt-marks on your neck."

"These? Yes, I like them," he stretched his neck proudly.

"What? Why?" Hiccup wasn't sure he heard that correctly.

"Hurt-marks show I am strong. Show I win fight."

Hiccup grumbled while rolling his eyes with a flickering hint of amusement.

"Much like two-leg you are, Toothless."

Hiccup's thoughts then turned to Spitelout and Theron as the two among the fallen he had known best. His uncle and his former classmate. Not that he was especially close to or fond of either of them, but they had still been family regardless.

"Toothless, what you think happens after dying? Where dead go?"

"We talked about this in past. You know that I not know. That is a cloud you can fly into, but never out from."

Hiccup nodded back at the nest.

"Death is bad. Two-legs fighting is bad. The other-nest two-legs wanted hunt kin here. Problem is two-legs and liking-fighting."

Hiccup got to his feet and faced Toothless.

"I will make fighting not happen. I will make change!"

"How?" Toothless asked.

"I help two-legs change by talking and being good. Show them fighting and dying not good."

Toothless said nothing back. It sounded like Hiccup wanted to change life itself, to make conflict not be resolved with fighting. As though all conflict can be talked away.

 _But I thought that I would never fly again once. Hiccup did the impossible then. If any kin can change all two-legs, it will be him._

* * *

Stoick stood down by the shore with a small group of his people to welcome his honored guests and allies. Chief Svana was the first of this party to come ashore, and the massive woman leapt from her rowboat ahead of her companions. She came up and stood a respectful distance from him while looking around at Berk, this being her first time ashore on his island.

"Stoick, I'm glad you survived. My people tell me that you showed your true warrior's spirit."

"I did what I had to do. Your dragons and people helped a lot."

She shrugged.

"It is a dangerous world, we must stick together and protect each other... despite how undesirable that may be at times," she ended by glancing back out to sea.

Several of the Outcast sloops lay rolling in the waves while Alvin and company rowed ashore. That was the part he was most uncomfortable with about this entire arrangement. The idea of having Outcasts on Berk again was thoroughly repugnant, but it would not do to directly offend those who had come to Berk's defense. War makes strange bedfellows indeed.

 _They stopped most of the other Berserkers from escaping with the whole fleet. Strange that they didn't bring any dragons of their own though._

Alvin hopped ashore and laughed while picking up a handful of sand. Stoick looked past him at the others brought in the raft, and he noticed someone very unwelcome. A shriveled bag of bones leaning on a cane.

"You had to bring that one didn't you?"

"What, old Moldy? What's wrong with him?"

"He is a traitor," Stoick fumed.

"He's always been loyal to me..." Alvin laughed.

"Just keep him out of my sight," Stoick growled.

Alvin made a gesture at Mildew, who scowled but stayed behind.

"All right, let's go. Edgaras is waiting at my Great Hall."

The three Chiefs and a couple dozen from each tribe left the beach together and proceeded to the Hall.

"Ah, this brings back memories," Alvin sighed.

"Alvin..." Stoick warned.

"It feels like just yesterday I was here before I was banished."

"Which you deserved."

"That is the past. What about the future? Still think I am the Treacherous?"

"Don't push your luck. Alvin the Honest, my ass... Where are your dragons by the way?"

That wiped the smug grin from Alvin's face.

"We may have had some problems getting them to obey us."

"With that attitude, I am not surprised," Svana chimed in.

"What I am surprised by though," Alvin continued as though he hadn't heard her, "is that you seem to have so few dragons yourself Stoick. Where are all of Berk's beasts?"

"The ones that are not here are away looking after their nests and broods."

"Ah, that explains it. We had a few leave as well, but we couldn't figure out why," Svana said.

"What about your special dragons, Stoick? I hope they are ok."

Stoick stopped in his tracks and got up in Alvin's face.

"What did you say!"

"Hey, hey Stoick... I'm just asking. I'm concerned about 'em."

"After you almost killed Hiccup?"

That incensed Svana as well.

"What!" she exclaimed.

"Hey, I never meant to hurt him. Only to give myself a bit more leverage over my dear old friend here. Would it help if I say I regret it?"

"Maybe a little," Stoick reluctantly admitted.

Svana punched Alvin in the shoulder.

"Idiot," she grumbled.

"Hmm, feisty."

"Don't even try..."

No one said anything else the rest of the way. They passed through the opened gate and entered the village. Everyone, but Alvin and Svana especially, observed the destruction of the burned wall, shattered homes, and signs of battle.

"Wow, this is different," Alvin said as he looked around at the stables and several visible dragons.

"Things change after fifteen years, Alvin."

"That they do."

The party continued on through the village and noticed the strange dragons lounging around near the Great Hall. They were a mix of Vainian and Volsung dragons, and were distinguishable by how nervous or relaxed they seemed. The heavy chains and armor on the Volsung dragons were another clear indicator.

Stoick and company entered the Great Hall and proceeded up to his table through the large gathering of Berk natives and members of the allied tribes. Everyone had gathered together to celebrate the shared victory and to distribute loot.

Edgaras and several of his captains were already there waiting for them. The new arrivals all took their seats, and several mugs of ale were brought out for all present. The ale supplies had been sorely depleted following the battle, but Stoick always kept some in reserve. They all raised a mug in a salute to each other and the fallen. Stoick wiped the foam from his mustache and put his hands on the table.

"I want to know. Why did you come help us?" Stoick began.

The other three Chiefs glanced at each other.

"Your dragon can be very persuasive," Svana began with a chuckle.

"Speaking of it... him, where is he?" Alvin asked, knowing that it would get under Stoick's skin.

"Not sure, he tends to wander a lot. What about you Edgar?" Stoick quickly changed the topic.

"I didn't like having a debt to another tribe. And it seemed like a good opportunity to get back at the Berserkers for things they did in the past," Edgaras replied.

"Do I want to know what they did?"

"They took prizes that we were going to take ourselves."

"Fair enough. Alvin?" Stoick reluctantly asked.

"Everything they said."

Except he muttered and didn't look up to meet Stoick's gaze.

"Is there something else?"

"Well, we... Outcasts... have not been very good at getting the dragons to obey us. We might need more help," he seemed pained to admit.

"There is no reason why we couldn't give you more help. The problem is certainly in your people though; that they don't treat the beasts right," Stoick replied.

"I figured that already; no need to rub it in. It's also true that I didn't want Berk destroyed," Alvin further grumbled.

"So touching. The little boy sounds like he still wants to go home," Edgaras teased.

Alvin flew to his feet and tried to grab his dagger, forgetting that all weapons were left behind for this meeting. He settled for slamming a fist on the table.

"Say that again you old sheep lover!"

"Sheep lover? From what I hear it is the Outcasts who don't have enough women and need to make do what what you have."

"Why, I'll..."

"Enough of that everyone!" Stoick shouted.

The other Chiefs settled back down much to Svana's amusement.

"You two can go have a pissing contest outside my Hall. I don't need to tell you all how helpful your armies were to Berk's defense."

"Wow, the great Stoick showing some humility? Is this the end times?" Alvin exclaimed.

Stoick rolled his eyes and did his best to ignore Alvin's ongoing antics.

"I know that our tribes have never been the closest to each other. We have all kept to ourselves to please the gods in our own ways. But circumstances have changed for us. We are all on the same side now."

He paused for effect.

"We are the dragon tribes. Yes, even these incompetent Outcasts..."

"Hey..." Alvin weakly protested.

"That makes us different from all the other peoples we know of. It also makes us a target for anyone like Dagur who would want to kill dragons because of grudges or for sport."

"I've thought about that too, Stoick. What are you proposing?" Svana asked.

"We should make an alliance, the four of us. We would all come to each other's aid if any one of us is threatened."

"No one has ever done this before," Edgaras said.

"Has anyone ever fought a war with dragons on their side?. After all, a people getting pet dragons can be scary for other tribes in the area. Who knows what the ones with the dragons could be planning..." Stoick said with a gleam in his eyes.

Svana and Edgaras gave each other a knowing and perhaps slightly ashamed glance.

"It makes people nervous and nervous people do desperate things. Combining all our numbers to protect each other makes sense for all of us. What do you say?"

Svana nodded in eager agreement.

"I'd have to be an idiot to say no to that," Alvin said.

"So what is your answer?" Svana asked him.

He gave her a withering glare to which she laughed.

Stoick turned to Edgaras, the one of the four who was probably in the strongest position at the moment. He had slightly fewer dragons than Berk but far more ships and proper soldiers.

"The Volsung have never been a people to need help. But this is a brave new world we are sailing, or flying, into. I agree to this alliance," Edgaras said after a moment of thought.

Stoick waved over an attendant with fresh mugs of ale which were distributed to the four of them. They each raised their mugs.

"The gods smile on us. To the future!"

* * *

Stoick returned to his village after seeing the others Chiefs off. The Vaina, Outcast, and Volsung ships and dragons had all left Berk to begin returning home. He sat down on a barrel and took a moment to collect his thoughts. So much had happened in the last couple days that he had barely had a chance to absorb or think about. His brother's death, dozens of his own tribe fallen, an entire attacking army shattered, and an alliance forged with the other dragon-bearing tribes.

 _We might finally have peace now. At a heavy price for sure._

He got back to his feet but winced at a soreness in his back.

 _Thor Almighty, I'm not as young as I once was._

He spent the rest of the day meeting with the wounded and hearing their stories. That was how he was introduced to another bizarre story. They explained how his dragon had come to them during the battle, had licked their wounds, and how that made the injuries stop hurting as much. It confirmed what was written in the Book of Dragons about Night Fury saliva having clear benefits.

But it also meant that Hiccup had disobeyed him. He already knew that of course as both Furies had been there during the battle and Toothless had apparently helped to kill the Skrill.

His thoughts turned to Moirai and her company.

 _She said that they would be off the island for the battle. I hope they are safe._

The green flash during the battle and the deafening blast that followed forced itself to the forefront of his thoughts. It was as though a gate to the underworld had opened in the combat.

It left him with serious doubts about the nature of their deal. Such power was unhallowed.

He reassured himself of the necessity of the arrangement when he went home and could clearly hear the bellows-like breathing of the dragons in the next room over.

 _She will be back. I know it._

"Just a while longer Hiccup," he whispered.


	26. I - Schism

_**Author's Note - This is the final chapter of volume I. I would welcome any thoughts that you may have to share. Again, consider how differently certain characters developed in this world because of other events that did not happen. There is another note at the bottom of this post to give you an idea of what to expect going forward.  
**_

* * *

" _If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?" - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - The Gulag Archipelago_

* * *

Schism

* * *

Astrid rolled over in bed, disturbed by a strange sound for it being so early in the morning. It was someone pounding on the door, and she yawned while rousing herself.

"Sure, I think she is awake," Vidarr muttered to the stranger.

Skald met Astrid at the front door, and he looked oddly concerned.

"Astrid, sorry to wake you up," he muttered.

"Don't worry about it. What is wrong?" Astrid asked.

"Ulfric told me he found a dead dragon in the woods."

"Really? Great... Did he say what kind?"

"He didn't say. But that is not what is so bad."

"What is it then?"

"He said it has been dead a while, and that it was… skinned."

She snapped out of her lethargy.

"Skinned?"

"De-scaled actually…"

"By the gods… Where?"

"By Murmuring Mound."

"Give me a moment."

She slipped on her boots, and they left together for the forest without bothering either of their dragons. There was no need to disturb the sleeping broods.

They nervously headed into the woods, both tortured by memories of the last time that dead dragons had been found on the island after the Battle of Five Armies as it was now called. That had been a very personal and painful experience for all the riders. The last occasion before that terrible day had been way back when Mildew's rebellion had failed. The rebels had set many different traps in the woods and had managed to trap and kill a poor dragon.

 _If this one was skinned, then someone on Berk had to have done it. But who and why?_

It did not take long to find once they arrived at the Mound. There, just slightly off the main trail and somewhat hidden behind shrubs, was a Nadder carcass, its body almost entirely stripped of scales and having been torn at by various scavengers.

She felt sick to her stomach at the sight. A dead dragon or a dead human was not something that could normally threaten her constitution. The maggots crawling out of the eye sockets and the putrid, rotting flesh, however, could and did.

"It looks like this happened a long time ago," Skald whispered.

"But who would do something like this? Why?"

He knelt and examined the remains before answering.

"See these slices here?" he pointed to a series of cuts.

"Yes."

"These are easy to make when skinning cattle. And look at this."

She looked closely at what looked like a deep puncture wound in the neck.

"I think someone killed this dragon so they could skin it of its scales. And look at its claws," he said.

The claws were gone, apparently torn out of the paws. All its spines, from head to down its tail, were ripped out too. On a hunch, Astrid got out her dagger and poked at the decaying mouth. One glance inside the rotting, worm infested mouth showed them everything they needed to see. All the teeth had been pried out.

She got up and turned her back on the sight as she felt a tingling in the back of her throat. She ran over to a bush and vomited because of how hideous the sight was.

The terrible image of finding her own Stormfly like that played no small part in her reaction.

"Astrid, are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm glad I skipped breakfast at least."

"I think I'm going to be sick too," he moaned.

"You and me both, let's get out of here."

They quickly put distance between them and that place until they came to a small clearing.

"Ok, ok. Think about this. Someone on Berk had to do that, and they killed it for its scales, teeth, and claws. Why?"

"Well, our tribe used to make trophies out of what we killed. Could it be that?" he offered.

"Why now? We don't do that anymore. It cannot have been any of us."

She glanced out at the forest around them as she ran through the possibilities in her head.

"What about a Berserker hiding in the forest all this time?" she asked.

"Do you really think a Berserker could hide or would want to hide?"

"No, of course not. It's not their style," she admitted, "Maybe it was killed in the Battle and no one found it until now."

"I doubt it. Not with those stab wounds and cuts. I think this happened after the battle. Maybe three weeks ago. Regardless, the Chief needs to know about it."

"Yeah, I'll go let him know," she agreed.

She went straight to the Chief's house and rapped on the door. He answered the door after a few moments. His hair was very disheveled, and he looked upset by something.

"Chief, I need to talk to you."

"What is the matter?" he sighed.

"I think we have a traitor on the island."

"A traitor? Why?" he wrinkled his brow.

"We found a dead dragon in the woods. It looks like..."

"Dragons die. It happens," he interrupted.

"This one was different. It was..."

"I don't care. You go investigate if you want, but don't bother me about it," he growled.

Then he shut the door in her face. She stood motionless, quite taken aback by his curt reaction.

"Ok, that was odd."

 _Strange, he used to be more interested in what happens on his island. Maybe just a bad day._

Still though, something about his behavior seemed very strange and continued to bug her, so she sought out the person she thought could best give her council.

"Gobber, do you have a moment?"

He wiped the sweat from his brow and stepped outside the forge.

"Sure, what's on yer mind lass?"

"Do you think anything is wrong with Stoick?"

"Wrong? What do you mean?"

"I mean... like he is more distant and not taking care of himself."

"Well, he has been spending more time alone yeah. Can't blame him for that after the battle and everything that happened."

She sighed and felt momentarily dizzy as images of that terrible night were dragged up from memory.

"That makes sense. He did lose his brother. I just wished he cared enough to listen to me."

"Eh, what's this now?"

"We found a dead Nadder in the forest. Someone cut off its scales, claws, and everything else."

Gobber said nothing for a long time.

"That does sound bad. And he didn't want to hear anything about it?"

"No, he shut the door on me."

"He is a grown man who is hurting. Just let him deal with it in his own way. He will come around eventually. About the dragon though, I don't know what to say. Keep your eyes open Astrid. I'm sure you will figure it out."

* * *

Stoick sat at his table in the Great Hall and downed another mug. That made his fourth even before lunch. He looked out over his people gathered in the Hall with him.

The tribe was still recovering after the battle from two months ago. It didn't feel the same with twenty nine souls gone from Midgard and now assuredly feasting in Valhalla. Dwellings had been erected for those whose homes were destroyed and the orphans were taken in by families. The tribe would continue and would grow strong again. But there were other problems besides.

Only one fishing boat of their own remained afloat, though Svana had lent him a couple more until the rest could be rebuilt. That severely limited the amount of fish that could be caught, though there were also fewer dragons that needed to be fed.

A dragon and its rider had flown to Berk from the Vaina and Volsung every other week after the battle ended. They said that they were there to ask if Berk needed anything, but he secretly suspected that they were also there to see how strong Berk would remain. A weakened tribe was one that could be taken advantage of.

 _Can't trust anyone else. Even if we are allies... bah._

Despite everyone else's stubborn optimism, he still felt a coldness in his breast, a certain impassiveness or unfeeling born mainly of his brother's death. They had never been especially close as siblings, but Spitelout had been the last living member of his immediate family.

And then there was also the issue of the Night Fury dozing contentedly at his side. He had not said anything to Hiccup all this time about the arrangement with Moirai. It was getting closer to the time she had said her task would be completed. She had indeed returned safely several days after the battle's resolution.

He got up and stumbled from the Hall without a backward glance. He passed several of his tribesmen and ignored their greetings.

Anxious for news and needing some reassurance, he left the village and entered the forest. It was a good half-hour of walking before he arrived at his destination. One of the foreign guards noticed his approach and called to inside the hut.

Moirai, garbed in her customary black, stepped outside and greeted him.

"Stoick, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Moirai, I'm sorry to disturb you, but I wanted to know how everything is going."

"I am getting closer. It needs no more than another lunar cycle before it is ready."

"Good, very good. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Just stay out of the way and everything will be fine. You'll have your boy back soon enough."

"He is all I have left now."

"All the more reason for my having as few disturbances as possible," she replied.

"Yes, indeed. Good talk. I'll let you go back to it."

* * *

"Come on girl, it's been too long since we went flying."

She held out the riding saddle and could clearly see Stormfly's interest. But the dragon also glanced down at the hatchlings dozing at her side. Astrid grinned to herself.

"Ah, I thought about that. Come on Blue."

She coaxed Blueback forward into the stable and watched happily as the two adults nuzzled each other. Stormfly then followed her human outside as her mate took over duties watching over the hatchlings. She then let Astrid put on the equipment, and the pair was aloft seconds later.

Astrid let out a cheer of delight at finally being back in the skies for the first time since the battle. She held out her arms toward the clouds and let out her hair to billow behind her. Stormfly also trilled out in joy, apparently sharing in her rider's bliss.

"I missed all this, girl."

The pair flew a long and slow loop around the island. It was a very welcome, peaceful diversion for Astrid. At some point though, Stormfly turned her head to look at the forest and gave a questioning trill. Astrid barely had a moment to realize that something was different before Stormfly altered her course of her own volition and made to land in a small clearing among the forest.

Astrid patted Stormfly's neck and looked around the clearing after they settled down.

"What's the matter?"

She hopped down from Stormfly's side and followed behind her as the dragon crept forward through the trees.

The reason for Stormfly's interest in this place became very clear when she started hearing the noise as well. A noise coming from what looked like a very old building hidden in the forest.

The wailing of a baby.

She listened for a moment in complete confusion and disbelief.

 _What?_

"Stay here."

She ran ahead and ducked inside what had to be an old storehouse.

"What the..."

It was the most bizarre scene inside. There were sealed wooden boxes and fabric bags in the corners of the building. There were also a fireplace, a table, a pot for cooking, and strange jars all over. Someone was clearly living in and doing something here.

And there was a baby wrapped in a pile of blankets on the floor and crying piteously. She of course went right over to it and gathered it into her arms. There was no one else in the building.

"You poor thing, who would leave you here?"

The baby stopped crying when she gave it a finger to suck on. She went straight back to Stormfly, who took a moment to inspect the strange bundle. They were in the skies moments later with Astrid directing her back to the village.

 _Maybe you are someones bastard. But what monsters would leave a baby in the woods? There could be wolves out here._

She brought the baby straight to the Great Hall when she got home. She explained that she found it abandoned in the woods, and the Elder sent for a wet-nurse to care for the infant until a decision could be made about it. The Chief's table was unsurprisingly empty. He was almost never in the Hall anymore except to get food and drink.

* * *

Stoick was sitting inside before the fire after sunset, alone as usual, lost in his thoughts of his missing son when he heard an insistent rapping on the door.

 _Who would bother me at this hour!_

Very frustrated at the disturbance, he stomped to the front door and flung it open. His frustration vanished when he saw who it was.

"Moirai..."

She let herself inside without another word. He couldn't remember ever seeing her so flustered and anxious.

"Are we alone?" she asked.

"Yes, the... dragons are asleep."

"Good, we need to talk. I will be finished within the week."

"A week! That is wonderful news!"

"By this time next week, you will have your dear son back."

"You have no idea how important that is to me. It means everything. Thank you."

"There is something else though Stoick. Something important."

"What is it?"

She stood and paced back and forth for a while.

"The potion is not quite finished yet. There is one more important ingredient and without it this cure is useless."

"Whatever you need you will have if it gives me my son back!"

"It is not pleasant," she warned.

"I don't care!" he almost gasped.

She put her hands on the table and leaned in to whisper.

"Let me explain. The final ingredient makes a potion of change the exact potion needed. To change someone into an animal uses a human sacrifice, a human heart."

His brow wrinkled in distaste at the thought of such sacrifice.

"Yes, quite vile," she added, "but the reverse must be done to make the change the other way."

He thought for a moment and froze when it dawned on him what she was saying needed to be done.

"I need a Night Fury heart, and I need one soon."

"No… it can't be. I can't just…" he stammered.

"I wish there was another way, but you have a choice. Get me a heart, or you won't get your son back," she whispered with her eyes downcast.

"I…"

.

"Give me a moment."

She stepped outside.

He watched until the door shut. He balled a fist and slammed the tabletop in anger, then he held his head in his hands and sobbed.

 _Why! Why do you do this to me!_

If Thor or Odin were listening, there was no answer.

He wasn't sure what he was going to do. Moirai had never done anything to suggest that she was being insincere; no, that couldn't be the case. She had even helped him defend his tribe.

This would mean sacrificing Toothless.

He stared at the floor next to the fireplace. It was exactly where he had put the mysterious egg years ago, and was where Hiccup and Toothless had both liked to sleep during the winter.

It wasn't fair to say that he was especially fond of the dragon, but he had taken him in as his own in everyone else's eyes. He couldn't deny that Toothless was no mere pet, especially since Hiccup had shown that Toothless could talk in his own way and had learned some runes. Toothless had proven himself to be loyal, at least loyal to Hiccup. The dragon had also been instrumental in killing the Skrill.

Sacrificing Toothless would be killing a person. Not only any person but one that Hiccup was certainly very fond of and even called a brother.

 _We have never sacrificed our own. Other tribes spill blood in sacrifice, but never us._

But a situation like this had never arisen before. He could never have imagined that he would need to save one of his own from a fate such as Hiccup's. His own family name would end, and his promise to his beloved Valka would be broken.

 _But… I can't. I am not a traitor… I…_

He looked around the confines of his house, as beads of sweat began trickling down his brow. The sound of the crackle from the fire was initially the only thing he could hear. All the shadows seemed alive and staring at him. It was almost as though there was something oppressive in the air.

Toothless killed the Monster on Dragon Island, taught Hiccup what he needed to know the last couple years, led him to Hiccup's kidnappers, and had helped turn the battle against the Berserkers.

He was of half a mind to run into Hiccup's room, wake him up, and confess everything that moment.

' _Is there anything you would not be willing to do for your family?'_

He stared at his old hammer which Hiccup brought back from Dragon Island and was now hanging over the hearth.

A coldness and grim certainty settled into his heart as he gradually settled on the only possible conclusion. He had promised that he would do whatever he had to do to save Hiccup. He couldn't lose his son, not again, not forever.

He slowly picked himself up off the floor.

 _Hiccup would never forgive me if he finds out the truth._

A devious solution presented itself. Moirai was seen as a suspicious, or at least strange, character on the island since the battle with the Berserkers. He knew that. Maybe he could do what needed to be done, tell Hiccup about the potion and get him to take it, and then blame Moirai for doing the terrible deed. Feign his own ignorance and quickly have her killed to hide the truth. Hiccup would be heartbroken, but he would be restored and saved. Hiccup would be what he should have always been.

He slowly stood up, shivering despite himself, and returned to the door where she was still patiently waiting along with several of her guards.

"Chief, what is your decision?"

"I'll… do it."

She grimly smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

"Good."

"I'll do it myself and… bring you the heart."

"Actually, I'll take care of that part. If you could help capture the beast alive out in the woods, I'll have my men bring it to me. That way you don't have to do it yourself. Remember, I need it alive, and I need one more week to finish everything."

It was a small comfort that he would not have to do it himself.

"Ok, I'll let you know the plan in the morning."

She nodded and dismissed herself, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

 _I need Hiccup to go away for a few days. To do something without Too… his dragon for a while._

He lay down to go to sleep and struggled with shivers and the small, fearful part of him that whispered that this plan was wicked and wrong. The part of his mind that tried to prevent him from doing what was necessary.

 _I made a promise. I have to do it._

* * *

Hiccup stared at his father, his own mouth agape for a moment before he remembered how silly he looked. He fumbled with the pencil in his excitement.

 **Really?**

"Of course I want you to go. It will be fun for you. No one was ever better with drawings or maps than you. No one has ever gone up into the north to map from the sky before."

 **Thank you dad**

 **I'll get Toothless to come with**

"No! No, I want you to do this yourself. Think of it like... a challenge to do something on your own for a week."

Hiccup thought about that and eventually happily nodded.

 _I can do that. It will be fun to be off on my own for a while. And it will help Berk._

"Go on and have some fun... s... son."

Hiccup quickly gathered up some paper, a pencil, and his travel bag, and prepared to depart. He gave his father a final glance before he headed out the door and he was surprised at the strange look his father had. Almost wistful and longing. He stopped and considered asking him what was the matter, but decided there was no need. Sometimes his dad behaved oddly.

With a cry of joy, Hiccup leapt into flight and set off through the crisp morning air for the mysterious islands north of Berk. He had long dreamed of venturing to them in the past and had even flown close to them in some of his previous ranges from Berk. But now he had purpose in going there in addition to the adventure.

* * *

Stoick waited for several minutes after Hiccup had flown off to make absolutely sure nothing went wrong.

Then he put on his cloak and walked over to the fireplace where he retrieved his old hammer. He hooked it through his belt loop and took several deep breaths to calm himself.

 _Ok, I can do this. I have to do this. I had no choice..._

He walked into Hiccup's room and went over to the still-sleeping Toothless. The beast was blissfully unaware and peaceably asleep.

His fingers twitched as he knelt down and gave the dragon's shoulders a shove.

"Toothless, come with me."

The dragon grumbled at being awoken, but it got up and followed him regardless. The pair paraded through the village and out into the forest. Stoick threw several glances back, convinced that he was being followed and spied on. He also kept looking at Toothless, fully expecting that the dragon would somehow sense his intentions and would turn on him at any moment.

 _'He's not dangerous!'_

At some point, Toothless stopped and bent down to the ground to write something. Stoick turned away from it.

"Come on... almost there."

Toothless grumbled again but obediently followed. Stoick finally stopped walking outside the clearing near Moirai's hideout.

 _No dad no!_

He rubbed his temple and blinked at the throbbing in his head.

"There! Look at that," he pointed through the shrubs while deftly unhooking his hammer from his belt.

Toothless obliviously crept forward and peered through the bushes into the clearing. Stoick tightened his grip on the hammer and quickly swung it overhead. The flat of the hammer's head struck the top of the dragon's head, and the beast collapsed limp and unconscious at his feet.

He stared at the body for a minute before he moved, so stunned he was that he had actually been able to go through with it. He kicked its shoulder, and it didn't react at all. But it was still breathing, exactly as she needed.

Then he summoned his courage and crossed the short distance to Moirai's hideout. She was already waiting for him with her full contingent of followers at the ready. He beckoned them over. They all gathered around the unconscious dragon, ropes in hand. She faced him with an inscrutable expression.

"You actually did it. Impressive. I wondered if you had the strength to do what had to be done."

"I didn't want to, but... my boy, my son..."

"Don't you worry about that. I will take care of everything from here."

She turned to her men.

"Take it."

She beckoned him away as the men started to tie up the dragon to carry it off.

"I will need until the end of the week to do what must be done. Do not interrupt me until then. I will send someone to you when I am ready."

"I understand."

He picked up his hammer and left the place without a backward glance. Where he had hoped to find release and peace now that the deed was done and his son's restoration was all but assured, he felt only anxiety and coldness. His breath came too quickly, and it felt like he was drowning, so hard was it to breathe.

A betrayer; he betrayed the trust of a kindly beast.

The walk back home felt like it took far longer than the departure had taken. By the time he finally got back at mid-morning he felt weak and couldn't stand the idea of being around other people.

He locked himself in his house to escape what he saw as their accusatory happiness and stares. Any one of them could see right through his charade and would know that he is a traitor, a spawn of Loki. He fumbled to replace the hammer over the mantle place and then stood alone.

 _What are you my dear?_

"What... Val?" he looked around at the shadows.

 _We don't need to kill them._

"Not... not all of them. Only one. I had to do it."

Silence.

"I had to save our son!"

Silence.

He stumbled into bed, feeling strangely cold all over. The silence of the house was deafening and oppressive.

* * *

On an uninhabited island north of Berk, Hiccup stretched himself out on the rocks warmed by the heat of the day. The rocks would remain warm for several more hours after sunset. He curled a wing and his tail in on himself and looked up at the twinkling stars starting to emerge overhead as the sun set.

 _Three days now out here and this has been fun, but I really miss everyone._

He closed his eyes and fell asleep a short time later after witnessing a couple stars fall from the sky.

A boat rolled on the ocean waves. Men walked around on the ship's deck. Leagues of green trees and mountains. A mist covered his view and the boat vanished from sight. The mist broke, revealing a storm and a remote island. A sandy beach, grassy hills, rolling fog, and ruins on the island. Strange structures of woven rock, glass, and metal had fallen into disrepair. He landed and began to investigate the place.

The fog welled up from the ground, took on a strange dragon's shape, and spoke.

 _Who are you dark wing?_

He made to answer but froze, the name being caught on the tip of his tongue and just beyond his recollection.

The fog and island dissipated as the dream collapsed around him.

He woke up shivering even though it was not a cold night. There was absolutely nothing else on the rocky island. He searched his memory, trying to grasp at the tendrils of the fleeting dream. The presence had felt very real as though there was someone else standing next to him.

But it was gone, and he was left grasping at shadows. The very faint feeling of indistinct concern remained though.

* * *

"What do you think about it Astrid?" Skald asked her.

"Huh? What?" she muttered while tearing her bread.

"You weren't listening were you?"

"No, I was thinking about something else."

"At least you admit it. I guess that is not surprising. You've never been that interested in that stuff anyway."

"What is it?"

He leaned forward to whisper conspiratorially.

"It's them, Thorvald and Sifa, of course."

"What about them?" she asked, though she suspected she already knew the answer.

Skald's red cheeks and faint stammer confirmed it before he even said anything.

"Well, they are... together now."

"How do you know?"

"Astrid, this is Berk, no one can hide that for long."

"Fair point. Imagine that, Ruffnut and Snotlout, I never would have seen that coming," she said.

"They did change quite a lot, especially after the Battle," he sadly added.

She considered their situation. Being drawn together because they both suffered great pain and loss did give them some common ground, but it could also cause their relationship to be unequal or one of an unhealthy dependence.

"I hope they can build a life together that is good for them both. What about you and Vistra? Will the old wives of Berk be whispering about the two of you rolling in the hay?"

"Astrid!" he exclaimed.

She chuckled at his discomfort.

"I'm sorry. I had to tease you."

"You know I'm more traditional than he is."

"I know. You two will be good for each other."

He finished off his mug with an exasperated groan and got up from the table. She, feeling only slightly guilty, went over to Gobber and sat next to him.

"Gobber, how many women are there here who had babies recently?"

"Eh, three I think. Why do you ask?"

"Because I cannot figure out who the abandoned boy belongs to. It was very good of Katrina and Finn to take him in, but I still want to know where he is from and why he was out there."

"Where was it again?"

"What looked like an old storehouse in the western woods."

"The western woods you say? Hmm, that is odd."

"Why?"

"Stoick ordered no one to go in those woods."

"I didn't know that. Why would he say something like that?" she asked.

"I forgot that we even had a supply house out there," Gobber mentioned.

Then an explanation began to form itself in her mind, though she earnestly hoped she was mistaken.

"Gobber," she whispered, "what if the mainlander guests we've had have been living out there? They've almost been here for a year on and off."

"Yeah," he agreed, "it could be them."

She looked around the Hall since there were usually one or two of the mainlander men in the Hall from time to time, but there was no sign of them right now.

"Do you know where any of them are?" she asked.

"Sure, they're... come to think of it, I haven't seen them in a few days. Hey Sador, where are the mainlanders?" he shouted to the other table.

"They're gone."

"Gone?" he asked.

"Yeah, their ship isn't here now. Shame too, they always paid good coin, had good stories, and liked to trade."

"Where did they go?"

"Never did say where they're from, except from the mainland of course."

"So they decide to go home and leave a baby behind? What?" she exclaimed.

"Some people are not as civilized as we are, Astrid," Gobber reminded her.

She returned to her meal, but she picked at her food for a while in thought.

 _Something is going on here. I know it._

* * *

Hiccup glided into Berk having finished charting the last of the nearby islands. The last island had taken a bit longer than he planned, and resulted in his arriving after sunset. He touched down outside his house and went inside.

And he wrinkled his nose at the smell. Empty mugs of ale were strewn around the house and there was half-eaten food on the table. Perhaps most shocking of all though was Stoick's appearance.

His hair was greasy and unkempt, and he was slumped over in his chair in front of the fireplace.

 _Dad! What's wrong with you?_

He walked over to check on his father when Stoick jumped up from his chair in alarm and whirled around on him. His father had a wild look in his eyes under which there were heavy bags of exhaustion. The man's breath was also heavy with ale.

"Hiccup... oh. No."

 _Great, you really shouldn't drink that much._

 **What is the matter dad?**

"Dad? Dad? Yes, Hiccup is my son. He needs me."

 _Ok, you definitely had too much ale again._

He started to back away from his father, when Stoick wildly lunged at him and grabbed his shoulder.

"No! Don't go! I need to get you back Hiccup."

 **I am right here**

Stoick wheeled away from him and groaned.

"No, you are not him. I figured it out. I found a way to save Hiccup."

 **What?**

"She can fix Hiccup. She is a sorcerer. We are going to make him human again."

Hiccup froze as he tried to make sense of what he just heard.

 _Impossible... a sorcerer? She? Make me human again? That's... did I hear that right?_

The notion made him suddenly extremely aware of his wings and tail, two parts of himself that he hadn't thought of as strange in a long time. Now his father said he had found a way to do what Toothless said was impossible. To restore his existence, his life, to what it was meant to be.

 _This is..._

He wanted to say that it was amazing and that it was exactly what he hoped would happen. It would be hard to give up aspects of this life and would mean sacrifice, but there was so much he would gain back. Things he wanted in his heart but couldn't have in his current condition.

"Are you happy? Happy that I did it."

 **Yes dad**

Stoick gave him a wild, beaming grin.

 **I can't wait to tell Toothless**

"Toothless? No, don't worry about that dragon. It doesn't matter."

Hiccup grumbled in annoyance at how dismissive his father was being.

 **He is my friend**

 **I should tell him**

"Toothless!" he called out.

There was no answer.

"Let's go right now son, I'll take you to her," Stoick quickly said.

 **Her?**

"Moirai, the woman from the mainland, the sorcerer. Let's go now."

Stoick didn't stop to wait to hear from him and marched straight out the door after lighting a torch. Hiccup hesitantly followed behind him after glancing toward his own room.

The walk felt like it took a lifetime as they progressed through the forest. All the while he found himself weighing the alternatives; become human again and have a good chance at a future with Astrid, or remain as he is. Now that he was closer to reaching a true crossroads though, he found it more difficult to make a definitive decision. The promise of Astrid's affection and his own father's approval certainly outweighed any other considerations, but it was harder than he once thought it would be.

 _I hope Toothless takes this well. He said he would be ok with it, but I hope he can accept why I did this. Ok, so in other news my dad found a sorcerer. How did he manage that? I guess I will find out soon._

"Almost there... almost there..." Stoick muttered under his breath.

He blinked in surprise when he realized that his father was leading him to the abandoned building that he had played in and used to hide from Snotlout years ago. He had also seen the strangers on Berk in this area several times before from above.

 _Dad must have let the sorcerer stay here and kept everyone else away. Clever._

As they got closer to the building though, something started to seem amiss. The building was very still and quiet, not what he thought a coven would be like. There were no torches or any other lights.

"Moirai!" Stoick eagerly shouted.

Nothing happened.

Stoick looked around at the lack of any response and, as there was no visible guard to stop him, rushed forward to throw the door open. He came up short and stared slack-jawed as the torchlight illuminated the interior.

The strange place inside was empty. All the shelves were cleared of the glasses and cups they had held. All the boxes and bags were gone. It was as though no one lived here at all.

"Where... where?" Stoick raced around the shed. He frantically checked in the corners but found no one and nothing of note.

"No!"

Hiccup heard his angered yell and entered behind his father. He carved into the dirt.

 **What is wrong?**

"Gone! She is gone!"

Stoick hurled the torch across the room and also threw a chair in his outburst. Hiccup winced and stepped back from him, wanting to give him some space to let out his anger. He then noticed something strange about this place, something was on the air here. It smelled strangely familiar.

The torch Stoick had thrown managed to catch the far wall on fire, and the tendrils of flame were starting to work their way up the wall toward the roof. Amazingly, Stoick fell to his knees shortly after overturning the table itself. He didn't move for several seconds.

"Dad?" Hiccup softly mumbled after waiting for a moment.

"She promised," Stoick choked out.

.

"It would be ready... my son... she only needed it, you understand, right?"

 _What in the blazes are you talking about dad? And speaking of fire..._

"Its life for Hiccup's life..."

Stoick continued mumbling, but Hiccup stopped paying attention. What he had just heard had sent a shard of ice into his heart.

 _Its life? Like a sacrifice?_

It was too horrible to seriously consider. Worse though, was the second thing he suspected he had just realized. There was a reason why this place smelled familiar even though he hadn't been here in a long time; a reason why it smelled like Night Fury.

He hastily bent down and scrawled, trying to contain his budding panic.

 **Where is Toothless?**

"Oh... I don't know," Stoick muttered.

Even aside from his father's delirious behavior, he clearly knew more than he was letting on. Hiccup couldn't help but return a suspicious gaze at him.

"I said I don't know! He flew off at night, or something..."

He could hear his father's heart start racing, a sure sign of deception.

 **You are lying**

Stoick said nothing in response for a long moment. When he finally looked up he had a maniacal look on his features.

"I had to choose. Hiccup or that dragon. She had to take him... his life for Hiccup's life!"

The words seemed to echo in the air and clenched their clawed tendrils around his heart. Memories of the stories of old druids and sorcerers invoking the arcane powers with human sacrifices flashed in his memory.

 _His life for... no, no. No!_

"What did you do!" he screamed.

"Don't you growl at me. I did it to save Hiccup, don't you see?"

"You... you killed him!"

Hiccup backed away from Stoick in horror. The man's face was hungry and alien, as if it was a completely different and unrecognizable person.

He closed his eyes and was immediately struck by the vision of Toothless lying prone on the ground, a bloody hole in his chest from which his heart was ripped.

 _Cut out your heart..._

He moaned and his entire body trembled.

Stoick held his arms out wide as if to embrace him as he stepped toward the cowering Hiccup.

"You understand, right?" he muttered.

A bubbling fire poured into Hiccup's veins. He reared up with a howl and his claws flashed. Stoick stumbled back with a groan and a bright red slash on his arm. Stoick clapped his other hand on the slash and looked back up at him with a furious expression.

"Beast! You will not take my son from me!" he howled.

Hiccup whirled around and knocked the door off its hinges in his haste. He felt Stoick's hands try to grasp at his tail.

"Get back here!"

He ran as fast as he could without a backward glance. He only stopped when he was deep in the trees and could only faintly see any sign of the fire's light behind him. There were no sounds except the chirping of the crickets and his own panicked breathing. Only one horrifying, soul-crushing thought consumed all others.

The idea that Toothless, his best friend and brother, was dead.

He had to get away from everyone, from everything.

He ran.

* * *

He picked himself up off the ground and hauled himself out of the burning building. His thoughts were all jumbled between wrath at Moirai, anger at Hiccup for daring to strike his own father, and the shameful certainty that he could have handled that encounter better. Telling Hiccup enough to figure out what had happened was not a good idea in hindsight.

He paused and watched as the storehouse burned to the ground. The flashing flames and dancing lights gave him a great headache. He got himself a torch and started out into the forest, but then he hesitated as he realized a problem. Berk was a big island, and he would need help searching to be able to find a dragon hiding at night. He marched straight back home, gritting his teeth against the sting in his arm. He started pounding on doors with the demand that people meet him in the square.

Before too long there were over twenty people roused from their sleep and gathered by torchlight in the main square.

"Hey Stoick, what going on?" "Good ta see you again!"

"We need to find my... dragons!"

Everyone else grumbled.

"Oh, come on." "It's late." "They're fine."

"I am your Chief, and you will obey!" he roared.

Everyone shut up and grumbled to each other while glancing around in confusion.

"Get out there and find them!" he yelled again while waving his torch in their faces.

"You heard him! Let's go!" Gobber cried.

Everyone gathered torches and began to form parties that headed out into the darkness.

Astrid put on her coat and followed behind Stoick and Gobber.

 _Why does he think they are missing? Why would they both run off? What's going on?_

"So Stoick, what is going on? Why are we out here in the middle of the night?" she heard Gobber ask him.

"Find them... save him... there, is that him?"

Stoick ran forward and looked behind a large bush, but evidently saw nothing because he continued on.

"Stoick, what's wrong with ya?" Gobber yelled.

"He ran... find him... find... save Hiccup!"

She stopped and remained behind as Gobber and Stoick hurried deeper into the forest.

"What? Hiccup ran off?" she whispered to herself.

 _Something is definitely wrong. He wouldn't run away unless he had a good reason._

"Hiccup?"

She glanced around at the dark forest and the various lights from torches and the search parties.

"Where would you go?"

Being that it was already night, there would be no finding Hiccup if he didn't want to be found. And that was if he was on the ground and not out on some remote sea-stack.

There was only one place on all of Berk that came to her mind. The one place she knew of that always gave him peace and comfort through the years. She put out her torch, not wanting to be followed, and ran through the forest, several times tripping on a root she couldn't see.

She arrived at the cove entrance only barely winded and confident that she had not been followed. She shoved aside the vines growing across the path and stepped out into the moonlit cove. Everything looked as peaceful and idyllic as she imaged this place would be at night. Memories of herself, Hiccup, and Toothless together in this place in previous years flooded back like they had happened only yesterday.

"Hiccup?" she whispered.

There was no response, but something told her she was not alone.

"It's me."

Nothing moved, but a patch of darkness against the far wall seemed almost too dark and caught her attention. It looked just the right size.

She ran across the cove but pulled up short at what she beheld.

Hiccup was curled into an impossibly small ball and his entire body was trembling. She tiptoed closer to him, her heart feeling torn in sympathy.

 _Gods, what happened to you…_

"Hiccup?"

He just whimpered and moaned pitifully. She sat down at his side and gingerly reached out to him. He didn't even react when she rested her hand on his wing. Her words died on her lips, and she just stayed at his side for several minutes.

"Hiccup, what is wrong? Please talk to me…"

He slowly folded away his wing and got to his feet, his gaze on the ground before her. She was just about to speak when Hiccup leaned forward and shoved his muzzle into her bosom.

A tear streaked down her cheek. She hugged him and stroked his trembling neck.

"Hiccup, what happened? Did you and Stoick fight?"

Hiccup whimpered again as she spoke. He eventually extended a single claw to the ground. She was just barely able to make out the symbols carved into the dirt.

 **Toothless dead**

She gasped and struggled to accept what she saw. Toothless the Night Fury was dead?

"What? No, it can't be!"

 **Dad gave him to sorcerer**

"A sorcerer? This doesn't make any sense. Was one of the foreigners a sorcerer?"

Hiccup slowly nodded.

 **Moirai**

 **He brought her to make me human**

The pieces of the puzzle started to fit together as Stoick's motivation became clear. He had somehow found a sorcerer to work magic on Hiccup. That sorcerer had demanded a sacrifice, which Stoick had given. It all made sense.

She knelt and embraced his head again as tears began to fall from her cheeks in earnest. The idea of Toothless being gone, killed by Stoick's betrayal was too horrible. After everything Toothless had done for Berk through the years, such a betrayal was treachery most foul.

Then she remembered the abandoned baby she had found in the hut that the foreigners were using. She also recalled hearing that the foreign boat had sailed shortly thereafter.

"No, something is not right about this. It doesn't all fit," she muttered after wiping her cheeks clean.

She stood back up and started to pace, wracking her memory for anything that might help figure out what was bothering her.

"Do you know where the sorcerer was staying?"

Yes, he nodded.

"Was it in an old supply shed in the western woods?"

He nodded again.

"That is strange. I found a baby abandoned in that shed over a week ago."

He didn't seem to be listening.

 _Why would they have a baby there when the sorcerer said they would change him into a human? That sounds like a very strange coincidence. And why did they leave right afterwards?_

 _What did they even do here? They were not here during the battle._

 _Do we know for sure that there even was a sorcerer? I can certainly believe that they exist after the Skrill and the green fire._

 _I need to go see where they were. Maybe there is a clue there._

"Hiccup, I think we should go to that shed. Something doesn't seem right."

He only moaned and ignored her, so she knelt in front of him.

"I think it is important. Do you know for sure that Toothless is... dead? Did you... see anything at that shed?"

He didn't react for a long time, then he slowly shook his head.

 **Burned**

"Burned? It burned down?"

Yes.

"Helheim! Whatever, we should still go there. Please..."

 **Why**

"I'm not sure that Toothless is dead."

If anything could have rekindled the smoldering embers of his spirit, that idea could.

What?

"Were you listening to me? I haven't seen Toothless in a week, right around the time the foreigners left. Why would they leave if they were here to work magic and change you?"

He seemed to have no answer.

"I think that those people were just collecting dragon parts here. Well, I am going to go and try to figure this out. Feel free to come with or just sit here..."

He grumbled slightly at her words and reluctantly got to his feet.

"Good, I'll meet you just outside."

She wiped away all the words written in the dirt. Then she crept back outside, waited for him, and they proceeded through the midnight forest. There were no lights from torches visible anywhere nearby.

 _Good, they are not searching here._

Hiccup visibly shivered as they came closer to the still-burning remains. She rested a hand on his neck in reassurance and they continued on. The structure had completely collapsed except for a few frames.

"Well, that is burned down all right. Did you get to look inside?"

Yes.

"Was there anything in there? Boxes and bags?"

No, he shook his head.

"It was empty then. Are you sure Toothless was here?"

Yes.

 **I smell him**

"Follow him."

He seemed very unsure of that suggestion.

"I know you don't want to. We're both afraid of what we might find, but we need to know. And if I'm right..."

He sighed, put his nose to the ground and followed the faint trail. It went into the burning remains where he could not go, but he found it again on the other side of the smoldering wreckage. The path went out into the forest, and they both followed it.

There was no sign of blood, but there was a smell of several of the foreign men in addition to Toothless. They walked until they arrived at the shoreline. The sand high up on the beach was disturbed by many footprints and what looked like a path where something had been dragged through the little sand on the beach. They both looked at the small inlet in which they both remembered seeing the foreign boat.

"Do you see that!" she giddily exclaimed as she indicated the path worn into the sand. It looked suspiciously like a path a dragged tail would make.

"I was right! They didn't kill him! They took him captive. Just like the Outcasts did with you!"

She saw comprehension dawn in his eyes, and with that understanding came clear relief. So much so that he even hung his head and started to sob in his own way. She fought back tears of her own.

"It... it was a trick all along. The sorcerer was never going to kill him. She talked her way onto Berk by promising Stoick that she could change you back. She collected everything she could of dragons, like spare scales, teeth, and bones. The Nadder! They even killed a dragon in secret to get what they couldn't otherwise find. Why? Why?"

It took only a brief moment of thought to figure out a reason which made perfect sense.

"To sell! She was a merchant who deals in dragons! The real prize was a living Night Fury. She was going to trick Stoick by taking you and Toothless and giving him the baby I found. It's perfect! But I found the baby, and you were off mapping, so they had to leave sooner."

He roused himself after thinking over her words and let out a very deep sigh and moan of relief and exhaustion.

"They… they've been gone for a week now. No one knows where they are from on the mainland. They could be anywhere."

She paused, not wanting to mention a certain person.

"Everyone is out looking for you. They were told to find you and… bring you back."

 **Now what?**

"How about you come back and hide in the Academy? No one will think to look there, and I can bring you food and paper."

He slowly nodded.

"Ok, I'll go back home. Wait here a while and then I'll let you in."

With that, she turned and vanished into the forest. She ran back to home, barely feeling any exhaustion in her haste. There was still one glaring problem which she didn't want to seriously think about.

What was going to happen next?

She finally arrived at the Academy and went down into the old ring. She looked up at the skies for a minute before she saw a moving void among the stars. He deftly and silently touched down. She opened the door to her office, a converted holding pen, and let him inside. She lit a candle and closed the door behind them.

He, apparently overcome with weariness, lay down on the floor. She grabbed an old blanket from the corner of the room and covered him with it. He mumbled his thanks.

"Are you hungry?"

No.

"Ok, how about you rest for now? We can talk in the morning, and I will bring you some food."

He nodded.

"Everything will be ok..."

 _I hope..._

* * *

He had no idea where he was anymore. All the trees and bushes looked the same illuminated in the torchlight.

All the shadows mocked him. Every shadow was his dragon-son fleeing from his approach and impossible to grab hold of.

Gobber kept shouting after him, but he ignored everything his old friend said. None of it mattered.

The only thing that mattered was finding Hiccup.

He tripped over a root in his haste and fell face-first. He groaned and rubbed his temple.

A green-eyed woman was standing in front of him when he looked up. The withering gaze in her eyes pierced him to the heart.

"What have these savage seas done to you?" she whispered.

"Val... I had to do it!"

"What happened to the man I love?"

"Our son... lost... must save him..."

"Lost?" a voice called from behind him.

He whirled around, and there he was. Hiccup in the flesh with his thin frame and mop of brown hair. He ran to his boy, arms held wide to embrace him.

And he passed through Hiccup as though he was only a phantom, which the visage was. He turned around to grasp at the boy and found a phantom of Night Fury Hiccup glaring at him.

"No! No!"

"Why am I lost. dad?" the ghost whispered.

"No, I didn't want..."

"Whose fault is it that I am gone?"

"No! Not true!"

"You drove me away!"

He saw dragon-Hiccup's dismay and anger again when he figured out the truth. The pain and betrayal washed over him anew and drove an icy shard through his chest. The torch fell from his hands, and he dropped to his knees.

It was impossible to deny the truth any longer. The truth of what he was. What he had done.

"My son, a betrayer?" a booming voice echoed from above him.

He could only stare at the grass.

"No dad, it was only a dragon... only a..."

But he knew that was not true. Toothless had been no different from Hiccup. Thinking about him as less deserving of life was only an excuse to justify his own actions to himself. All his anger and indignation turned inward on himself, shattering his pride, arrogance, and certainty.

He was a monster, a faithless and prideful being who deserved this pain.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he wailed.

.

"Come back!"

The phantasms around him remained motionless and judgmental. Then they vanished.

He grabbed at his beard in his anguish and howled to the heavens. Shadows closed in around him and reached out with their warped fingers for him. He defiantly swung his fists at them, trying to beat back his tormentors and the lights that blazed around him. The figures closed in around him as the pounding in his head reached its peak. A pain exploded in his temple as the ground rose up to meet him.

He was falling into chaos...

Swallowed alive...

By shame...

By pride...

By guilt...

* * *

Astrid rose before dawn. She put on her cloak as it was a cool morning and went outside to the storehouse. She grabbed a basket of smoked fish and casually meandered down to the Academy, making sure that no one was following her.

Hiccup roused himself as soon as she entered.

"Hey there."

He mumbled a soft greeting back to her as she lit a small fire. She brought out her knife and slowly sliced the fish for him. Once he had finished with the last one, she wiped her fingers and handed him paper and a pencil.

 **Thank you Astrid**

"Don't mention it."

 **Now what?**

"I don't know. It's a mess."

 **We don't know where they went**

"Right, they never said where they sailed from."

Hiccup sighed and gave a sad moan.

 **He is gone then**

"We know they won't hurt him. There is that..."

 **But what can we do?**

"I don't know what we can do. We don't have anyone to spare to go out and search the world for him."

Almost as soon as she said that though she paused.

"Well, ok, I do have a crazy idea."

 **What is it?**

She was about to answer when she gave a deep sigh.

"It is ironic. We've done this before. I really don't want to say it, but you are the best to go look for him."

His expression betrayed his surprise and dismay.

"Think about it, you can follow the trail once you find it. You can travel faster than us. I'd go with, but Stormfly won't leave her babies."

He sighed and closed his eyes, clearly pained at the idea.

 **I don't want to leave**

"I don't want you to have to leave either. It is dangerous out there, especially for a dragon. But I cannot think of anything else that will work."

He calmly considered her and her words. They stirred something in his soul, an eagerness for action. No matter how much he hated the idea of leaving Berk, he knew deep down that it was necessary. As she said, only he could possibly help Toothless now. He could not abandon Toothless to captivity. Further, remaining on Berk would be quite impossible after what had happened between himself and his father.

 **I must do it**

She drew a deep breath as she stared at his final declaration. She had a very wry and solemn smile.

"I knew you would. You always were the bravest of us all."

 **I will miss you**

She stepped over to him and embraced him, fighting back tears all the while. She held him like she had never done before, knowing full well that they might not see each other again for a very long time. Then she failed to hold in the tears. She didn't even care that he saw her cry.

"Same here. Be careful. People are not friendly out there."

 **They can change**

"Just remember why you are out there."

He got up, took a few hesitant steps toward the door, and then he paused.

 **Tell Gobber for me**

"I will."

With that, he dashed outside and jumped into the sky. She raced outside and ran as fast as her feet could carry her toward the cliffs. The sun was beginning to rise over the horizon, which made it hard to see him as he flew southeast.

"Gods protect you."

She remained standing there and watched until the tiny black speck vanished. The wind whipped her hair out behind her and helped to dry away the tears that slowly fell down her cheeks as she stared at the horizon.

"Astrid!"

Gobber hobbled over to her as fast as he could.

"Hey Gobber..." she barely whispered.

"Have you heard what happened? Where were you?"

"I... I was back here. I need to talk to you Gobber."

"You and me both..." he muttered.

"I found Hiccup last night."

"You what?" he exclaimed in surprise.

She explained everything to him; what Stoick thought Moirai was, what she actually was, and what Stoick had done. Gobber seemed to wilt as she explained what had happened.

"Stoick, what were you thinking?" Gobber sadly muttered.

"He wasn't thinking! He thought that Hiccup was still gone. He couldn't see what was right in front of him!" she practically yelled.

"Hiccup, where..."

He glanced back out to sea where he had seen her staring.

"He's gone to find Toothless, hasn't he?"

She nodded.

"He wanted me to let you know that he was sorry for leaving without saying goodbye," she added.

"Can't blame him. I'd probably have done the same. No point sitting around here and moping."

She turned back to him, quite surprised that he was this composed.

"He could be gone for... forever, Gobber."

"I wouldn't worry too much about him. He's getting to be a big dragon after all," he tried to crack a smile.

"But you know how he can be. Trying to change the world and be everyone's friend. It could get him killed."

"It is dangerous for sure. But that's life. What is the point of living without any danger? I think he has been through enough to learn some sense these last couple years."

She abashedly wiped away a fresh tear on her sleeve.

"How are you so... doesn't it hurt?"

He sidled up to her and put his remaining arm around her shoulder. From anyone else she would have thought it an awkward gesture.

"Of course it hurts. I've just seen a lot in my years, and I know how to hide it. Being so stricken by grief that you become useless doesn't help anyone. And," he paused and nodded out to sea, "I doubt that we've seen the last of him. Not sure how I know, but I do."

With that, he stepped away from her and gave a heavy sigh.

"We have another problem though," he continued.

"Great, what is it now?"

"It's him... the Chief..."

"What about him?"

"We found him in the forest. He was babbling nonsense. Half of his beard is gone. He even attacked us when we tried to talk to him. He has gone crazy."

She said nothing as she weighed this news. It did not bode well.

"Where is he now?"

"We had to knock him out to carry him back to his house. Last I saw he was sitting in bed and staring at the ceiling. He is not fit to be the Chief now. Everyone is gathering in the Hall to talk about succession."

She looked back out at the sunset.

"So that means that Thorvald Jorgenson becomes the new leader of Berk. I'm sure he is happy about that. Good for him."

Gobber adopted an unusually serious look.

"But not for us Astrid. We both know that he is not ready to be a Chief. He doesn't know how to lead and he has always wanted the power of being Chief. He could abuse the power too easily and doesn't know what he is doing."

"I know. What is your point?"

He rubbed his mustache, clearly buying himself time to formulate his thoughts.

"He will become the next Chief unless someone goes and challenges him. Someone who is known and respected by the other tribes and here at home. Someone who has done great deeds in battle. Someone who knows and understands dragons. A certain... Valkyrie."

She was taken aback by his obvious suggestion.

"But Gobber, I cannot..."

"Why not? Worried you cannot take him in a duel if you need to?"

"No, not that. Because I... we've never had a woman as Chief before."

"So? How many old traditions have we broken with already? What is one more?"

"But I do not want to be a Chief."

Gobber slowly shook his head and gave her a faint smile.

"And that is why you will be better than him. You don't want power over other people, but you are a leader anyway. Think about it. Think of what would be best for Berk. I cannot think of anyone else on this island who would be better at it."

With that, he turned and left her alone. She watched as he hobbled his way down the ledge and toward the Hall where people were clearly congregating. Then she turned away from the village and looked back out to sea, but she also noticed the ruined docks and remains of sunken boats in the harbor.

 _I never wanted to be a Chief. It's so much work. People. Problems. Plans. Responsibility. Duty._

She turned from the ocean and set out for the Hall, lost in her thoughts about what she was to do and not knowing her place in everything. She passed her parents' house and the barn in which Stormfly and her young brood rested. The rest of the village was mostly emptied of people, almost like a ghost village, so quickly had the news of the night's happenings spread. The ruined buildings, wall, and remains of the battle were still present.

She spied a couple dragons protectively following their wandering hatchlings around the village.

 _All of this must be protected. It's too important._

And she shed a tear for the last vestige of the small, simple life she had resigned herself to after Hiccup's death. She was confident that she would prevail either by argument or by combat.

Astrid paused at the great door, hearing the din of arguing voices inside. She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and thrust open the Great Hall's front door. She confidently strode inside toward the head of the Hall as the building's interior brightened with the morning sunlight.

* * *

The waves rolled endlessly. The winds blew endlessly.

The repetition of flying and the sight of nothing but an infinite expanse of water helped him forget. He tried to not think about what he was leaving behind. About what had to be left behind. Gobber's steadfast kindness and understanding, a place and purpose among his tribe, the opportunity to represent all dragons to other tribes, and Astrid. Her comfort, friendship, understanding, and even love. She had helped save him from despair when she figured out that Toothless was not dead. She gave him hope again, just as she had years ago when he had been disowned and the tribe had sailed for Dragon Island.

He was going to leave it all behind. He had to leave it all behind and go fly on his own.

The outside world was foreign, almost certainly hostile to dragons, and he had no idea where he was going or where the journey would lead him. None of that mattered. All that mattered was that he was going to find his brother. He was going to find Toothless no matter how long it took, how many mountains he had to fly over, or how many nights he had to spend alone.

Maybe somewhere along the way he would find room in his heart to forgive his father.

Hiccup roused his courage and roared his defiance to the winds.

* * *

 _The End - Volume I  
_

* * *

 _ **Author's Note - Volume II begins in the next chapter with Toothless and will follow his arc for multiple chapters before the story switches back over to Hiccup's adventures. The timelines can be somewhat confusing but just recall that both arcs will begin roughly immediately after this chapter in story time.  
**_

 _ **Also, I have one request to you readers out there. Please leave your thoughts and feedback over Volume I as if this were the end of the story. Enjoy Volume II.**_


	27. II - Defiance

_**Author's Note - Just as a reminder, this volume will start with Toothless's solo arc. It will begin quite dark for our beloved Fury, and he will be changed by what he goes through.  
**_

* * *

" _Oft hope is born when all is forlorn." - J.R.R. Tolkien - The Return of the King_

* * *

Defiance

* * *

The water-walker rocked back and forth with the spray of the sea.

The captor two-legs called out to each other in their strange way.

And the ropes and chains around him...

He absolutely hated them with every scale and drop of life-water and breath of fire in his body. He frequently wrestled with the ropes while the thrall-making two-legs were not watching. But this trap was too tight. He was forced to settle down and pretend to be asleep whenever one of the thrall-makers poked its horrible fur-covered head in to gloat in triumph.

All he could remember was that he had been sleeping in the home cave-den when Hiccup's sire woke him up and beckoned him out into the trees. Curious at what the two-leg Alpha had to show him, he had followed and walked a great distance. The sire had pointed at something through the bushes.

Everything had gone dark.

Then he woke up bound in ropes on this water-walker far from home-nest-island and surrounded by two-legs not from his nest. It felt not so very different from it had been after he had rescued Hiccup in the death-valley and been taken as thrall. Ropes completely encircled his closed jaws, pinned his wings tight to his side, and prevented him from standing or grabbing. They had even tied down his tail so that he could not whip any of them out of frustration.

He had managed to wiggle his jaws out from the ropes on the second sun-cycle on the water. He had lashed out in anger at the nearest male and got a good bite in on its leg before being wrestled back to the ground. The price had been that he was kicked many times in punishment, costing him many scales and some foul-looking and stinging hurt-marks. It had definitely been worth it though to taste its life-water, pain, and fear. They learned from that mistake and checked the ropes several times each sun-cycle.

This trap had very tight jaws now.

He resigned himself to glaring and growling at them at every opportunity. Every time they came near, he would narrow his eyes at them and curl his lips with a growl. He spared a special hiss of anger for the dark-fur female-Alpha.

With the exception of a couple fish and a bowl of water, they seemed to have forgotten him in the dark belly of the water-walker. That in itself was rather welcome except that none of them ever came to clean out his waste.

His thoughts turned to home-nest-island when he closed his eyes and tried to forget everything around him. To the gloriously warm skies, to a belly always full of fish, to playing flying games with Hiccup, to Hiccup's kind-not-mate two-leg-kin Astrid, to the deep caves, to his triumph over the thralled, thought-twisted sky-light-eater, to rescuing Hiccup from the nest-invading bad two-legs, and lazy suns sitting around doing nothing except letting his scales feast on the sun's warmth.

What had actually happened? Something did not make sense about it, but he could not put a claw on it at first.

 _Whatever hit me had to be there..._

There was only one person who could have done it.

Could it be? Had Hiccup's sire been the one who struck him? Why? Why would he want to hurt him? It made no sense at all.

The male was not a bad two-leg or a weak Alpha. He made his nest-island one which let kin live there without fear, freed him from the trap under the water many season-cycles ago, and made him a part of his nest alongside Hiccup. He never considered the two-leg to be like his own sire, but he definitely had been in a place deserving of trust.

That trust had apparently been betrayed. It could not be otherwise.

It should have filled his veins with wrath. He should have wanted to flame the sire and to tear his body to pieces in revenge. But he felt nothing. Maybe it was because he was trapped and not in a position to avenge the broken trust. Maybe he was too tired or weak to be angry. Maybe it was the shock of the realized betrayal.

 _The sire probably did not want Hiccup to know that he was going to be false-livered. What will Hiccup think when he learns what happened?_ _If he ever learns…_

What would Hiccup do in this position?

 _He would probably try to talk to the two-leg captors._

He growled to himself out of frustration that he had never genuinely tried to learn two-leg words or picture-talking. He had gone along with Hiccup's desire that he learn the picture-words as much as he could, but his interest had been limited to learning the shapes for his own name. Maybe being able to picture-talk in truth could have been helpful here.

Listening to their mostly incomprehensible shouts and growls reminded him of their cruel, hard eyes and their tendency to kick. Now that he seriously thought about it though, these two-legs were not at all likely to listen to him even if he could picture-talk to them.

He settled back down on the wooden ground and refrained from testing the chains and ropes. He needed to conserve his strength and wait for an opportunity to escape.

* * *

No such opportunity for escape presented itself.

The thrall-making two-legs continued to keep him in metal chains and thick ropes and were very careful to keep him muzzled as much as possible.

The most terrifying night was when there was a storm strong enough to make the water-walker violently pitch and sway. He knew that he had no chance to escape this trap if the water-walker tipped over and started to sink into the ocean's belly.

The water-walker did not suffer any such disaster.

More suns and nights passed until he could not be sure how many suns he had been their thrall.

Then he started hearing the calls of birds from outside. Birds only nested on land.

Before too long, the two-legs came again, hauled him from his trap, and brought him out of the water-walker's belly. Even as he struggled against their grasp, he managed to look at his surroundings. The two-legs had built a very large nest with strange nest-structures next to the water. There were several of the water-walkers swimming in the water, and two-legs were walking everywhere and making all their different noises at each other. His captors took him to a two-leg ground-roller-walker that was pulled by large prey-four-legs. He was bound again, dropped inside out of view of all the other two-legs, and then a large animal skin completely covered him.

He spent a while thrashing about in anger and making the two-leg thing shake. The two-legs started yelling at him and wrapped him even tighter in ropes until he was barely able to move. It was all he could do to growl in anger at them.

Sun-cycles passed with nothing to see but the animal skins that were his trap and nothing to eat but the foul fish that the two-legs carefully tossed to him. Had they given him a single chance at one of their nasty, foul paws, he would gladly have bitten it off out of spite.

His thoughts eventually returned to the open sky and warm wind under his wings.

 _I wonder what he is doing. Will I ever see him again?_

The sounds of a two-leg nest eventually became louder around him after many sun-cycles of quiet.

Two-legs, he had enough experiences of them for a lifetime. They had betrayed him too many times, shown themselves to be generally unfaithful, and were cruel to everything around them. Two-legs like legs-of-fish and Astrid were only exceptions to the normal way.

 _If I get out, I am never going to be in a two-leg nest again! I hate them!_

His trap stopped moving and the fur-covering was lifted away to reveal a new male two-leg staring down at him. The vile-black-fur-wearing-she-Alpha started speaking to the red-fur male.

He glared right back at it, expecting the two-leg to look away or show some weakness. But it did not. It gave him a small teeth-showing while continuing to stare at him. Then the male turned to the female and extended its paw. She did the same. The two had clearly struck some agreement.

Then he realized something else about the male, something that he could only have known after catching its scent. The male had been around kin very recently. Many kin.

 _She is giving me to him! Why?_

He started listening more closely to what they were saying to each other. Even with his very limited knowledge of two-leg words, he was able to understand 'kin' and the shiny rock that two-legs valued for some reason. It made more sense what had happened.

 _She gives me to the male, and the male gives her the shiny rocks. So I am the male's thrall now?_ _I hate two-legs._

Owning something was not a new idea. Kin claimed their own dens, after all. But there was only one kind of kin that claimed ownership of other kin, the Monsters.

His trap started moving again, only this time the male followed along. It kept looking at him the whole time. It was very strange how it did not shiver at his growls and hisses. In fact, it started speaking back at him. He did not pay any attention to it after that. There was certainly nothing that it could say that he cared to hear or that he could likely understand.

The rolling trap eventually moved inside the mouth of a cave and emerged in a two-leg-built valley. The smell of other kin grew even stronger.

He realized that the two-leg was probably keeping other kin as thralls as well. He gave the two-leg Alpha as cruel of a glare as he could and growled deeply.

 _I will kill you, you Monster!_

Deeper inside the cave they went until his trap stopped moving. The two-legs started swarming around his trap and making a lot of noise until the bars of his trap fell away.

He only weakly fought against them as they dragged him out and carried him into the next trap. They then started removing the ropes around his tail and limbs while keeping him pinned down. They left only the ropes tied around his jaws, and then they closed the trap's barred mouth behind them. All of them left except the Alpha.

The Alpha stood with its paws against the bars and continued staring at him. He glared right back, slightly baring his teeth with a snarl. Neither of them looked away. He held himself coiled like he was about to pounce despite the metal bars that would prevent a strike.

Something about the contest of wills seemed very important.

The two-leg eventually huffed and turned away with a wave of its paw, leaving him alone.

An odd silence fell over everything, only broken by distant sounds from the two-leg nest beyond. He relaxed for the first time in recent memory and investigated his new trap. It smelled of a spike-tail-kin. For that matter, there were the scents of several other kin in the air around him.

All he cared about was seeing if he could get out. He shoved against the bars, and they did not move. The ground was too hard to try to dig through. This trap had very tight teeth too. At least it was large enough that he could move around and stretch his wings somewhat. The ground was also covered in straw and far more comfortable than the wooden-ground he had known for many suns.

But there was no way for him to see the sun or feel its warm life and light on his scales.

He paused from examining his trap when another two-leg approached. He almost growled at it to go away when he noticed that it had a bucket of fish. The sight and smell of fresh fish made his mouth water.

The two-leg reached into the bucket and tossed a couple fish into the trap. He desperately wanted to eat as they were large and fat fish instead of the bad, dry fish he was used to. But there was a problem.

His mouth was still roped shut tight enough that he could not possibly eat. He picked at the ropes with his claws, but the bindings did not come loose.

 _How do they think I can eat with this mouth-closing thing on?_

The Alpha returned with one of its wooden-sitting-things, and it sat down right beyond the bars.

The two-leg stared at him. He stared right back and hissed at it.

 _What is it doing?_

It kept glancing from him to the fish on the ground. Then it raised a paw with one finger pointed at him. It spoke something while staring at him.

The word was not one he recognized, but he could tell from the Alpha's demeanor that it was a command of some kind.

 _Never! I will not obey you._

So he turned away from it, curled up with his head covered under a wing, and ignored the two-leg. It was not easy to ignore whatever the two-leg kept repeating. His rather empty belly did not help given the fish right next to him but which he could not eat. It was a terrible temptation.

The two-leg eventually shouted at him and grabbed the bars of the trap.

"Kin!"

That word was one he recognized.

If he had been able to, he would definitely have turned around and roared. Instead, he took a deep breath and refused to react even when it kept yelling and pounding on the bars.

The two-leg eventually gave up and left.

 _Good, it is gone._

With the Monster away, he was able to return to the problem at paw. Getting the ropes off. Hiccup would probably know how to manage it. He looked around the trap for anything that a two-leg might try to use to get free.

 _Maybe I can break the ropes on something._

But there was nothing sharp to rub the ropes against. The ground was stone, and there were no rocks he could use. The metal teeth of the cage probably could not be melted even if his jaws were free and were too thick for him to force apart. The ropes were too tight for him to even slip a clawtip under and were too strong to cut with his claws.

Nothing happened for a long time during which he curled up to rest and to think. There were no sounds save for the chattering or grumbling of another kin in a different trap or the occasional miserable two-leg passing by.

His eyes closed and sleep finally overtook him.

* * *

He got up and stretched his little wings. He hated having to sit still while sire was out hunting. Dam had to stay close to the little nestmate and could not play with him.

But he was getting bigger and wanted to learn how to fly. He had watched enviously whenever sire and dam came and went from the nest-cave-den, their great wings stirring up the sky-breath.

He hopped around in the cave while flapping his wings, but he only managed to flip himself over and land on his head with a squeak of displeasure. How did they do it?

Dam lifted her head and called to him.

"First, come here."

He darted over to her and dutifully sat down to listen.

"You have much life-fire," she hummed.

"I want fly."

"Yes, you do. You should rest."

"Why? Want big wings."

She lifted her wing to show him his little nestmate fast asleep at her side.

"You need fish and four-leg-prey-meat to grow big wings. Second is sleeping because we have no food now."

"She need big wings to get food," he complained.

Dam hummed at him.

"You think well, First. Rest now."

"But…"

Fast as a flash of sky-light, she reached over and stroked under his chin. He went completely limp and blissfully collapsed on her paw.

He woke up later at dam's side when sire returned, and he hopped to his feet to run over to him. Sire had something wonderful clutched between his teeth.

Sire walked on and dropped the leg of four-leg-horn-head-prey on the ground before dam. She tore off several large chunks of meat for herself.

"You eat, mate?" she rumbled.

"I go back for more. It was a big prey," he rumbled back.

"Sire?" he peeped.

Sire turned and gazed at him.

"How you get big?"

Sire bent down and nosed him.

"Many season-cycles and being smart."

He was not terribly enthusiastic about that answer. It was not fun.

"Eat," sire commanded.

He ran over to the leg and started gnawing at it. It was a delicious and fatty leg. His little nestmate woke up, waddled over, and started staring at the leg while whimpering.

Sharing was not something he cared to do. Anything that another ate was something that he could not eat, so he stood protectively over the leg and hissed.

"First…" dam warned him.

"I want."

She growled softly in another warning.

He stepped down and stared at his paws in submission. The little nestmate pounced on the leg and started trying to tear off chunks of leg.

"Good, First. Always share food when you can."

"Why?"

"Because kin who eat together become more kin. And the other kin might want to share with you when they catch prey."

He thought it was easier to just not need help from other kin. Instead of fighting, he returned to the leg and did not bother his little nestmate. She could not speak yet, but she apparently understood that they were not going to fight for the meat.

Between the both of them, the leg would certainly be stripped bare very quickly.

* * *

"Kin!"

He was violently woken up by the two-leg's shouting.

 _What does it want now? Just let me sleep!_

The Alpha was again standing outside his trap. This time though it had one of its two-leg thralls next to it. The thrall was carrying a bucket.

He could see the water that splashed over the mouth of the bucket. Seeing that made him realize how thirsty he actually was. The only water that he could remember being given had tasted like drinking from water that had been fouled and been still a long time.

"Kin…"

The Alpha was pointing at him and at the ground when speaking. It wanted him to submit.

Submit and get fish and water or refuse and get more of nothing.

The Alpha snapped its paws at the thrall and sent it away on an errand, leaving the bucket of water behind. He did not need to wait long to find out why.

The thrall returned leading a spine-tail-kin by a rope wrapped around the kin's neck. There was nothing on the kin to control it other than that thin rope.

 _Why is it not fighting back? It could kill them now!_

They did not seem at all afraid of it. The way it walked was completely submissive, head bowed and moving slowly. Its jaws were not even roped closed, and it was not hissing or growling at them.

The Alpha gave it a clear command at it while pointing at the ground, and the spine-tail-kin obediently lay down on its belly and refused to move.

"Good-kin..."

The spine-tail was rewarded by one of the two-leg thralls tossing it a fish, which it swallowed whole. It was then led away by the thrall.

The Alpha turned back to him, pointed at the ground, and gave the same command.

This was a test of his strength. His hunger bid him lay down and get food and water. He had not eaten well in many suns. His parched mouth almost watered as he stared at the bucket of water.

But his liver would not let him submit. To obey the Alpha's command in anything would be to lose something important. Would be to become like the spine-tail that had been led to him in demonstration; weak, submissive, and obedient. No different from the prey-animals that the two-legs kept in ropes back on home-nest-island.

 _No!_

He fixed his gaze on the Alpha, gave it his coldest, most anger-filled stare possible, and then he growled for good measure. He was not going to grovel weakly and submit to the will of a weaker creature like a two-leg.

 _I will kill you._ _Maybe I will eat you too._

Oddly though, the Alpha did not seem angry at him. It just showed him its puny teeth. Unlike when Hiccup had once done so, its eyes seemed cold and hard. Almost mocking.

"You… bad kin…"

Then it leaned in and whispered something completely incomprehensible but no doubt malicious. For good measure, it poured some of the some of the water on the ground just outside his reach.

Then it turned around, and he was left all alone again.

Just him, the trap, and the bucket of water barely out of his reach. But now he was very aware of just how hungry and, worse, how thirsty he was. His head was already hurting from the lack of water.

He curled up against the stone wall of his trap and struggled to go back to sleep.

The only consolation was that he doubted this two-leg actually wanted him to die, as would surely happen eventually without any food or water.

 _I need to stay strong… will over body…will over body..._

* * *

Light was terrible.

Light made his head throb in pain. His limbs and tail felt numb and weak.

He stared at the wall as the pounding continued.

It was hard to tell how much time was passing. Was it entire suns or only part of a sun since they put him in this trap? He had not passed waste-water in a very long time.

He could almost hear a stream filled with clear flowing water. Or maybe that was only his imagination. The ground was not comfortable at all, and he did not try to lift his head from the cold stone floor. He was not sure that he could if he wanted to.

The bars were twisting and warping even as he tried to look up at them.

One of the two-legs walked past his trap, and then its footsteps stopped.

"Kin?"

 _Go away…_

"Kin!"

 _Go away…_

Then it ran off...

 _Good..._

...only to return later with several other two-legs including the Alpha. They all started shouting at each other and at him, but he didn't respond to anything they did. Then the Alpha shouted some orders and his thralls acted. They opened the mouth of his cell and rushed in around him. One of them nudged his limp head with its foot.

He barely stirred except to meekly groan in pain. Several voices mingled, and then he heard a command that sounded desperate.

Two-leg paws began working at the ropes around his jaws. They very carefully loosened his muzzle. Then he noticed the smell of several whole fish and heard the splash of water in a bucket immediately before him.

He weakly buried his face in the bucket. The pain in his head began to recede as the crisp water filled his belly. It was only after the second bucket that his thirst finally began to feel quenched. Then he attacked the fish and swallowed them whole before the two-legs had a chance to take them away.

At a word from the Alpha, the other two-legs began to disperse after strapping on his muzzle again and closing the trap.

The Alpha, leaning against the trap and looking very glum, was left alone. He could feel its gaze on him even after he turned away with a grumble and hid his head under a wing.

Its steps faded away shortly thereafter.

He allowed himself a small grin and growl of satisfaction. The two-leg had given in first.

How long it had taken he was not entirely sure. Long enough that his very senses had started failing him.

 _It will try to break me again. I will not let it. I am stronger. Weak creature..._

* * *

The suns fell into a routine. A lot of sleep and some water and fish each morning. They even occasionally brought meat for him.

A few two-legs would come to clean out his trap every few suns now that he was eating again. They were only thralls that were doing something that he rather wanted them to do, remove his waste, so he didn't see a reason to bother them.

As patient as he was, doing nothing for many sun cycles was testing him and making him grow restless. He became snappy and growled at most passers-by. It was not good for a kin to sit still and be inactive.

The routine was finally broken when several two-legs came and fitted a rope to his bound jaws. Rather than fight them, he allowed them to lead him out and through the underground paths. Finding out more about the place where he was being held thrall was at least worth doing. He passed several traps on both sides of the path. Traps in which kin slept. Stone-bellies, spine-tails, and fire-scales, the most common types of kin.

He could not help but notice though that most of them were large and had many scars, some of which did not look very old. Oddly though, most of the scars looked like they had been made by other kin.

 _Why would they have new hurts? Probably the two-legs somehow. Monsters…_

They brought him to a new trap. This trap was the most torturous of all that he had been in.

Metal teeth blocked the path before him and prevented him from walking out into the open air. Looking out from between the teeth, he could see what appeared to be a valley outside this trap. The valley had walls like the death-place where he had rescued two-leg Hiccup from the fire-scale-kin.

Just imagining collapsing on the warm sand and feeling the sun on his back and wings was tantalizingly torturous since it was so near but also far away.

He was left there in chains for a very long time. Two-legs started appearing around the outside valley. They were sitting all around up on the walls, just as the two-legs had done in the death-valley back on home-nest-island. It was not hard to imagine why they were gathering.

 _It is fun for them. They want to watch fights._

The Alpha strode out into the arena and started calling out to the gathered two-legs. He naturally had no idea what was being said. The crowd seemed to roar, in its weak two-leg way, its approval of whatever was being said.

Then he saw the Alpha raise a paw and point in his direction. Several thralls rushed in around him and held him tightly as the metal teeth began to rise.

His liver was chilled in concern as they led him out into the open. Was he going to be forced to fight now?

The two-legs all around the valley started yapping and hissing to each other excitedly while pointing in his direction. It was obvious that he was a new and strange sight for them.

 _If only you would scream in fear. Let me out and I will show you what I can do._

He was tied to a giant metal tooth driven into the ground just outside the cave mouth. The two-legs then stepped back from him while staying nearby. Finally being given a bit of space, he unfurled his wings for the first time in an unknowable number of sun-cycles and looked up to the open skies.

The temptation to try to break free was very strong. A glance at the thick rope binding him to the ground crushed the bit of lift that idea had held. It was far too thick for him to break. It might break if he could bite or flame the rope, but his muzzle prevented either of those. Trying to claw at the ropes would easily be noticed and punished.

His predicament left a question biting at his tail though.

 _Why do the other kin not fly away?_

The once-death-place on home-nest-island had used a metal web to enclose the top of the trap. This one was completely open to the sky.

Something was definitely twisted here.

He folded his wings away and settled down on the ground to watch, trying to remain alert to whatever may be about to happen.

The Alpha eventually got back its sway over the other two-legs and started calling out to them again. It finished a moment later and was acknowledged with much cheering and roaring. Then it ran over and stood near him, evidently clearing the arena.

A large fire-scale-kin burst out of a trap and jumped out into the arena with a roar. The crowd added its own roar with its appearance.

Then he noticed the three two-legs who had also been let into the valley. Each of them appeared to have a fur-skin, a short metal-tooth-weapon, and a long-metal-stick.

 _They need more than that to fight a fire-scale-kin._

He closely watched as the three two-legs grouped together and advanced on the kin, which was in turn eyeing them closely.

His life-fire burned with shock, anger, and fear when he noticed something horrible about the fire-scale. Its wing-bones had clearly been broken at the shoulder and were not allowed to grow back properly. It was grounded.

That is why there was no web over the valley. There was no need for one. The more chilling thought was that they might try to do the same to him.

 _I will kill them all if they try!_

He felt very conflicted as he saw the two-legs and the fire-scale start fighting. Fighting for need or survival was one matter, but this seemed something else entirely. This conflict was not necessary for either's survival except because the conflict was forced to be by others that were not fighting.

The two-legs lunged with their long-metal-teeth and tried stabbing at the kin's head. In turn, it nimbly hopped around them, flashing its very long talons and trying to flame them.

It did not seem like an equal fight to him. These two-leg-males were not as big as Hiccup's two-leg kin and did not have big enough metal-teeth to hurt a kin.

One of them saw an opportunity and hurled its weapon-tooth, striking the fire-scale in the chest. The kin howled in wrath and recklessly leapt at the two-leg, which was crushed under the kin's foot. The other two charged desperately and were met with a wall of flame. One of them caught on fire and ran blindly while screaming until it fell motionless to the ground. The kin deftly caught the other dazed two-leg in its maw and swallowed the struggling two-leg alive.

Then it looked around the valley for any other combatants and, seeing none, bent over to pick up the first victim's body. It carried its prize out of the valley and retreated inside its trap to lick its wounds. A few thralls came out and disposed of the burned body.

The two-legs watching from around the valley had cheered throughout the entire fight, even when they saw their own kind get killed and another eaten.

 _Why? Why would they celebrate that?_

The more he learned about two-legs, the less he thought of them. Even the battle he had saved two-leg-Hiccup from was somewhat understandable as a test of Hiccup's fighting worth to the nest. A ceremony of battle-skill. This did not even seem to have that somewhat redeeming trait.

More kin were brought out to fight against two-legs. Only one of the kin, a smaller spine-tail, was killed. Far more of the two-legs died to fire, claw, and tooth.

He continued to lay on the warm sand, feeling a distinctly foreign feeling in his liver. He had seen fighting between kin and two-legs many times before. He had seen death before and had struck killing blows before. But there had always been a reason for it; for other kin to feed the Monster and stay alive or to protect those very kin.

There was no reason he could think of here other than strange, twisted enjoyment. Pleasure at another living thing's suffering and death.

The final fight ended, and the Alpha came out to speak to the watchers after the last other kin was led back into its trap. The two-leg spoke in a very loud voice, pointed at him, and all those around the valley cheered again.

Then they all began to walk away and disperse. Several of the thralls came over to him, untied his rope from the ground, and led him back inside. One of them left a bucket of water and a couple fish in his trap and then left him alone.

 _Why do they do that? They do not need to fight kin, but they do and they celebrate it._

He thought back to the two-leg fighters he had seen. Few of them had looked like true fighters. They seemed to have ice in their livers instead of fire and had smelled of fear and waste-water when they were in the valley.

 _What if they did not want to fight at all? Maybe they were only thralls like me._

It was quite likely they would make him fight eventually. That seemed like the main reason that the Alpha captured kin, to make them fight two-legs and other captive kin for the pleasure of those watching.

All the kin he had seen had their wings broken and were all grounded-kin now.

 _That is why they have no life-fire. They have nothing to live for. They are as broken as their wings._

But what did he have in this trap and bad place filled with two-legs? The possibility of having his own wings broken, of being torn from the skies again, was terrible enough to send a shiver down his spine and to cool his fire. As terrible as the thought was, he had to wonder why the Alpha hadn't ordered his wings be broken already.

 _Maybe he does not want to break his special kin. Maybe I have not done anything to anger him enough._

That would make trying to escape or harming any of his thralls a very bad idea.

 _I will have to fight and keep the Alpha happy._

He growled his frustration to himself and closed his eyes. As was becoming more common as the suns went by, he retreated into his own thoughts to find some comfort in memories of gliding on warm currents and soaring toward far-distant peaks.

They were one of the few things that two-legs could not take from him.

* * *

He was falling from the sky, something strange having wrapped itself around his wings and fouled his flight. He crashed through a large tree and tumbled head over tail down into a clearing. Once he recovered from the crash, he felt the burning pain in his tail. A quick glance behind him confirmed his fear that flight would be forever impossible.

He struggled against the bindings that wrapped themselves around his body. Two-leg things. How could they twist these not-vines and throw them so high that they could down even a kin? Two-legs had such clever paws and thinking. These not-vine-vines were too tight for him to break out of.

Something started crashing through the darkness toward him, sending his life-organ racing in fear. He rolled and tossed, struggling against the bindings again to no avail. Then he stared up at the two-leg Alpha. It was unmistakable from its large mane and forelimbs.

They both stared at each other for a moment. Then the two-leg Alpha roared its defiant triumph and drove its false-tooth into his chest.

And he scrambled awake in a moment of confusion and fear. He hit his head on his trap, causing a large crash which echoed out through the enclosure in addition to a sharp pain. There also seemed to be a phantom pain in his chest.

 _Only a sleep-vision... it was not real... not real..._

* * *

The routine changed one sun. Food and water started coming more infrequently, and the Alpha started spending more time around him. It was clear that this was a renewed attempt by the Alpha to put its claws on his liver and make him submit.

A group of thralls eventually came into his cell and tied his wings in against his side. Then they led him out into the trap-valley. Surprisingly, there were no two-legs sitting up above to watch an impending fight. There were a number of the Alpha's thrall two-legs down in the valley though.

 _What are they doing?_

It only became more confusing when his muzzle was removed and he was allowed to walk freely without any ropes holding him back. The first thing he thought about was the possibility of escape. He subtly inspected everything while pretending to sniff around the valley. However, the walls were too high for him to be able to jump without use of his wings. There were also many thralls nearby with nets and ropes, clearly ready to trap him again if needed.

A cave opened, and a rock-belly-kin was led out. The other kin was, as rock-belly-kin always are, heavy and imposing, if not as tall as him. It waddled in his general direction, aided by being prodded by two-legs carrying poking-sticks. The two-legs clearly wanted to provoke a fight.

 _They want to see how well I can fight._

He was of half a mind to sit down peaceably and give them no entertainment, except that the rock-belly-kin did not look to share his inclination. It snarled at him and charged.

He spared the Alpha a glance, crouched, and turned his attention to the enraged kin.

 _This is too easy._

He jumped up and over the rock-belly-kin and easily landed behind it. Several of the two-legs laughed. The other kin had to awkwardly turn itself around to face him again with a roar of anger.

His counter-roar of challenge began to rise unbidden before he deliberately chose to stifle it. This weak, enthralled kin was not his true enemy.

If only it knew that.

It charged again, blinded by its misplaced anger. This time though he calmly walked to intercept it, keeping his gaze fixed on its yellow eyes. Eyes that wavered in his glare as he flashed his teeth and talons and readied his fire. The rock-belly pulled up a length from him and then started backing away with a whimper of submission.

He snorted in its direction in derision.

The two-legs started squawking at each other and pointing in his direction. It was hard to tell if they were disappointed or surprised at what happened.

 _What were they expecting? I wish I knew more of their words..._

He became far more interested and afraid when he realized they were pointing at his wings. And he remembered the grim fate that all the other kin had suffered. The thought alone was enough to make him shudder, and he held himself at the ready in case he had to fight for his life.

Then he noticed something odd. The Alpha seemed to be disagreeing with his thralls about something, about him.

"You... not... ... the kin... ..." the alpha shouted something at his thralls.

The two-leg thralls eventually dispersed at the Alpha's command and put their weapons away.

Something in his liver whispered that he had just barely avoided a terrible fate.

* * *

He rolled over onto his side and hid his head under his tailfins. Back in the familiar comforts of his trap. It now smelled only of him and had no trace of the last kin that had been in here.

The thralls had taken away the rock-belly-kin shortly after he made it submit. Then they brought him back into the cave shortly thereafter. He kept wondering at their actions.

 _Why did they want me to fight the other kin? I do not understand it. Maybe they want to see if I can fight well so that the Alpha can put me in the fighting-valley for two-leg fun._

 _And why did the Alpha not want his thralls to ground me? They ground every other kin._

He grumbled to himself at the strangeness of two-legs. Cruel and hurting on the one paw and protective on the other.

 _I can win any fight. No kin will be able to fight me. And two-legs... they have not seen my real fire yet._

He imagined the Alpha standing outside the trap and smugly looking down at him.

 _I will endure you. You will not break me. I am strong. I am not a weak kin._

"I am a Night Fury."


	28. II - Gladiator

**_Author's Note - In which we start to see some of how Toothless is being changed._**

* * *

 _"Caged birds sing of freedom. Wild birds fly." - John Lennon_

* * *

Gladiator

* * *

Five suns passed with him being given only minimal water and meat. The Alpha had learned its lesson from the last time and was not trying to fully starve-kill him. Instead, it was only giving him enough to keep him alive and suffer the deprivation.

His belly rolled and voiced its intense displeasure almost constantly. He found himself getting angry and growling at every passing two-leg but most especially at the Alpha male. It was the one responsible for his suffering now. More than that though, it seemed to enjoy sitting outside his trap and either talking to him or giving him commands, none of which he ever obeyed.

He eventually turned around, presented the Alpha with his waste end, and ignored the Alpha as best as he could. He also did a lot of sleeping, except for this particular night due to the pain in his belly.

 _Will it ever stop?_ _No, it wants to break me._ _Two-legs are patient hunters._

It was very frustrating seeing the other kin that the Alpha brought to show him being fed and watered properly. All that they had to do was bow and submit to this Alpha's will.

A clever idea started to worm its way into his liver.

 _What if I pretend that it broke me? Pretend to submit to it. Make it think that it grounded my life-fire. It will not know the difference._

The idea didn't sit well with his liver, but it was the best idea he had been able to come up with to get more food and water.

He waited patiently until the Alpha returned for its next attempt to test him.

The two-leg arrived as expected and leaned against the trap as had become the routine. However, unlike their previous meetings, he did not growl at it or show it any anger. Instead, he kept his head bowed and tried to look as docile as he could, despite how much doing so twisted his liver.

"Kin," the Alpha commanded.

He glanced up and saw the Alpha and its not-friendly teeth-showing. Then the two-leg reached out its paw and pointed at the ground.

"Down kin."

Very reluctantly and hating that he had to do so, he sat down and lay his head on his paws. He did not let his tail twitch with anger.

Several moments passed.

"Good kin."

The Alpha sounded very happy and relieved. It called to several of its thralls who immediately rushed over, bringing water and fish which they placed in his trap.

He gladly ate the fish and emptied the bucket of water as the Alpha happily chittered at its thralls. He remained submissive until well after the Alpha and its thralls walked away. Only then did he allow out his heated but muted growl. He also glanced at the sharp, curved claws on his paws.

 _I hope I can claw at it one sun. Winds and stars above, let me kill that two-leg._

He felt almost like he had stepped in waste. It was wrong to bow and show weakness to a two-leg. It hurt his own feeling of his strength as a kin.

But it did get him what he needed.

 _The Alpha wants to play this game. Let it. I am not like the weak kin. I am strong._

* * *

He sat at the edge of the cave, waiting for sire to return. It was his sun now to start to learn how to hunt. And especially to hunt more than the small buzzers or crawling things in the cave-den. They did not make good eating or fill his belly anymore.

The first sign of sire's return was a great wind and a rushing sound, so great were sire's wings that they seemed to stretch across the sky itself. Then there was the soft thud of sire's feet as he landed.

He had to still his tail and patiently wait as the great kin walked up to him. Then sire lowered his head to him and greeted him with a deep rumble.

"First of mine..."

He purred as sire licked him in greeting.

"Me hunt!"

He bared his tiny teeth and pounced on an imaginary four-leg-fur-tail. Sire rumbled in amusement at his great life-fire. Then he followed sire outside the cave, having to almost run to keep up with sire's great strides. They walked until he started to get tired, watching all the while his sire's movements. It was important for him to learn everything about how sire kept watch and remained alert for any danger or prey.

"Stop," sire whispered.

So he lay flat in the tall grass and remained still and hidden.

"What?" he softly chirped.

Sire lowered his nose to the grass and started sniffing. Then sire looked over at him with a very happy rumble.

"Four-leg-fur-tail prey..."

He leapt up and found the scent trail as well.

"Where prey?"

"You find it," sire answered.

That sire wanted him to be the one to hunt down the prey gave fire to his liver. He promptly began following the trail through the bushes and grasses with sire right behind him.

They eventually found the prey's den, a hole dug into the ground under a bush. He fixed his eyes on the entrance and stared, waiting for the four-leg-fur-tail prey to appear. He got bored and impatient very quickly.

"Now what?"

Sire curled himself around him and part of the bush.

"Now you would wait. This prey knows you are there and will not leave the den. You will need to be quiet and very patient to hunt well."

"But I want eat now."

"Food comes to kin who wait. That is the game of the hunt. You found where the den is, that is good. You would come back to the den in future suns when the prey is not looking for you."

Then sire got up and rumbled to him.

"We go back to our cave-den now."

The idea didn't excite him at all, but he was starting to get sleepy after being active since the sun flew at its highest. His tail drooped as he shuffled along behind his sire all the way to the cave-den. He stumbled a few times in his exhaustion but always kept walking. Once back inside its cool darkness, he buried himself in the warmth under his dam's wing.

Sire had not needed to pick him up and carry him back to the den.

* * *

He paced back and forth in the trap next to the fighting valley, kneading his claws at the ground as the tension built. The thundering cheers of the two-legs around the arena outside continued to grow louder.

It was clear to him deep in his liver that this was his sun to fight. To risk life and limb for the amusement of two-legs. But what would he be made to fight against, kin or two-legs? He wasn't sure which was better for him. It depended on if the two-legs were given killing-weapons, how many there would be, and if they were proper fighters instead of the weak thralls he remembered seeing.

As for fighting other kin, it would be the first time he had to properly fight tooth and claw against another kin in many season-cycles. The fight with the sky-light-eater-kin had been a short one with mainly his fire. And a little help from Astrid.

 _I can win the fight whatever they have._

He scratched at the heavy rope tightly pinning his wings in around his side. The bindings were still too strong for him as they always were.

The trap's mouth opened, and he leapt out into the fighting valley. Several thralls came over and took hold of the reins strapped to his head. They worked their paws at the muzzle and removed it from him. He resisted the urge to bite off their paws and started to take in his surroundings. The walls of the top of the cliff were absolutely filled with two-legs, all of which were clearly looking at him. The Alpha was roaring in its tongue to the audience while pointing at him. It was too difficult for him to clearly make out what the Alpha was saying, but it clearly had something to do with him.

Then the Alpha gave a signal, and the other trap began to open, revealing a pair of two-legs with their rounded fire-blockers and false-teeth-sticks. He was very surprised though that the two-legs were almost pushed out into the open by thralls with long sticks. These two-leg fighters were not true fighters in their livers.

It would be easy to win the battle. But there was something about seeing them that cooled his inner-fire and made him not want to fight. These two-legs had not done anything to him yet and certainly looked afraid of him, as they should be. They also were making no moves to advance toward him.

 _As long as they do not try to kill me..._

The roaring from the gathered audience began to fade as nothing happened. The two-leg not-fighters in the fighting-valley stood still with their eyes on him as he sat on the ground and remained coiled to jump if need be.

 _They do not want to fight._

The thralls looked around at each other in confusion and even the Alpha looked uncertain. More surprising though was the audience of two-legs outside the valley. They had went from roaring in approval to hissing and moaning in clear disappointment.

 _Those creatures are sad that there is no fight? They want to see death?_

He slowly shook his head and felt a sadness in his liver as realized the truth. They liked the fighting and death. It was not only a nest-bonding ceremony for them.

 _There is no end to how like Monsters two-legs can be._

Then the thralls began using their long tooth sticks to push the two-leg not-fighters toward him. And he growled and leapt in surprise as a sharp pain erupted in his flank. He spun around and swatted wildly at the thralls that had poked him with their sticks. The strike barely missed opening their bellies, and they stepped back in fear.

 _Try that again, give me a reason to kill you._

The not-fighters were pushed directly up in front of him, within pouncing distance. They held their blocking weapons and short tooth sticks cautiously as they fearfully regarded him. He curled his lip at them and showed them his teeth in warning. But they did nothing aggressive toward him.

The Alpha shouted something very angrily at the not-fighters who were wisely trying to not fight. All the while though the audience continued making its noises of disapproval. Some of them even started to stand up and walk away.

At a signal from the Alpha, the fearful, not-fighting two legs were called away, clearly eager to get away from him. Other thralls crowded around him and restrained him. The Alpha began shouting something placating to the crowd, as though the gathering needed reassurance in some way. Then it gave a signal to the thralls gathered at the large trap on the other side of the valley. His liver cooled when he realized why.

 _They are going to release a kin to fight me!_

Sure enough, the Alpha stepped back and the other trap's mouth began to open. A large, male spine-tail hopped out and flashed its spines while hissing loudly. His own captor-thralls also set him free and vanished from the fighting-valley.

This kin did not appear to be afraid or willing to back down. He tried to flare his wings in warning before being reminded of the ropes that bound him to the ground. The male fixed him with its angered gaze, lowered its head, and charged.

As had happened several times before in his closest life and death battles, time seemed to slow as the male approached. He threw himself to the side at the last moment, barely dodging the snap of the kin's teeth at his tail. The spine-tail hurled several of its tail spines at him but missed wildly.

He knew that he could keep away from the kin because he was faster, but it was far larger than him. This was not a fight that it would be good to make last long.

He started backing up, seemingly in retreat, until he felt his tail touch the wall. Then he roared defiantly to the male. It responded to his challenge with a throaty roar, lowered its head, and charged again.

The plan worked perfectly.

He let his fire-air build in his throat until there was enough for a small burst of fire. His fire-air mixed with the air in a bright burst of startling purple light. The shot struck the male on the forehead; not hard enough to cause it great harm, but enough to startle and confuse it while also angering it.

Once again, he leapt smoothly to the side as the male ran into the wall. The impact caused a loud crash, and the kin dropped to the ground, stunned and unaware.

He relaxed and stepped back after snorting with derision toward it. And then something very surprising happened.

The two-legs up in the audience started cheering and roaring in clear approval. They were happy that he won the fight.

That felt strange and twisting. Hearing their calls and roars made him feel like roaring as well, made him feel warm in his liver and stronger in his limbs.

 _The two-legs on home-nest-island almost never roared for me... only once in the battle of two-leg-nests._

The spine-tail eventually struggled to rise and swayed wildly on its two feet. It tried to take a step in his direction but fell to the side in a daze. The two-legs' roaring turned to their strange, high laughter.

With the battle clearly over and him the victor, the thralls came forward at a signal from the Alpha and bound him again while others tended to the spine-tail. Despite the discomfort of the ropes, he held his head highly and proudly as he was led out of the fighting-valley and back into the underground trap.

* * *

He lay down on his belly and slowly munched on the large fishes he had been brought, presumably as reward for his most recent victory. The Alpha had apparently been pleased with his first fights over the last few suns and had thought to reward him with good food.

There was one fight in particular that had thoroughly left his liver twisted in confusion.

A large two-leg, a true fighter, had been released into the fighting-valley. It clearly had no desire to avoid a combat. He had managed to ground it by biting its false-tooth-weapon in two pieces and by striking its legs with his tail. That was a clear defeat as the two-leg went to the ground screaming in pain. He had left the grounded two-leg alone instead of killing and eating it after the battle was ended. That had disappointed nearly all the two-legs in the audience and also the Alpha.

 _Why do they like watching the fights and seeing death and groundings? Kin will watch a fight to learn who is stronger and might be a threat, but this is different._

There being nothing that he could do with his time in the cage, he settled on trying the one thing that seemed most useless. Something that he had not done since before being made a thrall.

He lowered a single claw to the stone ground and traced out the three words he knew best. His claws couldn't make a mark in the rock, but he perfectly remembered how to write it out.

 _I am Toothless_

Then he softly laughed at the word-twisting.

 _This is a different place now. I cannot be toothless in here._

He thought about the name Hiccup had given him. No-teeth. Before, it had seemed a type of double or trick-speaking because he was obviously not without teeth. It was something teasing that he could also laugh about along with Hiccup's silly name. Now though, it seemed a mocking name, a lie that diminished him and his strength. But even despite that...

 _That is no different from pretending that the Alpha broke me. And it is all I have left of Hiccup._

* * *

This fight was not going well. The two attacking two-legs were surprisingly skilled and nimble. One of them had managed to bite his side with its small paw-held tooth. Now they were both working together, the two-legs standing at each other's side and advancing with their blocking-circles held before them.

The audience roared and called out in suspense at every thrust of a tooth-weapon. His talons clenched at the dry and dusty dirt.

His main strategy in previous fights against two-legs was to avoid them for as long as he could. They always carried too much metal protection on their delicate bodies and made themselves weaker the longer the fight lasted. These ones though were pacing themselves and being careful to not tire themselves. They were clearly accomplished fighters.

He grumbled to himself that he might need to kill these two-legs, something he had managed to avoid doing so far. There was one more trick he had not yet been able to try against them. He gathered his fire-air in his throat and released a hot ball of glowing fire into the ground at their feet.

The dust and smoke were hurled up into their eyes in a hot cloud which forced them both to look away. The first one had no clue that he had leapt toward it until he knocked into its protection with his shoulder, sending the two-leg tumbling to the side and rolling head over feet. He allowed himself a smug grunt of satisfaction.

And a burning pain erupted in his shoulder from the other two-leg's false-tooth-stick biting deep into his flesh. His vision went red. There was a loud roar, and a purple flash filled his vision.

Then he stood panting in the middle of the fighting-valley as smoke curled around him.

Directly in front of him was the bottom half of the attacking two-leg's body. The upper half was scattered in pieces around where the two-leg had stood. There were bloodied pieces of meat and limbs everywhere. The smoking, twisted metal and burned life-water on the ground were further evidence of the destruction that had been wrought.

He quickly glanced over at the other two-leg curled up against the side of the valley and sobbing, its fighting-breath clearly broken.

The battle finally over, he turned back for his trap, feeling far more exhausted than he should for a fight of that duration. The crowd of two-legs was roaring its acclaim at the performance, but this time he noticed something different about it. There was more screaming in fear.

Even the thrall two-legs who attended to him looked and smelled of fear. Fear of him. Their life-organs beat far faster than was normal. The thralls noticeably kept their distance even while leading him by the rope.

And it felt good.

They were learning their rightful place, learning that he was a great threat. The greatest threat. Their fear-scent made him feel alive and strong. Maybe they would learn to be gentle and submissive around him.

As two-legs should be!

The idea tickled at his tail long after they locked him back in his trap. Something else was different about this after-fighting time though. Several thralls brought the Alpha over to his cage. Then they started arguing and growling at each other. They were clearly talking about him. Several of the thralls kept pointing at him and yelling until they all bobbed their heads in agreement while the Alpha stood impassively.

 _Rot take me for not learning more of their words..._

A silence followed while he licked at his stinging wounds, neither of which were life-dangerous.

Then the Alpha purposefully walked over to his trap and gave him the down command. All the thralls were carefully watching. He obediently went down on his belly and stared at the ground without making a sound. Then the Alpha stuck its paw into the trap and gave the 'come' command.

He got up and approached the paw, narrowing his eyes on it. It looked so weak and frail. One bite was all it would take, and he would get some revenge against this terrible creature.

He slowly stuck his head under the paw and let the Alpha pat his nose. Then the Alpha backed away from the trap. The Alpha, clearly pleased, then called out to its thralls in satisfaction at something. The gathering broke up shortly after with the thralls dispersing, albeit with many backward glances toward him. He looked up when only the Alpha was left. It turned and smiled at him.

"Good kin."

The Alpha then turned and started to walk away but it paused and looked back at him in... Confusion? Worry? A hint of alarm?

Then it also left.

 _That was twisted. They were arguing about me. Why? Maybe the Alpha wanted to show them that I am not dangerous to them. Let them think that if it comforts them._

* * *

The final two-leg swung its false-tooth at his shoulder and struck its target. His fire struck back and tore the offending two-leg to pieces. He reared up to roar his victory to the audience of two-legs, but the area was almost completely empty. There were no thralls in the valley.

There was only one two-leg standing on the cliff up above him. A short, thin two-leg youngling with brown fur on its head and brilliant green eyes.

"Hiccup?"

Hiccup stared out at the fighting-valley, a shocked look on his two-leg face, as he beheld the charred corpses and scattered pieces of flesh.

"You, Monster!"

"No, Hiccup, I... I did not want to."

"Toothless, we don't have to kill them!"

"It would have killed me," he whimpered.

Hiccup then gasped and clutched his paws to his frail chest, which suddenly sprouted a bright red stain. Hiccup reached a paw inside his own chest and pulled out his motionless life-organ. Then Hiccup's little two-leg body fell from the ledge.

He jumped to catch Hiccup, but the distance was too great...

And he woke up with a shiver of fear as he caught his breath.

 _Only a bad sleep-vision..._

There were a couple of thralls out in the darkness. They were attentively watching him. They eventually left after he settled back down and appeared to go to sleep.

 _I had to do it. That does not make me a Monster._

* * *

Many suns passed without his being taken up to the fighting-valley. He started paying more attention to the other things happening inside the underground place. The two-leg thralls all had their own unique traits, some of them were angrier while others were gentler toward him and the other kin. He made a point of not growling or snapping at the nicer thralls. Several new kin were brought in and a couple ones he remembered seeing in other traps vanished, likely victims of a fight. There were several of the kin in here who were clearly the dominant ones, primarily the fire-scale he had seen on his first sun up in the fighting-valley. And also himself as more of the fights progressed.

The tedium was broken when the thralls came to his cage and fitted the muzzle on him as usual. However, they did not take him to the fighting-valley. Instead, they led him to a different place underground past several other traps. This change in the routine put him on alert.

The larger place they led him to already had several two-legs inside it. They were fighting and struggling with a small spine-tail female. He stared in alarm as it looked for a moment like they were trying to ground it for some reason. The struggle finally ended with the spine-tail tied down on its back in an obviously very uncomfortable position. Then the thralls who stood around him started herding him forward toward the other kin.

 _What are they doing?_

He stopped walking to avoid stepping over her, but the thralls wouldn't stop. They kept pushing at his flanks and poking at him with sharp sticks until they forced him to crawl up and onto her. She squirmed and hissed at him in protest. That made it very clear what was happening.

They were trying to mate him to her.

He completely froze for a moment and then reared back with a growl. He hissed and tried to swipe at any of the two-leg thralls within reach. The two-legs around him kept shouting, poking, and prodding at him.

Why had they thought that he would want to mate with a spine-tail? That was certainly one of the most thought-twisted things any of them had ever thought. They were not the same type of kin, and it was the wrong season for it. If she had been a Night Fury like himself, then maybe. Even that would have been bad because of the wrongness of two-legs forcing them together instead of them choosing each other as mates. In addition to all that, he suspected that he wasn't quite old enough to sire any eggs yet.

The Alpha came over and assessed the situation after questioning his beta. The Alpha glanced from him to the she-kin. It gave another series of commands to the thralls, who again pushed him over toward the spine-tail. Knowing that it wouldn't matter and that fighting wouldn't help him at all, he reluctantly climbed back on top of the spine-tail, which also squirmed in protest. He had no desire to mate with her. She definitely agreed seeing as how she snapped at and tried to bite him.

After several moments of nothing happening, the thralls hauled him back at a dejected signal from the Alpha and led him back to his trap. They left him the usual bucket of water and a large fish. It was only after he was once again locked away and alone that he seriously thought about what had happened. He even had no appetite for the food he had been left.

Nothing in all his captivity had made him feel smaller than their attempt to use him to make eggs. Up above the ground, under a warm sun, with a she Night Fury whose interest he had won and who wanted to make an egg with him, that would be very good. This left him rightly feeling nothing but revulsion, as if he had eaten rotted meat.

 _Why would the Alpha want me to mate? Does it think that I can give a spine-tail an egg? Twisted!_

He reflected on his experiences in this two-leg trap-nest. None of the female kin had proper mates from what he could tell. They were all kept separate from every other kin. The two-legs wouldn't take eggs from their dams, would they?

 _Yes, they would._

It made some sense in a horribly twisted way. That would be one way to always have more kin in their trap-nest. Make the males do most of the fighting. Take the eggs and hatchlings some other place. The hatchlings would never learn the things they needed to learn to survive and be true kin. They would know nothing except what happened inside the walls of this trap or whatever other bad-life the two-legs had planned for them. This would be their whole world.

His isolation weighed on him anew. Climbing onto the spine-tail brought him nothing, no feeling of excitement and eagerness. In his prior life, he hadn't been of age to mate when he had started protecting the kin from the two-legs on not-now-home-nest-island. Once he had been of age though he had occasionally ranged far from that place in search of other kin like himself, but he had never found any. That knowledge and the emptiness it always brought had cooled his life-fire to the very idea.

He closed his eyes and thought of the skies beyond the walls of this trap, always present and always beyond his reach. His sleep-vision was of a she Night Fury, as alone as he was and waiting for a mate that would never find her, perched on some distant mountain.


	29. II - Grounded

_**Author's Note - This chapter will cover the passing of many months worth of story time. This chapter has some of the most despairing moments for Toothless, although there are hints of light at the end of the tunnel. I am also curious what you think about the character development we see in Toothless as his arc continues. How do you think he has been changed?**_

* * *

 _"It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end." - Ursula K. Le Guin - The Left Hand of Darkness_

* * *

Grounded

* * *

Much to his frustration, the two-legs tried to mate him several more times. They clearly did not understand anything about how kin chose mates. The Alpha two-leg was very unhappy with the complete lack of any success with the other-kin females.

There was no way to tell how long he had been a thrall other than by the number of valley-fights. He did notice though that the two-legs were wearing more furs on their bodies, and the weather started getting colder.

He didn't fight as many times as he had in the past, for which he was thankful, and he always won the few fights that he did have. One spine-tail did manage to give him a deep and painful scratch on his neck. That injury had worried the Alpha two-leg enough that it kept him from fighting for many suns. Then the fights stopped entirely.

The cold-season eventually settled in, and all the kin started going into their deep sleeps. Even he would close his eyes and not awaken for many suns on end except to be fed and have his trap cleaned. While his previous long-sleeps had been free of sleep-visions and passed almost instantly, this one was different as it was filled with vivid images and sleep-stories.

 _Drifting over the old-home-nest and watching the two-legs all throwing nets and ropes at their own kin._

 _Distant mountain peaks capped with snow and an indistinguishable voice whispering to him._

 _A strange but welcoming cave at the base of a mountain, the path leading into the cave cleaned of boulders._

 _The kinder two-leg thralls bringing him fish and pulling off their faces to actually be two-leg Hiccup here to rescue him._

 _Large ice-rocks as big as hills floating in the water._

The confusing mess of stories in his head when sleeping puzzled him in his waking moments. Several of the stories made some sense from his past experiences but others were completely strange.

Even outside of the sleep stories though there was one idea in particular that had planted itself in his liver and only grew stronger the more he thought about it. That of finding a life-mate, a life-partner of his own. Now that he had the time to think about it, the desire had always been present but needed a spark, a first flame, to light on fire.

Twisted though it was, that spark was the two-legs' attempt to use him to make eggs.

 _I will not die old and eggless without trying to find a mate. I may be small still, but I am almost big enough. Next new-life-season I will be big enough to be a sire. My scars will also be impressive if I do find her. If I ever get out of this trap-nest._

He hid himself under his tailfins and a wing and closed his eyes to return to the long sleep.

* * *

The new-life season was approaching in the air. He could smell it. It was also clear from the shape of the clouds and the temperature whenever the thralls led him out into the fighting-valley.

He strongly suspected that his fights were the ones that most of the two-legs showed up to watch. There was something strangely warming about the idea that they liked watching his battles the most. Of course they should be impressed by his strength and fire. He even started roaring aloud for their amusement when he was brought out into the valley. They always liked that.

The roaring of the Alpha to the audience was very loud and excited this time, and the two-leg audience responded vigorously. Something seemed different about this announcement, and he was immediately wary. It almost sounded like they were building up to a special fight to welcome the new-life season.

The Alpha stepped back and had the thralls release him. Every time he walked free in the valley, he imagined that the ropes tied around his wings might fall loose and he could make his escape into the sky. However, the thralls never made a mistake when temporarily grounding him.

After a couple tense moments, the mouth of the large trap on the far side of the valley began to open. He growled and stared at the opening, trying to get a glimpse of what opponent he would be matched against. His liver was chilled when he saw it.

Big, red, and angry. The bull fire-scale. The Alpha-kin of the trap-nest.

It leapt out, slithered into the valley, and set its back alight with fire in a display of intimidation. Its sharp talons dug into the dirt as it glared at him and began to stalk around the valley. He sized it up and considered his options.

 _It is stronger than me and has many scars. I cannot scare it. If only I was bigger now, I would feel better about fighting it._

The other kin made the first attack by leaping at him, intending to close its jaws around his neck. He barely dodged to the side. The fire-scale resumed stalking him as he kept his distance, closely watching and looking for an opportunity. It was well over twice his size and obviously was very experienced at fighting. Its talons were far larger than his, and the idea of fighting it directly did not have any flight.

It did have a limp, probably an old injury to its right leg. He reversed his direction so that it would have to lean on that leg to continue stalking him. The audience kept roaring in suspense. After a while, the fire-scale noticeably began to limp and groan more as it followed him. Then something in it snapped, maybe because it realized his plan to slowly weaken it. It let out a roar of frustration and leapt for him, throwing all restraint to the winds. It opened its maw wide to flame him in its anger.

The ball of blue fire that left his own mouth flew perfectly into the fire-scale's open maw and exploded with a flash of light. The other kin pulled up, howled in pain, and shook its head wildly with smoke dripping from its maw. It collapsed on the ground at his side and whimpered as the audience of two-legs roared its acclaim. Even the Alpha cheered his victory.

He held his head high in triumph and roared in dominance. To defeat the Alpha of the trapped kin here made him the new Alpha in a way. His life-fire flared hot with pride as he looked around at the roaring audience.

He barely saw the flash of movement out of the corner of his vision.

The fire-scale wildly swung its arm-leg-wing at his side and struck him. For a moment, he didn't realize what had happened, the shock of the wild strike was too great as he rolled over and recovered himself. Thrall-two-legs were rushing at him and the fire-scale. Then he realized that the ropes that normally encircled his body and bound him to the ground were gone, torn away by the other kin's desperate strike. He turned away from the thralls, ready to leap into the air and make his escape.

His wing burned with white-hot fire, driving him to the ground with a shriek of pain. Thrall-two-legs piled onto him and shouted as the Alpha was yelling behind all the other noise. He forced open his pain-wrought eyes and caught sight of the worst imaginable sight.

The outer half of his left wing was broken, the bones having cleanly snapped and pierced through the thin wing-skin in several places.

He did not have the strength to roar, scream, or kick in anger. He did nothing but stare at the burning, dangling part of his wing as flight itself, the very thing that most made kin what they are, was once again torn away from him.

The thrall two-legs seemed like they were trying to help. Over a couple pawful of them were directed by the Alpha to tend to him by holding him down, muzzling him, and working the broken bones back inside the wing. Were it not for the shock of the injury, it would certainly have been an excruciating pain.

After the rough treatment ended, he was dragged back underground and deposited in his trap, the open and burning wing dangling on the ground at his side. Though doing so would certainly pain him in his liver, he craned his neck around and closely inspected the damage. Each of the major bones seemed to have cleanly snapped from being dragged forward at such an unnatural angle. He did not dare try to move a muscle in his broken wing.

After inspecting the injury and after the shock wore off, he lay his head down on the stone ground in complete resignation. A moan of despair and loss echoed in his trap.

His life-fire was quenched.

The two-leg Alpha came by and stood outside the trap. He didn't bother looking up at it or giving it any response. It rumbled something almost sad-sounding at him and then left him alone.

He continued to lay on the ground, broken and powerless, and turned his thoughts toward the emptiness of the future. No Hiccup to miraculously make grounding-hurts be not. Never to escape this terrible trap. Never again to touch the clouds. Never to chase an eager female through the skies.

A grounded kin was a dead kin.

* * *

Many suns had passed since his liver was chilled and his life-fire stilled. Since he lost that most important part of being a kin. Since his future fell from the skies.

He only lay on the hard rock and stared aimlessly. He never growled at the passing thralls or responded to the Alpha's visits. He took no pleasure in the fish he was brought. There was no strength or energy left in him to fight or resist or do anything. The very warmth of his life-water was stolen away.

He had eventually managed to fold his wing in despite whimpering at the pain it caused him. Not that he had any hope that such an injury could heal. He had seen other kin with similarly broken wings long ago; none of them had ever flown again or lived long afterwards. Even if the bones appeared to heal, they would never have their old strength again, and a single break or errant beat of the wing could send him falling from the sky mid-flight.

For a time, he lay prone on the ground and pondered if he could, through an act of will alone, still his life-organ and fall into the ever-sleep.

There seemed like there was nothing left to be alive for.

His inner-voice, which he imagined spoke as Hiccup did, whispered that those were bad winds to let his thoughts fly on.

 _You were grounded once before. This one is not that bad. You did not lose the wing._

He huffed at his own foolish optimism.

 _I might as well have lost it. There is no Hiccup to help with this._

His gaze tracked one of the many thralls as it passed by, and then he closed his eyes again to wallow in his misery.

 _Maybe it will heal with time._

* * *

The two-legs kept up with the more desirable parts of their routine, the bringing him food and water and cleaning out his trap. They did take him back up into the fighting-valley again, but his life-fire was dead and he did not have any fight in his liver. Instead of fighting the kin that they put against him, he sulked in the shade by the mouth of the trap. The other kin had no desire to fight him either and relished its very easy triumph.

It was shortly after that attempt at making him fight that the routine was resoundingly broken. He was attempting to sleep in his trap when he heard the sounds and smelled the scents of strange two-legs in the nest.

He turned a single eye to the gathering of two-legs outside his trap. The Alpha and several thralls were gathered with a pawful of large two-legs which he had never seen in this nest before. The Alpha was busy talking to the strangers, who firmly responded to the Alpha while gesturing toward his trap. They were clearly discussing him.

Some of the Alpha's thralls entered his trap and moved to inspect his broken wing. He did not bother resisting or hissing at them. The strange two-legs were especially interested in the damage. More talking followed until the Alpha of the strange two-legs turned to this trap-nest's Alpha and said something clearly challenging. A hush went through all the gathered two-legs until the Alpha he knew made a paw-gesture to his trap and said something in a submissive tone.

The new two-legs entered his trap and started fitting him with the various bad-things the two-legs put on him, the muzzle and rope around his neck being the first restraints imposed. Next, a hood was fitted over his entire head and finally another rope went around his folded wings.

He blindly followed their lead without resisting. They led him outside into the fighting-valley and through another opening. All that he could learn about where he was being led was what he could guess from the sounds and smells around him. The sounds of two-legs and cries of alarm from them and their other thrall-prey-creatures gradually died away.

The new thrall-makers regularly made their laughing sounds and liked talking to each other. One of them eventually pulled the hood off his head. They had indeed taken him entirely outside the two-leg nest and were leading him to one of the two-legs' main walking paths where one of their rollers pulled by four-legs stood waiting for him. He growled at the memory of being carried in one of those things.

The two-legs must have thought he was growling at them because one of them kicked him in the flank. He bit back the anger that swelled in response so that he would not get hit again. They securely tied his muzzle to the rear of the rolling thing and spent a while talking together and laughing loudly.

 _Winds above, I hate that sound._

Then the Alpha of this two-leg pack came back and inspected him up close. It was a large two-leg with big forelimbs and many old scratches and burn marks, which indicated that it was accomplished at combat. It did not blink at all when he gave it his best 'I will eat your liver' look. The two-leg Alpha said something to the small group, and they departed a moment later.

He glanced back and noticed more rolling-walkers leading others of the trap-nest-kin down another path.

It was a small consolation that the thrall-making-Alpha from the trap-nest had been overthrown and lost his thrall-kin.

He had no idea where these two-leg kin-thrall-makers were taking him. It was all he could do to stare at the wooden wall in front of him and keep walking while trying to not draw any attention from the two-legs.

* * *

Mind-numbing monotony. Step after step, forced to follow behind the four-leg-drawn-walker as his paws pained him after so many steps. The metal chain was tightly fastened to his muzzle, and the ropes around his wings were very tight. The two-legs who now possessed him had left no room for him to wiggle from the trap.

There was nothing he could do but reluctantly follow along the dirt path. The two-legs did feed him and stop off at streams to get water for him drink, but they were still very cruel. They marched him for an entire sun almost without stopping. He was left out of breath with his tongue lolling out in the mid-sun heat. And still they forced on. One with a large mass of brown face-fur laughed every time it came back and kicked him to get him walking again.

It made anger burn hot in his liver despite his being grounded. The two-legs were not remotely afraid of him. That was not right. Two-legs should be afraid of kin. That was normal and how all should be. Even a grounded kin still has its teeth, fire, and claws.

 _They should fear me. If only I could get out and get at them with my claws and fire…_

He had no idea where they were taking him or why. More fighting in another false-nest for two-legs' pleasure, or could it be something else? Of all the kin they could have taken, they seemed the most interested in him at first. Also, the previous Alpha two-leg had not been happy at his being taken.

 _It is lucky that I am not there anymore. I would gladly kill it too._

He barely slept that night when the group stopped and made a temporary two-leg nest. Instead, he curled in on himself behind the rolling-walker and thought. The many-colored-sky-breath far above was barely visible beyond the clouds.

There had to be a way to escape. The only things preventing that were the chain binding him to the rolling-walker and the two-legs' vigilance. But even if he could escape somehow, there was a far worse problem. He was grounded and would have no choice but to flee on the ground. That would still leave the issue of the chain wrapped around his neck, his muzzle, and his tied wings.

He opened an eye and looked at his four captors. They were cheerily talking and stirring the pot of food over the fire. He could smell the fur-four-leg in the pot even from where he lay.

The wind shifted, bringing something new in the air. A faint smell of ocean water.

 _Another water-walker? Where to this time?_

He glanced up at the evening sky and the billowing clouds. His ears drooped slightly at the portent of coming rain. His weary limbs and heavy eyelids proved too much and he dozed off while the two-legs made their camp.

* * *

The rain poured without ceasing. The clouds completely blocked the sun, and the wind whipped the branches of the trees on the sides of the path.

Every one of his steps left his paws covered in mud. As bad as it was for him, it was worse for the two-legs. Their rolling-thing and four-legs were struggling on the narrow path. There was a lot of shouting at each other. Especially now since the four-legs were not obeying their masters well and the path had a very steep drop-off into a chasm.

It was a perfect opportunity. Between the feisty four-legs, and the rain, wind, and the cliff edge just off the side of the path, the two-legs were not giving him any attention.

The chain clanged with every step. It was too thick for him to break; he had already tried that. But where the chain was anchored on the rolling-walker, that he was certain could be broken. It was only a wooden beam holding his chain to the rolling-walker.

He took a deep breath and stepped closer to the stopped rolling-walker, letting the chain coil on the ground.

 _No flying back after this..._

He lunged backward and tossed his head with all his strength. The chain snapped taught and its base was torn away with a great crack. He tumbled backwards down the path away from the two-legs. The chain and the base it was attached to dragged on the muddy ground, fouling his apparent escape.

The shouting of the two-legs grew louder as they neared. There was no way he could run fast enough with the weight he was dragging. It was going to be a fight.

 _No fire, no teeth, no wings… great…_

He stopped and turned to face them. They had several different types of small-false-teeth but nothing more deadly that could harm from afar. He curled his lips and snarled at them. Their carefree attitude was gone, and they were all very tense as they closed on him.

They paused a couple steps away. The largest one tried to placate him and edged closer. He growled at it and kept kneading at the ground with his paws and claws, daring them to come closer.

The rain kept falling, billowing down their heads in small streams. Their footing became slightly unsteady as the rainwater flowed down the muddy path. None of them moved. The tension in the air could be cut with a clawtip.

If it were not for the rain and the wind, he could surely smell their fear and hear their racing life-beats. A bit of motion caught his eye as one of the two-legs reached behind its back. A strike of sky-light lit up the sky not far away.

He had already moved by the time the flash faded from their eyes. His claws had dug into the ground and found traction in the solid dirt under the mud. He leapt between the two-legs and spun in place, whipping his tail around and knocking down a pair of them. At the same time, he reached out and clawed one of the two-legs before him. It fell with a scream, clutching its gashed-open arm. The other swung its weapon with a roar of rage and struck his shoulder, slicing a claw-deep tear next to the base of his neck.

He lunged with a snarl and knocked into the male, who was still off-balance from the swing. He grabbed its miserable head in his jaws, leapt forward toward the cliff's edge, and hurled the screaming male from the ledge. The screams were swallowed up in the storm as the sky's growl followed the strike of sky-light.

The two that he had knocked down had gotten up and charged to avenge their kin, their weapons both at the ready. He inhaled and leapt as high as he could, the pain from his wound and his anger both feeding his strength.

The tips of the weapons barely grazed his belly as he passed over their heads. A sharp crack followed as he crashed to the ground and whirled around on them. One of the two had been struck by the chain and had fallen motionless to the ground. The remaining one still standing looked around frantically. It shouted something angry at its kin and then turned back to look at him in fear.

He took one slow, dangerous step in the two-leg's direction and flashed his teeth. The two-leg backed away and fled down the path. He carefully stepped forward and nudged the remaining motionless body, putting a paw on its chest. Its life-organ was dying even as he felt for it.

That left just one. Exactly as he needed.

 _Now for the hard part..._

He stepped over to the remaining two-leg, the first one he had wounded. It tried to run when he approached, but he leapt and pinned it to the ground with a paw on its chest. He carefully stood on its good arm to make sure it could not do anything.

It started growling and yelling while struggling furiously. It seemed to be calling to its fellows, but there was no answer. It stopped when he lowered his head just a clawtip from its head and snarled right next to its ear, the rain-water dripping from his snout. He let out all his anger at the bleeding cut in his shoulder.

The two-leg whimpered and lost its life-fire. He could smell its waste-water even through the rain.

He stood there, carefully watching it and kneading at its chest with his claws but doing it no more harm. He deeply wanted to claw it to death, to get revenge for all the times it swung a rope at his flanks to keep him moving.

 _Rot take me… if only I knew how to write…_

Hiccup would know what to do. He stepped back from the two-leg and huffed at it. It took several nudges but eventually it opened its eyes and stared at him, all traces of its hardness and cruelty gone and replaced only by fear.

He lifted a forepaw to his muzzle and fiddled with it while keeping his gaze locked on the two-leg. Then he stepped closer to it and tilted his head to show it the straps. He put the other forepaw on the two-leg's chest, his sharp talons resting fully on its skin.

Perhaps the two-leg was an especially stupid one, or maybe it was too afraid to think clearly. It took a while before it understood what he wanted.

"No… no… good kin… good…"

He grumbled softly and flipped his head again. Very slowly, the two-leg lifted a trembling paw toward his neck. Their gazes, alternately threatening and fearful, never looked away. The two-leg struggled with the straps for far too long before they loosened. The straps were eventually undone, and he tossed his head about and struggled with the muzzle before tearing it off. The lengths of chain clanged as they and the leather muzzle collapsed on the ground.

The two-leg was rewarded with a nod and grumble, but it was not free yet. There was one more thing that it needed to do. He stepped back and turned to the side, scratching at the ropes that encircled his body and pinned his wings. A quick growl at the ropes and a glance back at the two-leg made his wish clear. The two-leg kept glancing away from him and down the path.

 _Not yet…_

Very slowly, the male stood up, its empty paws held out before it. The two-leg glanced at the ropes and slowly bent down to pick up a small weapon.

He snarled and bared his teeth.

"No… no…"

A quick glance at his side signaled to the two-leg to move. Very slowly and with the weapon held in an open paw, the two-leg carefully approached. He made a point of showing it his teeth and flexing his claws.

It felt completely wrong to let an enemy approach him with a weapon. Especially one that had just fought him. And he was going to let the two-leg take that sharp-tooth right to his side. It was a small weapon and probably couldn't do much harm, but it was still dangerous.

If the creature tried anything at all…

He growled in warning as the two-leg slowly raised the weapon and ran it along the rope. The two-leg's paw trembled against his side as it ran the weapon back and forth, slowly slicing through the rope. Then the two-leg grabbed the ropes and worked on them with its paws.

It was done, and the two-leg quickly stumbled backward. The rope came loose, and he worked the coils off his body. They all fell in a wet mass in the river of mud at his side.

"Good kin…"

He turned his attention back to the two-leg. He fought with himself, deeply wanting to claw it to death this very moment. To revenge himself against it. But he had also made something of a bargain with it. It would free him from the ropes, and he would not kill it. Another two-leg had once freed him from ropes.

He stepped back from it and tossed his head toward the path with a satisfied grumble. The two-leg's eyes went wide with surprise. It took several steps down the path while watching him, as if it expected him to pounce or attack at any moment. He rolled his eyes and hissed at it.

"Run," he growled.

The two-leg seemed to understand somehow, and it wasted no time in starting down the path with all the haste its legs could give it.

 _It will have a story to tell its kin._

He was left alone.

Free of the two-legs.

No more chains, muzzles, ropes, or saddles.

Never again.

He stood tall on his hind legs and let the rain pour down his neck. The rain had not lessened and the wind still whipped through the trees, but the world felt different already. To be able to hold his head aloft without any bindings or two-leg things, it all reminded him that he had survived the worst of the two-legs. He was free and wild in the liver, not like the submissive and broken kin who had no life-fire.

He roared to the passing clouds.

A sting brought him back to reality and down to all fours. The cut was frustratingly out of his reach and stung as the falling rain hit the wound. But at least it stopped bleeding on its own and would be one more fighting hurt-mark to be proud of one sun in the future.

Far worse though was his wing. It still had the terrible and unsightly bend halfway along its length. A burn frequently flared inside the bones whenever he tried to stretch the wing at all. It was not nearly as painful as it had been shortly after being grounded, but it was enough to remind him of the truth. To remind him that he was still a grounded kin, no matter how else his condition had improved.

He started up the path toward the rolling-walker and hopped over the remaining two-leg body. Maybe there would be something he could eat up there.

 _The four-legs. They could be good eating._

But he growled in anger when he saw that they were gone. They had escaped at some point in the fight and had run off into the darkness. If he were able to fly, it would be easy to track them down and catch one.

Then he had a thought.

He hopped back over to the remaining body. Its death was probably fast, judging from the foul gash where part of its face was smashed in from the chain he had whipped through the air.

He might have thought differently if this bushy-face-fur two-leg had been kind or at least not unkind to him, but that had not been the case. This was not a two-leg who deserved respect or consideration. It had given him none at all.

His mind made up, he sliced off its false-skins and discarded them. Then he knelt down, sank his teeth into the belly, and struggled to tear away a mouthful. The warm, red flesh was very different from the bland, dried fish and four-leg-prey he had gotten used to.

 _Grr, as bad as I remember it…_

Finding its liver though was satisfying in its own way. Still, something did not sit well with him about filling his belly in this way. After the body was picked of everything worth eating, he stepped back and licked his lips clean of the life-water. Something still compelled him to remove the remains, which he carefully dragged to the ledge and tossed over. Other two-legs were sure to pass by here eventually, and there was no reason to leave the mess behind for them to see.

The only signs that there had been a fight at all were the dropped weapons and broken rolling-walker. The rain did not show any sign of stopping soon and was already washing away the spilled life-water. He walked further along the path past the abandoned rolling-walker and hopped off to the side of the path to take shelter at the base of a stand of tall thin-tooth-leaf-trees.

He scratched at a few itches on his side and lost a couple of old scales. Then he curled up tightly and rested with a sigh of relief, now able to lay on grass and completely free of chains or ropes. The rain and wind continued to swirl with the passing storm.

His sleep, once it finally came, was filled with visions of mountains, caves, the catching of many ground-birds and thrall-prey-animals, himself with wings spread aloft on a wind, and another Night Fury soaring at his side.

* * *

He woke up before the sun had even broken the morning shell, the storm having long since passed. Most two-legs would not even be awake now, which made traveling safest at night when he could move unseen. Being that he was grounded now, his remaining unseen was absolutely essential.

He took one more look at the ruined rolling-walker and the place of the battle and gave it a happy growl. Then he turned tail on it and set out into the relative quiet of the pre-sun darkness.

 _Where do I go now?_

It was unlikely that living back on his-home-nest-island was going to be possible even if he could ever get there. Hiccup's false-foul-livered sire turned on him. The only option that was possible now was for him to continue to live out here in the wild outside of the two-leg nests. This was exactly as kin were supposed to live.

But he was alone again without even the meager comfort of being around different kin in other traps.

 _Would Hiccup have been willing to fly the nest too?_

On the one paw, nestmates were supposed to go their own ways in the world after they left the nest. They are supposed to catch their own food and find their own mates. For some reason, he had not given those any serious thought before or envisioned life after he became an adult again.

 _I was getting weak in the home-nest-island. Forgetting what I am. I need to live for myself and get strong again._

He stared at a wispy cloud far above.

 _I will survive._

He paused before taking another step though as he found his thoughts again drifting toward the home-nest-island, Hiccup, and even Astrid. Being so far away from them and having no prospect of ever returning left a gaping void in his life-fire, a sadness that he had not been very aware of before. Then he shook his head of such thoughts and continued forth into the unknown.

* * *

It had been five sun-cycles since he had seen any two-legs. His solitary sojourn up along the coast was carefully planned to avoid approaching any of their nests. He also made an effort to only travel at night to avoid being seen. His black bulk against the night's darkness made him almost perfectly unseen as he passed.

His initial elation and surging life-fire had quickly simmered as two related problems became apparent. One was that two-legs, for all their many problems and badnesses, were very good at providing food for their nest, and he had become rather reliant on that effectiveness. Now though, he had no choice but find his own food in the wild.

The other problem was of course his broken wing. He couldn't even try to lift his left wing out without feeling a burning fire flash midway up his wing. There had been several occasions when he found himself staring up at the chirping, passing birds while feeling the chill of ice in his liver. Being grounded prevented him from being able to hunt well, if at all.

He was resting by a small stream in the hope that a four-leg of any kind would wander into reach of his claws when an idea bit at his tail. It wasn't an idea that he especially liked, but the idea had lift.

 _Food is with the two-legs. Maybe I can grab one of their prey-four-legs to eat. Or even a grounded-bird, those are are good to eat after the feathers._

Slowly and cautiously, he made his way between the trees and walked until he came upon a two-leg path, one of the trails they made to roll their walkers pulled by four-legs. Then he began following it, keeping very alert to any sign of approaching two-legs. It was shortly after dawn broke the shell that he was noticed his opportunity.

The smoke that rose in a thin trail up into the sky was the first obvious sign that he was approaching a two-leg-nest. But how big was it? The smaller, the better. Keeping to the bushes and trees the entire time, he crept closer to the outermost nest-cave until he saw the place where the two-legs kept their prey-animals. Then he saw something that made his mouth-water flow.

Small-horn-four-legs were gnawing at the grass and completely unaware. All his old instincts resurfaced as he remembered the course of the wind and stalked closer to them while keeping himself crouched low to the ground.

 _Almost there... a little closer..._

He dashed for the prey, closing the distance with a great leap. His jaws clenched around the neck of a braying four-leg as the others dashed for cover. One of the two-legs' guard tame-wolf-four-legs started barking from afar but didn't dare approach. He turned tail, his prize still struggling and braying from between his teeth, and ran from the place before any two-legs could arrive. He quickly snapped his prey's neck to silence it. It was only after he was securely hidden away among the bushes and trees that he paused and dropped his dead prey. A quick carving of its fur from its body followed and then he feasted, savoring the taste of fresh life-water on his tongue.

Once he was finished, he set off deeper into the forest to find a stream to drink from and a place to rest.

 _I should have done that long ago back on the home-nest-island even if the two-legs would not have been happy. There is nothing like the thrill of a fresh kill._

He happily rumbled to himself as he curled up under a tree across from a mumbling stream and closed his eyes. There was a somewhat reliable source of food out here after all.

* * *

 _You are lost, dark-wing..._

 _A Night Fury slowly made its way through the forest..._

 _You are not where you belong..._

 _A Night Fury lay at the mouth of a cave in the mountains and stared out toward the horizon..._

 _You do not know the winds of life..._

 _A Night Fury lay unconcerned and free on the ground in the middle of a two-leg nest..._

 _Do not let anger grow in your liver..._

 _A Night Fury flew over a two-leg nest and rained down glowing life-fire as two-leg fighters, females, and fledglings ran in terror..._

 _Do not think that you need to ground all two-legs..._

 _A Night Fury held its head high and roared as it stood over a pile of burned two-leg bodies..._

* * *

Yawn.

He slowly got to his feet shortly after nightfall and stretched his limbs. Then he set out again for the place where the two-legs' prey-animals were kept. His belly was still full, but he wanted to learn if he could catch another prey-animal from this place.

Unfortunately, all the prey animals had apparently been gathered into one of the large wooden-den-nests and were not out in the open for him to hunt.

 _Smart of the two-legs... they learned that a hunter is stalking their prey._

He turned tail on that place and resumed his slow trek along the coast. Several sun-cycles passed during which he kept to the shadows and slept under trees. A couple of two-leg nests were in his path but didn't have any prey-animals for him to hunt, so he passed those by. He paused and more closely inspected the third nest he came across.

There was a den outside the nest which happened to have a lot of ground-birds and various other four-leg-prey. Even better was how the trees and thick bushes extended right up next to the wooden side of the den.

 _This will be an easy hunt._

He settled down and waited for nightfall. The two-legs went out at dusk and brought all the prey-animals inside the den. Slowly and alertly, he crept closer to the mouth of the den-trap, fully aware that he was visible against the small light-giving fire. There were no sounds of alarm yet. A single talon hooked into the latch and opened the mouth, which then swung open. He darted inside and caught one of the large-fluffy-fur four-legs as the other prey-animals began flapping and braying in terror. The prey went limp in his jaws when he crushed its neck, and he turned to depart the den.

A two-leg-male holding a large metal weapon stepped into his view. It saw him and did something very foolish; it bravely charged at him.

He had tried to avoid conflict by sneaking into the den. He had fought enough two-legs for a lifetime. But this one was threatening him, just as the many two-legs in the fighting-valley had also approached with their weapons held aloft.

He lifted a forelimb and struck at the male, knocking it aside into the wall. And he felt an intense desire to continue clawing at it, to trample it, to make sure that it was dead and could never hurt him again. The thought of watching its life-water spill onto the ground sent fire into his liver. He stepped toward it with a growl and prepared to strike.

Indistinct voices approached outside in the darkness.

He spun away from the downed two-leg, dashed back outside, and ran toward the trees to get away from the place, not knowing how many other two-legs were approaching. He paused at the edge of the forest as something compelled him to stop and look. The male still lay on the ground, rolling in agony.

 _Yes, hurt... Feel pain._

Then another two-leg, a female, appeared from around the den and knelt at the male's side. More surprisingly though, a pair of fledglings also came out of the darkness and went to the downed male's side. One of the fledglings was very thin and had a head-fur very similar to another two-leg he had once known.

He froze and found that he could not look away as the new two-legs tended to their grounded kin.

Then he glanced down at his claws, one of which was slightly covered in life-water, and back to the downed male with its kin gathered around it. His liver was seized by something unthinkable.

 _What am I.._

 _Get up... get up you stupid two-leg..._

It eventually did, though it leaned heavily on its kin.

He breathed a sigh of relief that it did not seem too badly hurt, continued on into the trees, and dropped the dead four-leg-prey, his hunger momentarily forgotten. He lay down in the cool darkness and let his thoughts wander.

Something about the encounter pierced him to the liver. This was a two-leg that only wanted to tend to its flock of prey-animals and protect its own kin. And the fledgling that looked so much like two-leg-Hiccup was a painful reminder of something he had been forgetting.

Two-legs do not all have guilt of being Monsters. He could not rightly say or think anything about all two-legs from the bad actions of one or a few two-legs. That each two-leg had to be judged on its own actions.

 _It should try to defend its prey-animals. I made it fight me._ _I did this..._

A few more moments in that den and those fledglings would probably be without their sire. That was something bad that he could somewhat relate to.

He knelt and started slowly tearing off the four-leg's white fluffy-fur while thinking about the home-nest-island with all its kin and two-legs who lived together.

 _Maybe kin and two-legs should not nest together. I... cannot be around them. I should not be around them. It would only mean more fighting and killing._

He gnawed on the haunch and thought about where to go and what to do. There were fewer two-leg nests the further up the coast he went, that much he remembered from the past. The forests were thicker and there would be more prey to hunt the further from two-leg nests he went.

 _That is what I will do. I will go away from two-legs and live on my own. I must for now._

* * *

"Sire?" he chirped upon the great kin's return.

"First of mine," sire rumbled while nuzzling his head.

"You and dam said 'two-legs'. What prey are those?"

Sire sighed heavily and got up, beckoning him out of the cave. He followed by hop-flying from boulder to boulder in a display of his growing strength. Then he followed sire over to the cliff where they both lay down.

"Your dam would not want me to tell you yet, but I think you are big enough to learn and understand."

His life-fire glowed with sire's praise.

"Two-legs are the great not-prey."

"Not-prey? Danger?"

"Yes, they are danger to kin, but they are more than only danger."

"How danger?"

"They have weak bodies. No big teeth, very small claws, no wings, and no fire. But they make things to make them strong. They make sharp sticks to be their teeth and claws. They make themselves Alphas of four-leg-hunter-packs. They take prey-furs to put on their own bodies where they do not grow fur. Very clever creatures. They are very dangerous, and you should run on sight."

He considered all that wise sire told him.

"Much danger from two-legs. Are they in your range?"

"They range closer to here every season. Some suns I think that we kin should nest here, two-legs should nest in other places, and the two not see paw or tail of the other. The two-leg hunters are monsters, but I wonder if they only grow into monsters but are not monsters as nestlings and fledglings."

"What do two-legs look like?"

Sire gave him an amused rumble.

"How many legs do you think they have?"

He thought for a moment until the answer grabbed at his tail like his little nestmate at play.

"Two?"

"Yes," sire rumbled, "the front paws they hold up in front of them. They have fur on their head and their mouth and they have no tail."

"No tail?" he exclaimed.

"And they stand up on two legs all the time."

He gasped in amazement.

"But how do they not fall?"

"That is an amazing thing about two-legs, my little one..."

"I am not a little one..."

"You are to me, my little one."

Grumble.

* * *

Countless sun-cycles passed. The star-shapes in the night sky changed. The new-life-season fledged into the hot-season.

He walked on, keeping to the shadows and forests and avoiding all signs of two-leg nests to not risk any violent encounters. He lost weight as the catches were more infrequent than he was accustomed to. However, each meal was thoroughly earned. More of the old instincts and skills that had not been needed for many season-cycles awakened, helping his hunting improve as much as possible on the ground only.

In all the sun-cycles that passed, he only saw a couple of kin, far up in the sky. Why there were so few kin was a mystery. He looked up to them in longing.

He continued onward on the ground, never feeling fully confident that he had found a good place to roost. Either there was no good hunting around or there were two-legs nearby.

Finally, after a further moon-cycle, he crossed over a small ridge near the coast and saw a very promising location. The coastline jutted out into the ocean, and the entire area seemed ringed by the large mountains far inland. It looked so large that it would take a great part of a sun-cycle to walk from the mountains to the distant coastline. More importantly though, there were entire areas that were grassy and in which he could see herds of grazing four-legs. There were also inlets and shallows in which he could easily catch fish. Best of all, there were no signs of any two-legs; no paths worn into the dirt, no smoke spiraling into the air from their den-nests, nothing at all.

Without letting his hopes get too much lift, he continued on into the place, down the ridge, and toward the plains. The four-leg prey-flock eventually spied his approach and galloped away into the forest.

 _I will not chase you this sun..._

He took the sun-cycle slowly, exploring the coastline, plains, and forest for any sign of two-legs. There were none except for the bones of a water-walker crashed on the rocks. He did not bother inspecting it because it was dead and grounded. Then he found the one thing that made his decision final, something that he had not enjoyed in many season-cycles.

A hot-water-bubbling-pond.

He dashed for it and gladly jumped from the rock at the side of the pond, splashing into the steaming water. The warm, bubbling water flowed over his entire length as he stretched himself out and slowly unfurled his wings. He floated, savoring the heat bubbling around him. It felt like resting on a black rock that had been soaking in the sun's heat at the end of a bright sun-cycle. His thrum of pleasure vibrated in the air as he floated in delight.

He only dragged himself from the hot pool well after the sun vanished beyond the horizon.

 _This is a good range to live in._

One more quick glance around followed as the small bugs and birds of the night began to sing their songs all around him. Then he set out for the mountains in search of a cave in which to make his den.

* * *

 _Closer dark-wing, you are still lost..._

 _You need to be shown the winds of life..._

 _A vast mountain-range loomed ahead, a waterfall streaming down the side of a cliff..._

 _A grass-covered landscape dotted with barren rocks..._

 _A mountain-ridge that looked down over the valley and toward the sea..._

 _An old, strange type of kin lay on its belly with its eyes closed, its wings spouting old rips and tears..._

 _The kin turned toward him..._

 _I am waiting..._

He shook himself awake and looked around in confusion for the old kin. It seemed so real that he even forgot for a moment that it was only a sleep-vision. He grumbled and looked around the cave and just outside the entrance for any sign that there was another kin nearby. There was none, no smell and no sound of anything out of the ordinary, but he knew that he was not going to find any more sleep this night. After walking for a long time, he looked back at his cave hidden partway up the slope.

It was the best of a few caves which he had discovered while ranging several suns after he arrived here. It was rather hidden from view in case there were to ever be any two-legs around here, which there never seemed to be any. The only two-legs he ever saw were far out at sea on their water-walkers. They never showed any interest in stopping here, perhaps because they were foiled by the sheer cliffs that ran partway along the shore. There was only one place where the two-legs could easily bring their water-walkers to land.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard rustling in the bushes up ahead. Something dashed away from him and vanished among the trees in a flurry of hooves, but something else was left behind. A tiny four-leg prey head rose from the grass and froze when it saw him, clearly trying to not be seen. He approached and sniffed at it.

 _You are a lucky little one. I am not hungry now. Go, grow bigger, make more of your kind, and I will catch you another cycle._

He turned away from the petrified prey hatchling and slowly made his way down the slope to the cliff. Once there, he lay down and stared out over the moonlit ocean and listened to the waves crashing against the rocks below.

 _Maybe my head is trying to sleep-talk something to me. I know that I have never seen that type of kin though._

 _Half a moon-cycle I have been here now. The hunting is good, the bubble-water is good, the cave is good, and there are no two-legs. But why always have the same sleep-vision?_

The soft wind blowing in from the sea seemed to answer him.

 _I am waiting..._

"By my egg, now I think the wind is talking to me."

He had the strange and uncomfortable sensation of bugs crawling all over him and under his scales, though he knew well that there were none.

* * *

He closed his eyes and ducked under the warm water, completely submerging himself in the bubbling comfort. Slowly, he floated up to the surface where he lay on his back and relished the simple pleasure of being. Of being free of two-legs and of living on his own terms under his own power, limited though it was. The game trails and best hunting locations were becoming clearer with time. It was actually very surprising that there were no other kin living in this range, not that he was going to complain about that point. It left more hunting for him alone.

He eventually climbed out of the water and folded his wings away. The warm water definitely seemed to help with the remaining pain. The wing still had several places where the wing-bones were not straight, but the wing did not hurt nearly as much as it once had. The idea that it might heal with enough season-cycles to let him taste the winds again gave some breath to his smoldering life-fire.

But the sleep-visions had only grown more intense. They were so vivid that he was not able to sleep well. Something was certainly beckoning or calling to him from across the lands. The steep mountain loomed above him as he ambled back to his cave. A very strange, almost Hiccup-like, idea formed in his thoughts to explain all that was happening.

 _Maybe the sleep-vision wants me to find that kin on a distant mountain. Maybe that kin can think words to me from many ranges away._

He let out a great sigh.

 _I will never catch sleep until I go find that kin._


	30. II - Divergence

_**Author's Note - For those who had trouble keeping track, it has been about one year since the events of Schism. Lest you fear that too much tragedy and gloom befall our beloved Night Fury, things will start improving for him soon enough. There are also a few more chapters that will follow this arc before switching over to Hiccup's arc. We will not catch back up with Berk at all until much later.**_

* * *

 _"We are two ships each of which has its goal and course; our paths may cross and we may celebrate a feast together, as we did... But then the almighty force of our tasks drove us apart again into different seas and sunny zones, and perhaps we shall never see one another again,-perhaps we shall meet again but fail to recognize each other: our exposure to different seas and suns has changed us!" - Friedrich Nietzsche - The Joyful Wisdom_

* * *

Divergence

* * *

Getting out of the range proved to be the most difficult part of the journey. The tall mountains that ringed the range and over which the sun hatched were almost impassable on the ground. He did eventually find a pass though after scrambling up several steep slopes. The path was high enough that he felt the chill on his belly and had to bound through snow. Then he finally stood on the ridge's peak, poised between two different paths. The one went back into the safety of his warm and familiar range and the other led down the slope into the unknown following only a whispering sleep-vision.

He stared out toward the horizon, toward the endless forest and a set of distant peaks just barely visible over what should be not even a half-sun of flight. For him though, it would take many suns of walking.

His thoughts flew back to how many times he and Hiccup had failed at learning the together-flying in another life. How long it took before they had known what was needed without words. How many times he had lain alone in the trapped-valley that became the friend-place. How many times he had wondered how this kind two-leg who rekindled his life-fire was going to change his future.

He let out his defiant growl and started carefully scrambling down the ledge without a backward glance toward his range.

* * *

He lifted his stained jaws from the large-horn four-leg and tipped his head back as its liver vanished into his belly. Three suns had passed since he left behind the safety of the familiar range. There were no signs of two-legs or any of their nests out here. In that time since he left, he realized something good. There were no sleep-visions that kept him from sleep. It was as though his journeying itself almost silenced the whispers while leaving just enough urgency in his liver that he knew to continue.

He tore off a chunk of thigh and swallowed it whole. This catch would keep him sated for several suns.

Meanwhile, the four-leg-hunter-wolves circled around him in their small pack. They did not concern him at all because they were only waiting for him to finish with the kill so they could eat what he left behind.

Once his hunger was satisfied without unnecessarily gorging himself, he turned tail on the remains and resumed his journey, wanting to put a little distance between himself and the pack before resting off his meal.

He arose again when the moon was high and waited a moment to watch it in its flight.

"You are like me. Alone in your kind and you have none flying with you. Except you can fly."

Then he yawned widely and stretched all his limbs.

 _I have not seen another kin in three moon-cycles... How do I even know that these are the right winds?_

* * *

He continued on up the slope at the base of the mountains. The new sun had reached its highest flight when he arrived at the top of the grassy ridge, lay down on the warm grass, and stared with amazed recognition.

It was exactly as he had seen many times in his sleep-visions. There was another large line of mountains off in the distance across a large lake set in a valley. The nearest mountain on his side of the lake had a cliffside down which water was streaming into the lake. One of the mountain slopes in particular caught his attention now that he looked closer at it. The slope was very grassy and speckled with large rocks.

 _That is it..._

He scrambled down into the valley and approached the isolated lake. It looked very dark and still, the kind of deep water that could have unknown prey or predators hiding in its depths. His tail twitched as he stared at the lake. Then, seeing nothing and knowing no better way across, he swam out into the lake.

 _I miss that hot-bubble-pond. This is cold and dark._

He barely caught a glimpse of small, dark shapes darting away from him in the water and was tempted to go after them for fun or as a test of his fish-hunting. But there was something else about the water that chilled his liver and bid him continue across.

He hauled himself out of the lake and shook the cold water from his wings. His attention turned to the steep slope when he noticed a flash of color. A yellow shape arose from behind several nearby trees and began to approach him.

It was a kin, that much was certain. It was the size of a small fire-scale-kin. What looked like soft, fleshy spines ran from the base of its neck all the way to the tip of its tail. Its tail was very long and dragged on the ground behind it. It also moved very slowly with its head down and a limp in every step. Its wings looked shriveled and were clearly useless.

He thought he knew why it looked so weak.

 _It is very old._

The strange yellow kin, a female he could tell from her scent, stopped in front of him and dropped several large fish at his feet. He stared down at the juicy fish in confusion.

 _What?_

A strange kin just offered a fish-gift to him? That was strange but liver-warming also. He gave her a rumble of appreciation, and she lifted her head to look at him. He froze in alarm and stepped back when he saw her eyes.

The eyes were pure white. It was something he had never seen in a kin before, but the effect was unmistakable.

 _You cannot see._

The yellow she-kin chuffed and nudged at the fish with a forepaw.

 _You would be surprised, dark-wing._

The thoughts seemed to echo from his own head but did not feel like his own words. He growled at the brief pain that flared inside his head and then vanished.

 _What was that?_

 _Do not pretend that you have mind-rot, dark-wing._

He looked around wildly and then realized where they had to be coming from. The she-kin kept staring at him with the same unseeing eyes. It left a very unsettling feeling in his liver.

"You can... thought-talk?"

 _And I will eat the fish if you do not. Do you know how long it took me to catch them?_

He reached out and grabbed the fish in his forepaws with a grumble while still wondering at her. This was the first other type of kin he had ever met that could directly talk to him in a way, and it was a very strange feeling. He had always somewhat assumed that his own type of kin was the only one with real voice. And then there was the strangeness of thought-talk itself.

"You knew I was coming."

She chuffed happily.

"How?"

 _That is a story for another sun-cycle. For now though, you should eat and rest because you have flown far from your range._

He again shook his head and grumbled in confusion.

"How do you know that about me?"

 _Not now._

He gave up trying to get anything from this old female who seemed to want to keep her secrets, and then he turned his attention to the fish. They were clearly recently caught, which meant she had to have caught them just before he arrived. Caught them and not eaten them. Precisely as though she indeed knew that he was coming.

A strange explanation for something else came to his mind as he bit into and swallowed the largest fish.

"Did you make me have sleep-visions of this place?"

 _Make you? I only let you see as I see._

He again grumbled in confusion.

"I do not understand."

The yellow she-kin got up and slowly walked out toward the lake.

 _I will show you when the moon flies at its highest._

Then she slipped into the water, ducked under the surface, and vanished into the lake's dark depths. Even if she could not fly, she was clearly still adept at swimming.

With the last large fish securely in his belly, he was able to reflect on this discovery. There was at least one other type of kin that was as smart as his own and could talk. More than that though it could talk mind to mind or life-breath to life-breath. That was the far more alarming thing about the encounter. Admittedly, she did not seem dangerous or do anything threatening, but the power to influence other kin in their thinking was a power that he was innately distrusting of. The same type of power had tried to make him drop his own dear two-leg into a Monster's maw and had made many kin into thralls.

The yellow she-kin eventually broke the water's surface and slowly swam to shore. A large, wriggling fish tail disappeared down her throat as she hauled herself onto land.

 _Even blind she can still hunt well. Maybe she can also see with sound or feel life-fire._

 _Almost true, dark-wing... I know where the fish will be._

"Could you stop listening to me?" he growled in annoyance.

 _That is hard to do when your thinking is very loud._

She walked toward him, very slowly as her age showed far more on land, and paused at his side. He again could not help but notice the large, old tears in her wings, and he felt something strange in his liver. A sadness for this kin, for a kin who was not of his own nest or even his own type of kin.

 _What is this? Why are you sad for me?_

"Your wings... you are grounded. Like I am."

She turned to him, her unseeing eyes still a brilliant and unsettling white.

 _Why do you think you are grounded?_

"A fire-scale-kin broke my wing."

She tipped her head up as if to look at the sky and went silent for several moments.

 _I am not as grounded as you think. My old body is grounded but my life-breath flies free. Follow._

He got up and followed her as she slowly made her way up the grassy and rocky slope. Several places were steep enough that he had to dig his claws into the dirt to keep a solid hold. A very clear path had been worn where she had presumably made this passage many times. He found that it helped to follow directly behind her, despite the fact that she moved very slowly. It was quite impressive how she still managed to find her way despite her condition.

They walked and climbed until the sun fell close to the horizon. Then, with that same strange feeling of being somewhere he recognized but had never been before, he saw an outcropping of rock that created a shelter. There was also a ledge that looked out over the whole valley and could probably even see out a full sun's flight if there were no clouds flying in the skies. She walked up to the ledge and then lay down with her long tail drooping over the edge. He followed and gladly lay down on the sun-warmed rocks.

"This is your roost."

 _It has been for many, many season-cycles._

"Are you alone here?"

She did not move or say anything for a while.

 _I had a mate once, long ago. But we never had any young; that was not in our winds to fly. Not our purpose._

"What do you mean, your purpose?"

She laughed softly.

 _So many questions, young one. You may go to my roost by the mountain and sleep. I will stay here under the stars._

He could almost feel the finality her declaration and knew that he would not get any answers out of her now. He turned aside from her and walked the short distance over to the natural shelter. This was clearly her roosting-place as the rocks had many old claw-scratches, several shed scales, and her strange smell covered the place.

As he lay down and covered his head with his wing, he thought to himself that there was something very odd about this kin's behavior. She was not at all territorial or threatening, shared fish with him without even being asked, and the things she said or thought almost sounded and felt not like a kin.

 _I wonder if she has met kin-friend two-legs. I should ask her._

After many suns of walking with initially restless sleep and the long, arduous walks down into valleys and up the mountain slopes, a deep, peaceful sleep followed despite it being only shortly after dark. No sleep-visions disturbed him this time.

* * *

Something unsettled him enough that he stirred and arose, yawning widely at the disturbance. He turned to glance at the ledge and stared into a pair of eyes that glowed in the moonlight. It was very startling, and he almost bellowed in surprise.

 _Peace, dark-wing._

"You..." he blinked away his drowsiness and alarm.

 _Who else would be here? Come._

He got up and followed her as she slowly walked over to the flattest part of the small, rocky plain on her part of the mountain. The night was peaceful and cloudless with the sky-breath dancing in all its colors far up in the sky. She stopped next to a rain-water pool which reflected the stars and moon above.

 _I should apologize to you for clutching answers in my claws. It has been many suns, many cycles even, since I met another kin with our life-breath._

"I have never met another type of kin who could talk like this," he answered.

 _There were few that could give words. Soon it will be only dark-wings and those like you._

"Why?"

 _I am very old. Like sand sliding out from my talons, my seasons are almost gone. My life-fire dims._

"You are the last of your kin?"

Her sadness bled through even into her thought-words.

 _There were only two of us, me and my once-mate. The future and the past. I will be dust soon._

"Where is he? Why is he not with you?"

Her thoughts were tinged with clear regret but also certainty.

 _I left him many, many cycles ago. He was not bad to me, but I needed to leave. We flew on different winds. He made a choice and became something that I... I will not say more. But you did not come here to listen to my life-story._

He slowly nodded as there were indeed other questions on his mind.

"Why did you make me come here?"

 _Make you? How did I make you? I showed you a place. You and your own life-fire wanted to come here. But why?_

"I thought I would get answers. Why was I having those sleep-visions? What would I find here? How did you show me this place?"

She hummed to herself in thought.

 _I do not know how I do what I do. I can see places that are far and suns that have not been. I knew that you would come here one sun, so I looked for you. I felt for your breath and fire across the lands and through the winds. My life-breath found yours and showed you where to find me._

"I do not understand."

 _You need not understand how. I needed you to come here so that you can learn._

"Learn what?"

 _Tell me, dark-wing, what do you want? What is the most important prey for you to catch?_

He lay his head down on his paws and stared out toward the horizon. His usual confusion and mixed feelings seemed somehow clearer in her presence.

"I miss my nest-mate, my brother. I wish that I could see him again, fly with him, and play with him."

He sighed deeply.

"I also wanted to find a life-mate of my own, a she Night Fury."

 _Night Fury, so that is what they call your kind now._

"That was before I was grounded," he solemnly mumbled.

 _Your wings will touch the sky again._

"What?" he exclaimed.

 _I saw you fly down over that water and catch a fish for me._

He looked down over the dark lake.

"But I cannot do that."

 _You will._

He gingerly unfurled his wings and considered the broken one. The bones that had snapped did seem to have healed back somewhat, even if noticeably imperfectly. And it had been many suns since he had even tried to fly or put any stress on the wing. Throwing himself off the cliff right now was too dangerous for sure.

He stretched his wings out to their full length and gave them a slow flap. Everything was fine until the downstroke when a burning fire shot down his wing into his shoulder and made him whimper in pain.

She gave a sad sigh and hung her head without thinking anything to him for a long time.

 _It must be then... Go down and fly in the water when the sun flies high. That will help you get your strength back. Your wings will only remember their old strength though when they touch the sky._

"Even if I do ever fly again, then what? I cannot go back to my old home-nest-island."

 _Why not?_

"I... was hatched in a two-leg nest. The two-leg Alpha... would not let me come back."

She became far more interested when she heard that.

 _You know the two-legs?_

"Sadly," he nodded.

 _Sadly? Are they not good to kin?_

"Some are good. Most use kin though or try to kill us. Even the good ones only want a kin of their own so that they can fly with it."

She hummed to herself.

 _They are the strangest creatures. Kind and cruel. Strong and weak. In the cycle of life but they want to be outside the cycle. No other creature has held the fire of the stars in its paws or brought..._

"What?"

 _...nothing. That was many, many cycles ago in a world that is gone now. I am happy to hear that some two-legs are good to kin even now._

She paused and stared up toward the moon, clearly overcome by a bad memory.

 _Maybe that future I saw does not happen. But it seems clearer every season._

"I thought you said that you know what will happen."

 _Some things are certain and others depend on choice. I can see the outcome in both ways, but I do not know which choice will be made. I fear..._

"What bad vision stalks you?" he kindly rumbled.

She paused.

 _I see kin dead. Mated pairs, juveniles, yearlings, hatchlings, the unhatched, all dead beyond count. I see dark skies in which I cannot see any kin. All gone from the world.  
_

He shuddered at that terrible notion.

"But how could that happen? Not even the two-legs can catch all kin."

 _I do not know. That knowledge always escapes my grasp._

Neither of them said anything as that horrible vision lingered.

"What about me? What do you see for me even if I can ever fly again?"

 _Two paths there are for you. You can return to where you came from, your range with no two-legs and with plentiful hunting. You could live there for many season-cycles in safety until you grow old and become dust._

 _The other path is hard. You would fly toward the rising sun until you cross an ocean and a grasslands with no prey or water. The storm you meet will be a curse and a gift. Many suns you would fly until you find a range of mountains with valleys and many small ponds. There, in the tallest mountains, you would find the mate you want, a she Night Fury._

He lay motionless. It captured his mind and flamed his liver like nothing else she had yet said. There was one other thing that still gnawed at his liver though.

"What about my nest-mate, my brother? Will I see him again?"

She was silent for a while and eventually grumbled to herself before answering.

 _I do see you rejoicing with another he Night Fury. I do not know which wind will blow you that way._

He groaned as the choice became clear. It weighed heavily on him as he looked out at the surrounding darkness.

"Go back toward my range and see him again or fly to the rising sun and find my mate."

He moaned very softly as a faint chill circled his liver.

"I feared that this would happen. He is different from me and does not want the same things I want."

 _What wind would you fly? It can hurt to be apart from one you are kin to, but all things outgrow the nest with time. Change hurts but all growing hurts in its own way._

He thought of the old promise he had made that he would sire many hatchlings, of the strangeness of two-legs and the suffering caused by them, and of Hiccup, once one of the few exceptions to the rule.

"I... I would... find myself a mate. That would make me most happy. I will always remember my egg-mate, my brother, and have a place in my liver for him, but I would find another of my own kin, my life-mate."

She said nothing but hummed softly, apparently satisfied with his choice.

 _The kin that does not shed its scales does not grow._

"Why are you telling me all this? Why does it matter to you?"

 _You are important._

"I am only a small, grounded kin. What difference can I make now?" he grumbled.

 _Even the smallest kin can make the winds of time fly differently. Think about the swimming-brown-fur-four-legs that build dens in small rivers. They are smaller than all kin but can change waters._

She looked off toward where the sun would crack the horizon.

 _You should rest and then work your wings in the water._

Without saying anything else, she got to her feet and walked toward her shelter. He stayed where he lay beside the small pool. There was no need to take shelter without any clouds in the sky.

 _Can she really see what has not happened? She seems certain and she did catch fish for me before I arrived here._

 _If we can make ourselves live anew, then why can she not see what might be?_

He closed his eyes and eventually returned to sleep. Sleep-visions returned again, but these started out far more pleasant.

 _A Night Fury asleep at his side, their tails overlapping..._

 _A hatchling playing with him and his mate outside their own cave-den..._

 _A shadow seemed to creep across his vision..._

 _Two-leg water-walkers on the ocean..._

 _Kin of all colors and types swarming in the air..._

 _A nest of two-legs and kin against mountains..._

 _A blue Night Fury lifting its head in mourning_...

* * *

He was alone when he awoke with the sun's hatching. There was no sign of the yellow-she-kin anywhere nearby.

The blue lake down in the valley beckoned from afar. He got to his feet and began the slow and arduous climb down the mountainside. As with the climb up, he followed the path she had worn down over many seasons.

The sun was well into its flight to the highest point in the sky when he finally arrived at the water's edge. He took a drink of water and then waded out into the depths. First, he dove down under the water to clean himself of any remaining bugs and dirt acquired during the many sun cycles of walking. Several large fish darted away from him as he swam.

 _If only I was as good at swimming as she is._

Then he remembered what she had said he should do. Practice flying while in the water.

 _That is actually a good idea. Hatchlings can learn to use their wings that way._

He stretched out his wings and made a very slow and cautious attempt at a flap. There was no stinging pain or burn of fire in his wings this time. That was promising; however, his wings had grown very weak out of seasons of not being used.

Once, twice, three times.

He quickly tired and the mild activity left his wings feeling sore, but he had still been able to make it a decent way out into the lake using nothing but his wings to push him. An ember of hope started to burn in his liver as he paddled back to shore and repeated the exercise many times.

Once back on land for a brief rest, he looked around and wondered where she was. He had not seen her at all this sun.

 _Maybe she was sleeping in another roost._

He began the slow walk up the slope after several more ventures out into the water. His wings felt heavy against his side, but they also had the good tired feeling one always had after a long flight.

Once he finally reached the level of the ledge, he looked over to her shelter and noticed her reclining yellow bulk. She seemed very exhausted.

 _How did your water flying go?_

"I did not ground myself," he muttered.

She chuckled her amusement.

He ascended the final length to her side and decided to broach the question with her.

"Did you know two-legs once?"

She closed her blind eyes and hummed softly to herself.

 _I remember when the world was different. I knew two-legs once and called them my friends and kin. Many life-cycles have passed since then._

"I do not understand. Life-cycles?"

 _My mate and I live far longer than all other kin. Knowing what happened then changes nothing now though. I do hope that I will see the two-legs again._

"How? They will probably kill you if they find you."

 _Not here, no. Two-legs and kin have life-breath that are not very different. I think that both could fly together beyond the clouds of death and above the stars._

"Can you see after death?" he incredulously wondered.

 _No. None can pierce that cloud, but I can hope._

"If you could fly, I would say to go to the nest-island I came from. There are some good two-legs there."

 _I know that I will die here soon and I accept that. I must die here soon._

"Why?"

 _Because... my life must fade._

He got up, lay down at her side, and stared out over the vista.

"You think much of the two-legs. I do not want to see two-legs again," he sighed.

 _Why not? I thought you knew good ones._

"They have hurt me many times. They have broken kinship and trust."

 _Did all two-legs hurt you or did a two-leg hurt you?_

"Mostly one of them but they are almost all bad in their liver. Not only to kin but also to other two-legs."

She thought long before answering him.

 _They are more than most kin. Filled with becoming instead of staying. They have more ability to willfully do good or bad. You have that same life-breath and can choose what you will be. Do not think that you need to ground all two-legs._

He shivered at that.

 _Your kind can be the greatest hunter of two-legs if you wanted to be. Is that what you want to be?_

He closed his eyes and envisioned a Night Fury brutally killing and devouring two-leg Hiccup in that little clearing long ago. He also recalled that twisted feeling that filled his liver when he saw the female and younglings run to the male he had downed. The feeling of remorse, of wishing that he had not done what he did.

"No."

 _You cannot control them. All that you can do is live and not let the bad two-legs push you down bad thought-winds. To let them do so gives them power over you; lets them guide your flight in life. And you should protect the two-legs who do good to kin._

"Why do you not do that? Why do you instead hide here?"

For the first time, she gave a clear sign of frustration. But beneath her grumble and growl he could feel a solemn resignation and sadness.

 _I should not be near two-legs. I started hurting them by only being close to them. My life-will-power lets me see what might be but it can also hurt others. They see things that might be and it makes their minds and livers rot. Two-legs most of all cannot endure it._

He grumbled, recognizing the difficulty of her position.

"My kind has a life-will-power also. Mine is gone now."

That got her attention very quickly.

 _I know of it. The greatest given to all kin I think. To wrest life away from the jaws of death in a way. How did you use it?_

"I saved... another who I could not let die. I made us both new."

She said nothing for a long time.

 _It is curious if you think about it. That your thoughts alone can directly shape the world as you wish it through nothing but wanting. All kin with fire- and cold-breath drink from the same power but few can clutch it in their liver like your kind._

 _And soon none will._

"What?" he exclaimed.

She curled up and lay her head down, clearly becoming tired as the sun drew to a close. Or maybe it was the nature of what she was considering that was draining her. Her thought-words conveyed her resignation and emptiness.

 _I have seen it. The flame that lives in the livers and bellies of kin will die like fire under the rain._

"Why?"

She moaned softly and gave no reply as she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

* * *

He made his decision on the fifth sun since his arrival at this sanctuary with the strange yellow she-kin. Waiting any longer was not acceptable.

He stood on the precipice and stared down at the teeth-like rocks below. If something were to go wrong, if he was not strong enough... But every sun of swimming in the lake had given him more inner-lift as his wings seemed to have more strength, especially the one that had seemed to heal. Several times he had awoken to a warm, not painful burning in his wing, which felt very much like soreness from working it again. It was a good sore feeling that indicated growth and strengthening.

This was the only way to know for sure.

His paws knocked a small rock from the cliff as he caught his breath. The rock crashed against the cliff as it fell. It was a long way down off the cliff.

"Come on, Toothless, you are a Night Fury! You can do this."

His wings extended as though to touch the far horizons without even a twinge of pain. He closed his eyes and remembered a time long ago when a dear two-leg had done the impossible and, working together, had restored him to the skies. The soft wind ruffled his wings, almost beckoning to him.

Then he pushed off from the cliff and leaped for the sky.

It was only a slow glide with little attempt to gain the wind beyond a couple cautious beats of his wings. All he needed to prove to himself was that he could still fly and hold the air in his wings. To know that his wing had healed enough to let him taste the lift of flight and for his life-breath to be rekindled.

A single loop and slow spin were sufficient before he carefully pitched back and landed on the ledge as smoothly as ever before.

A moment of amazement passed.

The teeth that had been clenched about his liver since the new-life-season loosened and fell away. He spun around, dashed for the ledge once more, and threw himself into the air with a roar of joy.

A free, sky-hatched kin.

* * *

She very slowly hobbled out of the lake and walked toward him with a pair of very large fish between her teeth. She dropped them at his feet, and he rumbled his thanks while disposing of them. It was odd how she wanted to provide for him and even stranger that he did not mind being provided for. Almost like she was being a dam to him for these suns.

 _You should fly now if you want to go toward the sun._

"Why now?"

 _You will not find her if you wait here long._

"That is a good reason," he begrudgingly admitted.

He spread his wings and prepared to leave but paused with one unanswered question biting at his tail.

"You never told me your name."

She sighed deeply.

 _They called me... something that has no meaning to you. You can call me She-who-sees. And you, dark-wing?_

"I am... Toothless," he grimaced.

She chuckled with mirth.

 _One-who-has-no-teeth? I do not think that name is you._

"No?"

She did a very two-leg-like thing and shook her head.

 _You will fight great fights. You have shed your fledgling scales. You are not without teeth._

Her words felt true but also disturbed him. To abandon that name seemed like a final break with the past, a rejection of the last bit of Hiccup he still had with him.

He turned back to her and bowed his head and wings, respecting her age and words of advice.

 _Go and live, dark-wing._

She turned away as he threw himself into the sky. He took another glance at the lake, saw his own reflection in free flight, and stifled a roar of joy because he noticed a few large fish near the surface. That gave him an idea. She had given him too many fish without his being able to return the favor at all.

He swooped around and shot a ball of life-fire into the water at the fish. One of them bobbed to the surface, either dead or stunned. He grabbed the fish in his talons and flew back to shore where she-who-sees was slowly ascending the slope back to her shelter. She lifted her head and grabbed the fish out of the air after he dropped it.

He pulled up and out of the valley, his sights on the clouds far above, and roared aloud, announcing to the world his joy as he turned for the horizon where the sun breaks its shell.

* * *

She let go her grasp on his life-fire that she had held onto for many moon-cycles. It had taken most of her strength, though she had tried to hide that from He-who-has-no-teeth. She very slowly dragged herself up the slope toward the mountain's peak, her old bones and joints protesting every step. Once up at her ledge, she lay down and turned to where the sun rose and a long journey was begun.

The dark-wing would never know what she had done for him in secret as he slept. How she had shaped what remained of her life-will-power into strengthening his wing's once-broken bones. It was even possible that he might have some echoes of her own future-sight for season-cycles to come. For all that she could do with her mind-sight and thought-voice, she knew that the future was not in her claws now. Her work was now finished and long sleep beckoned, hopefully bringing an end to her future-visions of dark skies in which she could not see any kin. Her journey down the path that all must take would begin very soon.

She knew that she and the dark-wing would never meet again.

* * *

He flew for several suns. Over mountains and dense forests and past the occasional small two-leg nest. Never in all the suns did he see any other kin of any type.

A large ocean eventually came into view on the horizon. He could barely see mountains far beyond on the other side.

 _That is a half-sun of flying. I should rest and eat here before making that flight._

As he explored the mountains in search of prey though something started to tug at his liver. Something about this place felt... familiar.

 _I do not remember any sleep-visions of this place._

A prominent ledge on a cliff caught his attention, and he banked toward it and landed in a grassy clearing. He cautiously continued forward along the path between the trees. There was a large pile of boulders on the side of the path, almost as though they had been pushed aside long ago.

"How do I know this place?"

Then he noticed it at last. A deep cave set into the base of the mountainside. Like a crash of sky-light, he realized why this place felt so familiar.

It was his old nest-den where he had hatched.

Slowly and fearing what he might find inside, he crept closer as old, buried memories burst into the sunlight. Gnawing on his dam's tail while she play-growled at him, leaping on the boulders in chase of his sire, being made to share the catch with his little nestmate, and running for his life from the four-leg-wolf-hunters.

A bellow of challenge echoed from inside the cave. A large, fat, and furry four-leg-brown-fur-bellower walked out to confront him, but it turned aside and dashed into the trees when it saw him. He relaxed as soon as it was gone, and then he continued on inside the den.

There were old bones of prey-animals, probably caught by that four-leg, and plenty of fur and droppings. But there was no sign of any kin; no bones, no smell, nothing at all. He looked around the inside of the den, remembering so many details from long before and especially the sandy place at the rear of the den where his dam had tended his own egg.

It was not good that a place that had been as warm as this den should be so still and fouled by the four-leg and by bad memories.

"I survived, your first survived. What a story I could tell you if you were here," he whispered to the stones.

A disquieting idea pushed to the fore of his thoughts.

 _She was right. I am not Toothless now. That is not a name for a survivor._

He considered his life-story, trying to figure a name that would be him. Not one of those silly, twisted names the two-legs liked giving for some reason. This name had to be one that he could live in with his head and shoulders held high.

One idea, one experience seemed to keep recurring throughout his life, and he knew in his liver that it was him.

"I am Was-Grounded."

* * *

 _ **Author's Note - Let me take a couple moments here to opine on something. A friendship that is based on need or necessity is indeed a type of friendship and usefulness. But a neediness that prevents someone from doing what is good for them and what would let them grow is a limitation. It prevents the two friends from being on equal grounds. 'Do not walk before me as I may not follow. Do not walk behind me as I may not lead you well. Walk beside me and be my friend.' Toothless must learn this lesson and become free. This freedom does not preclude friendship more among equals though. The ending of the Gift of the Night Fury bothered me a bit in this regard.**_


	31. II - Apogee

_**Author's Note - I think you know what is coming. Someone else is going to be joining the story soon. Take special note of this chapter's title and try to guess at what it might mean. One other thing of note is Toothless's new name. His reasons for taking a name should be self-evident from the last chapter. He is a different dragon now. He has new priorities and lived a life that Toothless did not live (not the least of which is he has solo flight again). He will always refer to himself as Was-Grounded from now on. Might he ever answer to Toothless again? We will see.  
**_

* * *

" _And though I came to forget or regret all I have ever done, yet I would remember that once I saw the dragons aloft on the wind at sunset above the western isles; and I would be content." - Ursula K. Le Guin - The Farthest Shore_

* * *

Apogee

* * *

Was-Grounded left his old den before the sun's hatching. It was thankfully much easier to hunt now that he was sky-hatched again, and he quickly found the nearest herd of grazing four-legs. A dead four-leg was clutched in his claws moments later as he flew back to the den to feast.

While he tore into the haunch and filled his belly, he could not help but think back to all the season-cycles ago when his sire brought back catches just the same. It filled his liver with warmth to know that he was now just as good a hunter as his own sire had been.

His meal finally finished, he slowly walked from the cave. His gaze wandered over to the rocks pushed to the side of the path. It was only his being up on those rocks when he became a fledgling that had saved him from the teeth of the four-leg-hunters. Being up on those rocks and his own speed actually.

He traced the same path he thought he ran back then. Across the grassy plain and through the trees and bushes until he came to the cliff's edge. He stopped and rested there, looking down the shore in both directions. Even though he knew that he had to leave this place as well, he began to feel wistful at the thought of leaving again.

 _The two-leg and kin home-nest-island, my range by the ocean, she-who-sees' range, and now my old hatchling den... maybe I should stay here for the cold-season. No,_ _she said that I needed to leave fast._

He glanced around, for a moment drinking in the beauty and comfort of the place as the wind slowly ruffled his wings. But a shiver went through his limbs as he saw the cave at the base of the mountain. His sleep there had been filled with bad sleep-visions. More than once he had awoken and thought he could see his dam's dead bulk at his side, only to realize it was only rocks and shadows, or thought he heard the howls and barks of the four-leg-wolf-hunters.

 _'All things outgrow the nest with time.'_

He growled as he remembered the true but painful words.

"This is not my place now. There is nothing for me here. Only bad sleep-visions."

His mind made up, he spread his wings and leaped from the cliff. He set his sights on the distant horizon across the inland ocean and never looked back.

There was nothing but flights of water with no islands to perch on to rest. The flight indeed took a good part of the sun before he crossed the inland ocean. It was easily the longest continual flight he had made since regaining the skies and it left him exhausted. But never once did his wings give any indication of failing him. Once across, he alighted on the bare peak of the nearest mountain and observed the surroundings.

There were no two-leg nests in sight, nor were there any other signs of those creatures nearby. It would be safe to rest here. The mountains that ringed the ocean sloped down onto a flat plain largely devoid of trees. There was almost nothing but grasses as far as he could see. It looked like a barren and harsh place, very unlike where he had come from. There had always been enough food and water available even back in captivity among the two-leg captors. There was no promise of either out there.

 _This is twisted. Nothing can survive out in that in the cold-season. I hope she was right about this._

Caution won out after a moment of thought, and he decided to rest here where he was sure to find water. He flew to a small stream that fed down through the mountains and into the ocean and drank his fill. Then he curled up under a thin-tooth-leaf tree and slept off his exhaustion.

* * *

The next several sun-cycles all passed in a similar way. He flew with the wind without seeing anything helpful; no water, no prey, and no trees. He slept on the open ground in the grasses during the sun's flight. Doing most of the flying at night helped him preserve his strength against the warm sun and limit his loss of water. The shapes of the far distant stars at night changed and became very different from what he remembered. There was nothing on land but the swaying grass and a few bushes for the longest time. There were no prey animals of any kind.

Then something changed on the horizon. A smaller range of mountains gradually came into relief across the empty plain. More shrubs and trees started growing and the color went from a general dull brown to having more green.

He dove and landed next to the first small pond, the water of which looked drinkable, and quenched his thirst and his throbbing headache. He was still hungry but that was a less liver-twisting problem than the need for water.

It seemed the best water he had ever tasted.

Once back in the air, he continued on toward the mountains, hoping to see a sign of any prey he could hunt. More bodies of water passed under wing until he took notice of how many there were.

 _Wait..._

He almost fell from the sky in his shock when he recognized the place from a description. With his life-fire burning with excitement, he continued on toward the small mountains. Once at the top, he looked around. The ridge, lush slopes, and numerous small lakes and ponds ran for as far as he could see in either direction.

 _I found it!_

The tallest group of visible peaks beckoned from further up the ridge. A feeling deep in his liver whispered that those peaks were his final destination. For now though his hunger was great enough that he had to hunt, had to fill his belly with something. He glided down to investigate the waters. None of the small ponds seemed to have any fish in them, at least none worth trying to catch. If there were any prey hiding among the trees, he could not see any sign of them. The best he was able to do was a large-feathered-water-bird that was too slow to react. It was not enough to fully satisfy his hunger but it was all he was likely to get for a while.

He was again aloft and aimed himself for the highest peaks. The sun was just beginning to fall below the horizon when he finally arrived near the base of the mountains. They were rocky and looked barren. There was certainly no sign of any other kin. There were approaching rain- and storm-clouds flying across the plains.

 _Where would I stay?_

His gaze was drawn up toward the heights. There was something about them that appealed to his liver; high up was after all where he had made his den back on home-nest-island.

The thought gave him pause as he realized again just how far away he had ranged alone. How many suns it had been since he had flown from everything he knew. But it was his decision to do so and for good reason.

He was very alert for any sign of motion or any smell of another kin. There was no sure way to know how a wild she Night Fury would react to him arriving on her territory. Would she be excited to see him or be afraid and threatened?

 _I do not know my own kind._

A ledge overlooking the greenest part of the forest looked like a good place to land and rest. However, he froze as soon as he landed and had a chance to look around. There was a slight bend where the ledge curved around a corner of the mountain. Behind that bend was a pile of old chewed bones, bones of a large-horn four-leg. He nudged the largest bones while closely inspecting them.

 _Something brought the catch up here to feed. These teeth-marks... they could be mine._

It was some confirmation that there was indeed a kin of some type in these mountains.

He considered going back aloft to search higher up the mountain, but the incoming clouds and flashes of sky-light gave him pause. The clouds also seemed to be moving very fast, and being exposed to the worst of the weather up on a mountainside was an excellent way for a kin to ground itself. He glided back down to the ground to look for shelter. A slight gap in the tree-cover looked appealing, and he easily wove his way to the ground where he curled up under a dense tree and vanished under his protective wings.

The rain and winds arrived later and mixed with his own nervous excitement to prevent him from sleeping well. Eventually though the crashing of sky-lights and the roar of the wind passed, leaving only a steady rain behind. More than once during the night he thought he heard the crack of a branch and looked around out of caution. There was never anything there.

* * *

The new sun finally came. He shook himself of his lethargy and stretched his limbs and jaws. Even his hunger seemed somehow distant in his excitement.

 _Now to find her._

He found his way through the trees to a clearing and went aloft, flying back toward the mountains. Several large-horned four-legs dashed wildly under the trees, a reminder that there was prey here to catch even if they were protected under the tree-cover.

 _I should try to catch one later._

There was another large, grassy clearing at the base of the mountain. But this time instead of flying up the mountainside he paused and noticed something that he had missed on his flight last sun. Several large trees hid mostly from view what looked like the mouth of a cave. So he dove for it and landed outside the entrance.

And he froze almost as soon as he touched down. The path leading inside the cave was well-trodden by something with sharp claws. More than that though he could smell an unmistakable scent.

A Night Fury lived in this den.

He trembled from nose to tailtip, having imagined this meeting for many seasons without knowing what exactly would happen. Then he found his life-fire and roared softly to announce his presence.

Nothing answered.

He slowly and cautiously made his way inside the den. The smell of the other Night Fury grew even stronger. There was something else about it that would have initially puzzled him if he did not already know better; it was slightly different from his own or from Hiccup's distinctive scents.

There was another pile of old prey bones against the side of the cave. A flash of color on the ground also caught his attention. It was a scale, a dark scale with a hint of faded green. There were more shed scales strewn about on the ground as he went deeper inside. A ledge on the left-wing side of the den rose up above the ground and seemed to get a lot of use.

All considered, it was a good den. Warm, dark, hidden, clearly lived in, and with no foul smells of waste or rotten meat.

Even better, there was only one scent of kin in here. The Night Fury that dwelled in this den was alone.

He was completely lost in his thoughts and exploration of the den such that he did not hear a rush of wind and thud outside the cave's mouth. Then there was a sharp bellow of surprise.

He spun around and just barely saw a familiar tail whip out of sight outside the den. He ran, hoping to catch a glimpse of the den's occupant. There was nothing nearby, no movement among the trees and no other place to hide. And then he glanced up and saw it, a Night Fury rapidly flying away up the mountain.

He started after it, beating his wings furiously to catch up. The distance began to close between them with each frenzied stroke of his wings. The other Night Fury darted behind a ledge, clearly attempting to make him lose the trail. He lost sight of it for a moment but guessed correctly and spotted it again trying to stay very close to the trees. They wove near to the mountain's slope, tightly above the trees, and between narrow spires but with him getting closer every moment.

The pursued Night Fury eventually seemed to realize that it could not escape him and banked for the nearest solid ground. It deftly landed and quickly spun around to face him as he cautiously came in for his landing down the ridge from it. It stretched its wings to their full length, bared its teeth, and snarled in defiance. He crouched low to the ground and froze, not daring to move a muscle as he stared in amazement.

She was slightly smaller and noticeably thinner than him. Unlike him, she had very few frills around her head. Her brilliant green eyes were trained on him without blinking. Most distinctive about her appearance though was the faint green shine to her wings and scales. Her sharp and bright white teeth bared at him were impossible to miss as well.

Neither of them moved.

He remained motionless and submissive on his belly while she stayed defensive and wary. The tense moments stretched out as she continued to glare in his direction.

She eventually relaxed slightly and sat back on her haunches while lowering her wings slightly. But she did not let him out of her sight. Somewhat hopeful, he took that as his sign to do something and rose to his feet. She immediately snarled and flashed her bright white teeth again with a growl of warning.

Something told him that he had to let her approach him. He was a strange kin and a possible threat to her on her range.

"Do not have fear," he whispered.

She was taken aback and an expression of complete shock passed across her face before she recovered her outward wariness.

"You can talk?" she rumbled back in clear surprise.

Her voice was harsh, likely from many season-cycles of not being used.

"I think so," he answered.

Her expression, which had held nothing but suspicion and fear just moments ago, seemed to change as she kept staring at him. Her eyes were no longer narrowed but instead were wide with curiosity and amazement.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"I am Was-Grounded."

She rumbled in confusion.

"Why that name?"

"Because the two-legs grounded me. They broke my wing," he lifted the formerly-broken wing out for her to see.

She stared intently at it, clearly observing what was visible of the old break. She even took a hesitant first step toward him. Then his life-fire flared as she jumped forward and cautiously walked down the ridge to his side. He held himself very still as she shoved her nose right up against his wing to get a closer look. Eventually, satisfied with what she saw, she turned aside and retreated several steps.

"But you fly now. You escaped the traps of the two-leg-Monsters."

"Yes, I did."

"How did they catch you?"

"That is... a long story."

He did not want to tell her everything about his strange origins, as there was no way to know how she would react to it. Maybe that could be a story for some sun in the future if everything went well between them.

"Do you have a name?" he wondered.

"Green-Wings."

"Green-Wings, I see why you have that name."

She rumbled in approval.

"My dam called me that many season-cycles ago when I got my wing-color. I liked it and kept it. Why are you here, Was-Grounded?"

"I wanted to find another of my own kin. I... I have no life-mate."

He did not need to add anything else to make it clear what he wanted. Her expression remained calm, but there was something in her eyes, a look he could not quite place and that he had never seen before. Then she blinked and it was gone, or maybe it was not actually there at all and he only wanted to see it.

"I did not see any other kin in this range. Are you alone here?" he hesitantly asked.

"Yes, I thought there were no other kin like me now. None except the rotten-dead-liver one, but it is not a true kin!" she added with a growl.

"What?"

"It is a male bigger than you, but it does not talk; its head and liver are filled with rot and waste. We mated once many seasons ago, and it left me."

"My hatchling died without enough food," she added with a whimper.

"Why would he... it do that?" he growled.

"I do not know. It looks for me every new-life-season but I hide from it. It does not deserve me."

"No, it does not. Why is it head- and liver-rotted?"

"Maybe it was alone too many suns. Maybe its dam did not sit it well in the egg. When it found me the first time, I was impressed by how strong it was. But it did not stay with me, and I could not catch enough on my own for my little one."

"It lost its head and liver because it was alone and weak in its life-fire. It does not deserve to be a kin," he growled.

She hummed at his agreement and lay down on her belly, her tail slowly swaying behind her.

"Is this the range where you hatched?" he asked.

"No, I flew for many suns with the sun's flight many season-cycles ago."

"Why did you fly here?" he wondered.

"Two-leg-Monsters were nesting closer to my hatching-den. My sire and dam did not want to leave. I left when I fledged and saw the danger."

"But why here? There is not much easy prey."

She grumbled at that.

"No, but I survive. Some of the waters still have fish in them."

"And there are some four-leg-head-horn-prey in the trees," he added, remembering what he saw before.

She glanced down the ridge toward the forest with a look of longing.

"They are hard to catch when they run into the trees," she muttered.

"I will catch one for us," he confidently announced.

She stared at him for a moment and then turned aside.

"I will believe that when I see it," she said.

Then she swiftly jumped and glided down the mountainside toward her den. He hopped to his feet and watched her as she gracefully flew, the sight of her wings and fluttering fins making him hum in delight.

He too jumped from the mountain but angled himself for the forest, intent on catching one of the prey animals. The last thing she had said almost felt like a challenge or a test.

 _I am hungry, and she will be impressed when I bring the catch._

But the four-legs eluded him through nightfall. They were too aware of the danger and kept to the trees. Once night fell though he was able to sneak on the ground toward a small herd of large-soft-horn four-legs grazing just outside the forest. Slowly, step by step, he got closer. A single mistake, one snapped twig, would alert the prey. Then he felt that he was close enough and gathered the fire-air in his throat.

The shot of screaming life-fire that left his mouth struck its target, a large male, squarely on the neck. It went down with a bellow of alarm, which was silenced a moment later when he sank his teeth into it and snapped its neck.

He stood over the dead prey and let out a roar of victory. Not only was it the largest prey animal he had taken in many season-cycles, but this was his first substantial hunt since regaining the use of his wings. And it was also likely to impress Green-Wings.

The kill was too heavy to be able to fly with, but he was able to maneuver it onto his back and began the slow walk to her den across the clearing and through the trees. The dark carrion birds cawed as he passed.

 _None for you now, little flying hunters._

The moon was well into its journey through the sky when he finally arrived at the den, feeling very exhausted and sore. He slowly walked up to the den's mouth and stopped just outside, knowing better than to unbidden enter another kin's occupied den.

"Green-Wings!"

A stirring echoed from inside the den and a pair of glowing eyes appeared in the darkness as she stalked toward him. She yawned widely, clearly having just arisen from resting.

"Was-Grounded, what are you..."

He tossed his shoulders and dropped the large-horn-four-leg on the ground. Her eyes narrowed on it and her tail twitched anxiously. She took a hesitant first step out of the den and glanced back at him as he smugly rumbled to himself and held his shoulders proudly.

"It is for you..." he said as he stepped back.

She pounced and made short work of the prey, quickly slicing off its leathery fur and tearing off large chunks of flesh. His mouth watered at the smell of life-water and the sight of brilliant, fresh meat. His belly rumbled for him to eat, but he did not move a muscle. It was more important for him that she eat her fill.

She eventually lifted her head from the remains and licked her lips clean with a rumble of satisfaction. Then she stepped back and nudged what was left of the carcass with a paw. He gladly attacked and filled his belly with the innards and tougher parts of meat without begrudging her the best parts. Once he too finished, he grabbed the inedible remains and carried them well away from the den. The carrion birds that had followed him immediately descended after he dropped the emptied bones and furs.

"How did you catch it?" she asked when he returned.

"I am very fast and I never miss with my fire."

"I caught some seasons ago, but they are hard to catch. The herd is also small," she grumbled.

"It is. Have you thought of ranging other places?"

"There are other hunting grounds down the mountains, but the fish are only here."

She paused and hesitated before she made up her mind about something.

"I need sleep after all that catch of yours. You may sleep in my den if you want."

Then she spun around and vanished inside her cave-den. He gave himself a happy rumble. Then he slowly entered and noticed her already curled up on the small ledge that overlooked the rest of the den and only had room for one.

 _I am still a guest here. It is fair for her to be wary._

He lay down on the floor just inside the cave. The fire in his liver, which had long been smoldering and was only rekindled by regaining the skies, now gave him an almost tangible warmth throughout. Everything about meeting her had gone well, and she seemed to already trust him more than he could have hoped for considering how short a time it had been since they met. He glanced out the den's mouth.

The soft wind outside carried more of a chill the deeper into the night it became. It was a foreflier of the coming season-change to the cold-season.

* * *

Once he was soundly asleep, she opened her eyes and looked down from her ledge. She stared at him for a long time through the darkness and remembered all his strange details; the burn marks on his neck, the scars from old battles he had won, the place where his wing had been broken, and his odd bobs and sways he made with his head. Then she closed her eyes again while allowing herself a very faint hum.

* * *

Just over a half-moon-cycle had passed since Green-Wings accepted him into her den. He had learned many things about her range and about her in that time. She showed him where the best long-tooth-grass was to roll in, the clearest water to drink, and the most-frequented prey-trails. She also shared pawfuls of her past; more about where she was from, how large her home-nest once was, and the stories her sire and dam told her.

He shared more about himself as well but always withheld the full story. The knowledge that he had been in a way raised in a two-leg-nest and that he had been re-hatched was unnecessary for her to know when it could only taint her thoughts of him or make her think that he was somehow an inferior kin. She had been very impressed when he described how he got the wrapping burn marks on his neck. That he had grounded a kin that could spin sky-lights around itself instead of fire certainly sounded impressive in the telling. That he had received a little help from a two-leg or that the fight had been to protect a two-leg nest had not seemed relevant points to mention.

They ranged separately in search of food, sometimes for suns on end. They each always brought back food for the other when a substantial catch was made, which happened more and more infrequently.

Resigned to another night of slight hunger, he returned to the den and lay in wait for her return. She eventually did although with the usual nothing to share.

"No good hunt?" she mumbled.

"No, I think the four-leg-prey have moved on," he growled.

She twitched her tail in agitation and ruffled her wings.

"We must eat again before the cold-season. I know another place we can go to eat even if it is dangerous. We can fly there when the sun hatches."

Then she bounded up to her ledge and fell fast asleep.

 _Why didn't she say anything about this other hunting ground before?_

Regardless of her reasons, he held out some lift that they could have another large meal before settling down for the cold-season-sleep.

* * *

She nudged him awake shortly before the sunrise, and they went aloft in moments with her taking the lead. They both kept their eyes open for any sign of the prey-herd but it was nowhere to be found. For a while, he marveled that she was right there flying with him. This was the first time that they had flown any great distance at each other's side. Any observer could easily mistake them for a mated pair.

The temptation to play eventually became too great, and he flew up close behind her tail. Then he carefully nipped at the tip of her tail. She lurched higher with a bellow of surprise, and then glared at him with an accusatory look. He almost felt chilled when she suddenly threw out her wings and pitched down towards him, tagging his tail and letting out a playful roar as his flight was fouled. He recovered as she spun in a loop around him.

He aimed a short burst of flame well in front of her. He watched with great warmth in his liver as she cut through the burning cloud, her visible wing slicing through the fire as she flew out into the open air.

They flew until shortly after the sun's highest flight. Then she dove and flew closer to the treetops. It became quickly clear why. There was a two-leg nest off in the distance against the forest at the base of the mountain range. They both alighted on a ridge that overlooked the nest from far above, and they crouched down to remain hidden.

 _That is why she did not mention it before. It is a dangerous hunt._

"I did not know there was a two-leg nest," he muttered.

"This is the closest one to my den," she replied.

He looked over everything that he could see, all the different dens within the nest. The many small dens and one large gathering-den in the center. Without the cover of darkness to hide them, any attack would need to be finished very quickly.

"Where is the prey?"

She gave him a confused grumble.

"All through the nest."

"That is strange for two-legs. It should be easy hunting then. Do they have false-tooth-sticks?"

She glared in the direction of the nest.

"I do not think so. Not if we are fast."

"Grab the prey and come back here to eat?" he proposed.

She growled in agreement.

They jumped and dove toward the nest, keeping close to the treetops to remain out of sight as long as possible. Then they both burst into view above the nest and had only moments before cries of alarm would go up. He spotted the place where several four-leg-grass-eater-prey were grazing and adjusted his flight. He dove, crashed into the nearest prey animal, and sank his claws into its side. It brayed and bellowed furiously as he lifted it into the sky. It was a fat and heavy prey animal and shook furiously to try to get out of his clutches. A cry of alarm started to go up from the nest as he flew back for the ridge.

The first thing he did once he landed back at the peak was to snap the bleating prey's neck. Then he looked around for Green-Wings, momentarily concerned about her. But she was clearly visible ascending toward the ridge as well. He breathed a sigh of relief.

 _A successful hunt._

He turned his attention to the dead prey at his feet and began to carve at its fur. The two-legs had been fattening their prey-animals before the cold-season and this one had a lot of thick, juicy fat under its hide.

 _Yes!_

Green-Wings landed somewhat awkwardly at his side, and he glanced over at her.

He froze the moment he saw the two-leg pinned under her belly. He couldn't make out any of its features other than that it was a female, had black fur on its head, and it was very much still alive.

His liver was thoroughly twisted. It was the normal way of the world that the strong take what they wish and the weak suffer what they must. Two-legs were slow and weak on their own. By the normal way of life, Green-Wings deserved to eat what she caught. Her survival might depend on getting this meal right here and now.

But there was another part of him that whispered against it. The same part of him that had spoken when he chose to not kill a small two-leg male in a clearing many seasons ago. The same part of him that felt a shard of ice in his liver when he almost killed the unknown two-leg male that was only defending its prey animals.

She bent down toward the captured two-leg's head.

"No!" he leaped toward her.

"What?" she held the two-leg down with a snarl.

"Do not hurt it."

"What? This is my catch!"

"Two-legs are not prey..."

She blinked in apparent confusion, thinking that she had heard incorrectly.

"Yes, they are. They are not good eating, but they are prey."

"No, we cannot be like that, Green-Wings."

"Be like what, Was-Grounded?"

She still held the two-leg down underpaw but seemed to have forgotten about it, so confused she was by his words.

"Two-legs think kin are Monsters, are like kin-eaters. We should not be what they fear."

"Why not! They should fear us! Do you have rot in your head also?" she growled.

Her words pierced him to the liver. He distinctly remembered having the very same thought about them in the past, that they should fear him.

"No, I know two-legs well. They... can be Monsters but not all are. Do not hurt it."

She lifted a foreclaw and placed it on the two-leg's back with a toothy snarl.

"I am not leaving unless I eat. I will not die of hunger!"

He grimaced as he thought quickly and saw the only possible acceptable outcome.

"Take... take my catch."

She looked over at the partially skinned and very fat four-leg and considered the offer. With a grumble, she made the easy choice, let go of the two-leg, and bounded over to the much fatter and already dead prey.

He turned his attention to the female two-leg. It looked unharmed though understandably frozen by fear.

 _This is twisted of me..._

He lunged and grabbed the female in his arms as carefully as he could. It screamed anew and struggled against his grasp, but it was far too weak to resist. For the second time, he flew down the mountain toward the nest. This time though the nest emptied very quickly as most of the two-legs vanished into their dens. He hovered over the middle of the nest and carefully touched down after assuring himself that none of the fighters were near enough to threaten him. He released the two-leg onto the dirt and then stepped back from it.

She struggled to her feet and ran but stumbled. She spun around on her behind and glanced at him with fear. He calmly stared back.

"Sorry, little one," he mumbled.

Then he turned away from her and jumped into the sky. A glance back followed a few moments later and he saw several two-legs emerge from their dens to surround the returned female.

He groaned to himself as he again remembered the pain from his empty stomach. It seemed so foolish now. He had given up a perfectly good meal in the four-leg and for what? Peace of mind? A vague sense that he had done right, whatever that meant? It certainly was not the choice that led to the best outcome directly for himself.

He was still grumbling to himself when he arrived back at the ridge. Green-Wings was still busy attending to the four-leg's insides. She ate until she seemed unable to eat any more. All that was left when she stepped back was the head, a bit of flank, and the bones. She glanced at the remains and at him, so he finished what was left even swallowing the head whole. They both chewed on the bones to get at the sweet marrow inside. It was not nearly enough to satisfy him but it would get him through another sun with strength.

She lazily spun around to face him after discarding the emptied bones. She had an oddly confused look.

"Why?"

"Not now..." he grumbled.

"No, I want to hear your reason, now."

He lay down and stared at the two-leg nest.

"Why do you care about those things? What are they to you?" she demanded.

 _There is no better time to tell her the truth, I guess._

"I know the two-legs very well. I once lived in a two-leg nest," he answered.

"What?" she exclaimed.

"Yes, there is a nest-island far from here where two-legs and kin try to live like kin to each other. I... hatched in that nest. Me and my egg-mate."

"Egg-mate?"

"We hatched from the same egg."

She had a look of complete confusion and amazement.

"I did not know that could happen."

He hummed softly.

"It did for us. He is... close to my liver. The two-legs though are... Some of the two-legs are false, have livers of rot, and are bad to kin. But other two-legs are different and have only lift and warmth in their livers for kin."

"Not possible..."

"Yes, it is. There was one two-leg, a small male. He... gave me fish when I was grounded, after my tail was hurt and I could not fly."

She gasped and her eyes went wide as she came forward and lay down next to him, all traces of her frustration forgotten.

"I thought it was your wing!"

He turned away from the nest and looked at her, his green eyes boring into hers.

"That also. I was grounded two times. That two-leg helped me fly again. He showed me that two-legs are not all Monsters. That their dangerous, clever paws can also fix what is broken. He is... kin to me, wherever he is."

A flare of heat entered his words.

"I cannot... I will not be a Monster to them."

"But we must do that to live. We take their prey-animals and that makes them fear us. How is that different?" she objected.

"I wish that we did not need to take their prey-animals. But they are not their prey-animals. I have eaten two-legs before, but only ones that tried to kill me and when I needed to eat. Not like a hunter-bird grabbing a nestling from a nest."

"Can you understand that? I would not have my hatchlings think of two-legs as prey."

She was silent for a long time. He started to fear that there was an irreconcilable difference; that she would not be able to accept this knowledge about him.

"That two-leg, why did it help you?" she wondered.

"He had sadness... for what happened to me. My pain hurt him."

Her eyes sparkled with confusion.

"How can a not-kin care for a kin? Why would it?"

"Because... we can have the same life-breath. Is that so strange? If a kin like that bad male can be bad to you, why is it hard to think that a two-leg could be good to a kin?"

"I have never seen it," she answered.

"I have. I have lived it. That two-leg I told you about had fire in his liver that you would not believe if you had not seen it. Do you know what he did?"

"What?"

"He found me after I... had been grounded and when I was trapped. He could have spilled my life-water and cut out my life-organ and liver, but he did not. He freed me."

"But that was supposed to be a nest of kin and good-two-legs, as you say..." she objected.

"It was not always that way. I thought I was stronger than two-legs, but then that one grounded something that I did not think could be grounded."

"What did he ground?"

"He grounded the way that kin and two-legs were to the other. Fighting, taking, eating, and grounding. He was playing, giving, sharing, and flying. Is that not strong of him, to growl at and shake the neck of what always was because he wanted something different to be?"

"Maybe," she reluctantly grumbled.

"Sometimes the old, normal way should change, must change, for something good to hatch."

He lay his head down and stared up along the mountains before flying the question that he had been chilled by.

"Should we... go back to your den?"

"Yes."

She jumped from the ledge without hesitation. He watched her go and sighed with exhaustion and relief that their kinship had not broken. But neither did she clearly affirm or appear to agree with what he said.

 _Maybe the ideas are like a hatchling in the egg for her. They take time to grow before they hatch in her thinking._

Neither of them felt the urge to play at all on the flight back. However, their arrival was delayed by something very good mid-flight. Shortly before dusk, they spied a small herd of grazing prey in a nearby valley. He went straight for them and, true to his word, scored another perfect kill, this time of a smaller four-leg. He filled his belly until he could not eat another mouthful and then let her have what she could of the rest. With these two kills, they were both set to endure the long dark-sleep.

As soon as they were back aloft in the cool evening air, they noticed something worrisome off in the distance. They stared at the flowing clouds, clearly recognizing what the shape and dark color meant was flying for them. The cold-season was coming soon to swallow the world's warmth.

They both picked up the pace of flight, fighting the breeze part of the way and their own substantially increased weights the whole way. They eventually arrived back at her den just as the first dusting of frozen-water began to fall. The temperature also noticeably fell with the arrival of a strong whistling wind.

He left his preferred place close to the den's mouth and retreated deeper to avoid the cold drafts. He found a place against the rear wall, wrapped himself in his wings, and started to abandon himself to sleep.

"Was-Grounded?"

He opened his eyes and peered out. Green-Wings was standing right before him instead of over on her ledge.

"This season is always very cold," she whispered.

For a moment, he did not understand. Then he did and felt a surge of life-warmth in his liver as he lifted a wing for her. She snuggled in against his side and closed her eyes as he draped the wing over her back. She let her tail droop over his. He did not hide his thrum of delight, nor did she hers.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note - At this point I would recommend that you check out chapter 1 of another story of mine - 'To Fly The Winds Of Life'. Chapter 1 is a bit more of Green-Wings's backstory and these two meeting but from Green-Wings's perspective.**_


	32. II - To The Victors

_**Author's Note - Drama, wooing, and a fair bit of sweetness will ensue. All language is T. We are also nearing the end of Toothless's arc.**_

* * *

" _The way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost." - G.K. Chesterton - On Lying in Bed and Other Essays_

* * *

To The Victors

* * *

It was the deepest cold-season he ever experienced, especially being that this was his first time in many cycles without the ever-present warmth from the two-leg den-fires. Neither he nor Green-Wings arose at all save for a few times to relieve themselves outside their den.

The cold-fluffy-water piled up to his shoulders in places. There were no colors except for the gray of rocks and trunks of trees and the white that stretched out as far as the eye could see. Even on his brief excursions outside the den, he felt his life-warmth drastically chilled from the wind's biting with its sharp teeth. He never even thought of trying for a brief flight to stretch his wings. The rest of the long moon-cycles and sunless-sun-cycles were passed at each other's side in shared warmth, deep in sleep-visions or in the peaceful unknowing of sleep without any visions.

* * *

 _Diving toward the rock-throwing two-leg-trees and grounding them to protect other thrall kin..._

 _A precious two-leg resting under his wing..._

 _Flames extending from horizon to horizon as they both fell..._

 _A small fire warming a pair of dark hatchlings_ _ _in a two-leg den_..._

 _Familiar ranges and a shadow eagerly bounding along after him..._

 _Flashes of sky-light against his flame..._

 _A row of two-legs roaring at his victory..._

 _Long stretches of mountains, trees, and grass..._

 _A flash of green fire..._

He peacefully awoke and turned to face her. She was soundly asleep and nestled up against his side. Her eyes were still and her breaths were slow. Her tail still rested across his.

He lay there awake, silently drinking in every sensation of her at his side as the wind whistled outside the den.

* * *

 _Spiraling colors of kin on the wing..._

 _A glimmer of light reflected off ice as nest flew against nest..._

 _A sun falling from the sky..._

 _Familiar ranges and an odd nest..._

 _Precious spheres of black..._

 _A blue Night Fury mourning at the break of dawn..._

 _The empty skies..._

He woke with a soft grumble and tried to grasp at the flighty sleep-vision. There was something about it that... But it slipped through his claws and faded into the deeps of memory. He did not even have the time to growl at himself before sleep claimed him again.

* * *

The weather changed quickly once the new-life-season arrived. The frozen waters melted, and the trees started putting out their buds. Prey animals started emerging from hiding. Green started gradually returning to the world.

They both arose from their long slumbers at each other's side. The cold-season had taken a toll on both of them as they both lost a lot of weight and felt weary. But they had both survived.

 _I miss those two-leg cold-season-feasts. So much food and warmth..._

They were making their way to one of the best game-trails when she stopped and turned to him with a curious expression.

"How many season-cycles do you have, Was-Grounded?"

He started to answer but paused, not knowing exactly what answer to give. Four cycles, or should he include all the others from before? More was probably better while still being truthful in a twisted way.

"Ten and eight."

"And you never found another dark wing in all those cycles?"

"I was not looking for most of them."

"Why not?"

"I was helping other kin live and take prey from a nest of two-legs."

She gave him a look that betrayed her complete confusion.

"You lived in a two-leg nest once and you helped other kin take prey from a two-leg nest?" she warbled.

"It does sound twisted, but they were very different nests... in a way. One was filled with two-legs that hunted kin and the other with more two-leg kin-friends."

"Is there always something new about your life-story?" she eventually hissed with amusement.

"Only a few more secrets..." he hummed.

"Grr... Two hatchlings from one egg. Maybe that is why you are strange and small."

He stopped in place and turned to her.

"What!" he growled, "I am not small!"

"If you say..." she muttered.

He glared at her and rolled his eyes. However, he knew that she was at least partly correct. He was not yet as large as he would grow to be with only four cycles truly behind him in this life. One more cycle was all it would take and then he would be his old size again, if not larger.

He did have all his head-frills already though. That unmistakable detail let them both know that he was mature enough to be a sire.

They arrived at the prey-trail and waited for a good part of the remaining sun but found nothing there to hunt yet. The next best option was fishing, so she led him to the best stocked pond. A couple of blasts into the water followed, and several stunned fish floated to the surface. They both waded out into the water and ate. The few fish were hardly enough to fully satisfy either of them but the fish were better than nothing.

The next sun though they made the difficult decision to split up in search of prey. It made more sense to cover more ground, but it also pained him to leave her side. He had grown very fond of being around her, of hearing her strong breaths, smelling her wildness, and listening to her voice, her speech now being far more practiced than it had been upon their first meeting. Her warbles and croons also sounded far more warming to him now.

They took flights over opposing mountain ridges and began their search for the prey four-legs. It was on the second sun apart that his search was interrupted by her rapid and eager flight to him. She happily spun a tight loop around him in excitement.

"Follow!" she shouted.

She led him to an amazing sight. Half of a four-leg was lodged high up in a tree. At least it was until she flew up and brought what remained of the carcass down to him.

"You caught it?" he wondered.

"No, several four-leg hunters grounded it. I scared them away, ate, and put the rest up there."

"Where there is one there are probably more. We should look more down this part of the range."

They ate in peace, very glad to finally put food in their bellies after many moon-cycles of eating nothing. They played tail-tag on the way back to the den, which made his liver very warm.

Another amusing thing that he started to notice in the following suns, and with a growing warmth in his liver, was that he frequently saw her glancing his direction when she clearly thought he was not looking. Sometimes he would even wake before her and find their tails entwined though he could not remember ever wrapping their tails so himself.

* * *

The next few suns passed much the same as the first few. Now that they found the herd of prey, small though it was, they stuck together while hunting. They were rather successful by having her drive one of them out from hiding only to be struck by his fire from above. They both ate very well and began regaining all the weight that they naturally lost.

Still though he noticed an inevitable problem circling around them both. There was only the one herd of four-legs that they knew about. And that number of prey, already low, seemed to shrink every time they found it even without their own hunting. Only a pawful were left, and the two of them would have to compete with the four-leg hunter-wolves and much-fur-bellowers for those.

"I think the prey-herd will not be after this season. It is a very small herd," he reluctantly observed.

"We will find another," she grumbled, though her uncertainty was evident.

Between the hunts, which took up more and more time for both of them, he had nothing to do except sleep, but even that became old as an unease grew in his liver. The silence of the den whenever she was not there was an almost oppressive sound which forced him forth from the den to rest on the winds.

He frequently found himself perching on the mountain's rocks and staring out with the sun's flight into the barren, grassy plain. There was a stirring in his liver to do something like he once did instead of sit on his belly doing nothing. The routine of surviving, of hunting and sleeping, was not enough now. Several times he caught himself with a single talon extended while pretending to carve his old name into the rock or dirt. It was only mildly frustrating that very few of the individual symbol-sound pairs in his old name flew over into the new name, which again left him unsure how to shape his name in two-leg picture-words.

She came up to him one time when he was busy carving the shapes into the dirt, and she stared at them in evident confusion.

"What are those?"

"Two-leg picture-words."

"Picture-words?"

"This is one way that two-legs can talk," he explained.

"They talk? I do not hear anything. What do these say?"

"These picture-words say my name... in a way, if you know how to listen."

She stared intently at them.

"I see only dirt-scratches. Why do they make these?"

"This way their words will live long after they are said. And these can be carried farther than any voice can shout by making these pictures on tree-skins. The tree-skins can be carried far to other dens and nests."

"Why do you know these talking-picture things?"

"So that I could... talk with my kin-liver two-leg. Nuzzles, licks, and happy-humming are good, but those would not make our livers as warm as giving words."

She rolled her eyes and huffed at him before shaking her head in bewilderment.

 _Where did she learn that?_

"What is it like, having a two-leg?" she asked.

He hummed in thought. It was something he had pondered for many, many suns in the hidden friend-place back on home-nest-island.

"Liver-warming and twisting. Mine was very good as you already know. And he was not heavy."

"Not heavy? Why would that matter?"

"Because he had to fly with me on my back."

"What?" she exclaimed in amazement.

"Did I not say that before?"

"No, you only said that it... he helped you fly again."

"One of my tailfins was... hurt, and I could not use it. He made a two-leg clever-thing that helped the fin work again. But it would only work if he was on my back with me."

"So, you were grounded still without him... flying with you."

"Yes," he nodded.

"That sounds very chilling. What did you think about that?"

He paused a moment and stared out toward the distant grassy horizon.

"I did not like it at first. It twisted my liver to have my life and my skies in the paws of a two-leg, good though he was. Maybe it was because he was small, still one of their fledglings, that I started wanting to protect him. Yes, I did need him to bring me food and to be able to fly, but that was not all..."

"You thought he was like a hatchling of yours?"

He grumbled at the idea.

"He was small enough, but no, a hatchling does not bring the sire food."

She chuckled.

"No, that would be very twisted."

"My suns getting to know him were twisting and warming. I learned that two-legs are not much different from us. They have a language and can feel care for an other, strange as it may seem."

"What about your needing him to fly?" she asked.

"I always had a voice in my liver, whispering to me that it would be most good if I could fly without needing his help. There were some things that I wanted to do that I could not do with him. On the other paw though he was a weak two-leg in body and keeping him close also kept him safe. He also felt very warm and happy in his liver when he touched the clouds with me."

"What about your egg-mate? What did he think of your two-leg?"

He bought himself time by staring out toward the horizon again, seemingly lost in thoughts of the past.

"They were... very like the other."

She lay down at his side and joined him in looking out to the plain.

"That is where you flew from. Over the empty grasses?"

"Yes, I did."

"You feel a chill being far from them."

"A small one, yes. But the winds of my life-flight led me out here, and I am warmed by being here."

"Why is that?" she asked.

"You should be able grasp that answer, Green-Wings."

She hummed in thought.

"Grr... I think I know. It is the large herd of prey that we need to find more up the ridge."

"That would be good," he groaned.

She got up and flew from the ledge. As he watched her fly though he noticed that her wings seemed brighter, a more brilliant green, than they were under past suns.

"What do I have to do with you?" he sighed.

He remained there a while, quite deep in thought. For all the times that she had done something that hinted of interest, like glance at him or lay her tail across his while resting or even hum her happiness to him, she had not yet started any type of ceremony with him.

 _Am I doing something wrong? Do I need to catch more prey for her? Do a mating-dance? What do those even look like?_

He tried to imagine odd contortions of his wings and tail, all done to somehow convince her to accept him. None of it made any sense.

 _As though twisting my wings and tailfins into shapes makes me a better provider, protector, or show her what is in my liver..._

He glanced off in the direction she had flown.

 _Does she want me to make the first move and jump on her first to claim her? That does not feel like it has lift._

Groan.

 _If only I had learned those things about life before flying the nest. I never learned any of that from my sire before... the end._

* * *

They flew up around the peaks as green began to blossom in full all over the mountains. She thought that there was a chance that some of the prey four-legs might have stayed further up the range than they usually did.

On the third sun since leaving the den, they found a lone many-horned-four-leg grazing in the open. They dove without hesitation. The four-leg brayed and dashed for the trees, darting between rocks to shake the pursuit. She threw herself down in front of it and blocked its path while forcing it to dart to the side to avoid a short burst of flame. It jumped over a fallen log and was tackled. He rolled to his feet and snapped its neck with a single bite. The prey brayed once and went still.

She bounded over with a growl of delight. It was a very large kill, a male in its prime of life, and would fill both their bellies for many suns. He began the work of cutting off the furs while she thrummed her pleasure. He tore several mouthfuls of thick, fatty meat for himself and bit out the liver for her, as he had learned she especially liked to eat. She grabbed it and swiftly swallowed it. Then he stepped back and let her eat her fill.

"I will find water," he said.

She grunted acknowledgment without lifting her head from the carcass. He left and walked into the forest, remembering seeing a stream not far within from above. It was a small stream, but it had clear flowing water that made for good drinking. He drank several mouthfuls while pondering their situation.

 _It is a good catch, but it is only one. There is no herd here. This does not change anything for the rest of the cycles._

He again thought about their shared range, its harsh beauty, and the lack of prey. It may have been barely sufficient for one Night Fury alone to survive on but was clearly not bountiful enough to support two or more. There was one possibility though. It was something that he had wondered about whether the two of them could do ever since realizing how little prey there was to catch.

 _Maybe we should think about..._

Her roar echoed through the trees. He swung around in alarm as that was not a roar of satisfaction or happiness; rather, it was one of alarm and defiance. He ran, his thoughts filled with chilling images of her surrounded by a pack of four-leg hunter-wolves, or far worse, found by a pack of two-legs out to hunt kin.

He jumped from the treeline and flared his wings. He beheld the threat and pulled up in shock.

A large male Night Fury had appeared and was stalking toward her with a clear look of wild hunger and no appetite for the four-leg-prey remains. It was indeed slightly larger than him, and it was so obsessed with her that it had not noticed him.

He roared in outrage and challenge.

The other male spun around and glared at him as he leaped up to a large rock, his wings held aloft in display and his teeth glistening. She backed away to safety as the other male turned all its attention to him.

It did not speak. It only showed him its mouth-water-covered teeth and bellowed in challenge, flaring its wings to threaten him into backing down, just as any other kin would do when contesting for a mate. His liver was chilled by the prospect of fighting it, of fighting another Night Fury that was bigger and stronger than he was. It was certain to be a much more difficult fight than any of the other fights with kin he had ever been through. But the thought of losing her, of this liver-rotted-false-kin chasing after her and catching her was too painful. He would rather die than suffer that or allow her to suffer that.

He roared back at it without betraying any of his fear, knowing full well that there could only be one survivor of this clash.

The other male snarled and started for him, slowly at first and then breaking into a gallop at the end. He jumped from the boulder himself and flashed his claws as they crashed together and fell to the ground in a snarling, slashing mass.

* * *

She watched as the two males fought viciously with tooth and claw. Teeth snapped at necks, claws and talons swung at eyes, and legs kicked at soft underbellies as they rolled head over tail. Their roars and snarls echoed off the forest like sky-rumbles.

The dead-rotten-liver-male had the advantage from size and strength alone. It could take more hits and strike harder. Was-Grounded still had blazing fight in his liver but was being worn down as the fight continued. Even as she watched, he was overturned and tossed into a rock, lost his breath, and struggled to right himself. He managed a powerful kick to the other's chest, but that only brought him a couple wing-beats to recover his breath.

With cold spreading in her liver, she slowly backed away from the clash. She turned away and looked up toward the mountains. It would be easy to vanish into the mountains and trees as she had for several new-life-cycles.

She froze.

Life had been hard, leaving her without a life-mate in a small corner of the world almost without any kin. Flying away now would make the normal way of life win over her again and quench her kindled life-fire through solitude and loss, the same as it had when it took her first hatchling many cycles ago. But it would be safe. The stronger should conquer in a death-fight of males. That was the normal way as it should be.

She hopped into the sky and flew.

.

And hurled herself onto the dead-rotten-liver-male's back, breaking both of its wings with her claws. Her teeth closed around its neck, and she tasted its life-water as she bit down.

* * *

The other male howled in surprise and bucked, trying to throw her off its back. Then it screamed with dismay as both of its wings were snapped.

Her intrusion into the fight was completely unexpected and left Was-Grounded momentarily frozen. Then he found his waning life-fire again and lunged despite his pains, closing his jaws around the other male's unprotected throat. It kicked and slashed at his chest, scratching off several scales and spilling his life-water. He twisted and dragged its head to the ground as it screamed in protest and fear. It tried to roll, but she held it in place.

His teeth dug deeper into the soft flesh of its neck while it thrashed and struggled. She shook its neck as well with a furious growl and held it down.

He tore out its throat.

Its screams were silenced and all its struggles ceased.

Neither of them moved or let go until they were certain. Its chest was still, its throat ripped open, and its eyes were empty. Only then did they release the corpse from their clutches. They both stepped back from it and panted to catch their breath as its life-water dripped from their teeth. He tossed away the chunk of neck hanging from his mouth.

"Why?" he groaned in pain.

She narrowed her eyes and scrambled over the corpse to him with a worried growl.

"Are you hurt?" she asked.

He glanced at his wings and tail and saw no injuries worse than lost scales. The worst was the gash dug into his chest at the end of the fight. It was one more hurt-mark to add to his growing collection.

"Not a life-threat."

Without giving him a chance to continue, she knelt in front of him and soothingly licked the injury clean. They both knew that he was perfectly capable of tending to that wound on his own. He hummed his comfort and thanks to her all the same. Once she was finished treating him, they turned away without a backward glance and returned to the four-leg-prey to finish the meat. The carrion birds initially cawed their protest at being disturbed but gradually discovered another, larger feast.

She let him eat his fill of the four-leg while she silently gnawed at marrow. They left nothing behind except for the fur, hooves, and empty bones.

"You wanted to know why," she whispered once he finished.

"Yes."

"I wanted you to live so that you could fly."

"So that I could fly?"

"With me."

She flared her green wings with her eyes narrowed at him in challenge. Then she jumped into the air above him with a roar and started for the mountains. He forgot all his exhaustion and his aches from the fight and followed after her, his life-fire burning with heat. Close over the treetops, up against sheer vertical cliffs, and through narrow valleys cut into the mountainside they flew.

As with the first time they raced, he caught up to her, but this time they danced. Spinning back to back. In close spirals ascending up the thermals. Tagging each other's wingtips and tails. Flying through the other's flame-clouds.

They leveled off at the highest rocky ledge below the tallest peaks. She dove and alighted on the ledge, and he followed her to the ground. Then she spun around to face him with a look of open hunger as the sun's light spilled from her like green fire. He was paralyzed as she stalked toward him and walked along his side under his wing, sliding her nose along the wing-skin. She stepped over his tail, briefly glanced at his broad fins, and then continued along under his other wing.

Satisfied, she tenderly rubbed her cheek against his. Then she rolled onto her back with a beckoning hum. He growled with delight and leaped into her embrace.

* * *

He grumbled upon arriving back at their den, his tail dragging behind him as he entered. Another sun-cycle had passed without a catch beyond a single small four-leg not worth sharing. Water was aplenty, but food was terribly lacking. He had even seriously considered trying to chase after the tiny four-leg-long-tail-squeakers. Perhaps the worst sign of all, other than having lost much weight, was that he had tried to flame several suns ago and had not been able to.

He rested until she returned when the moon was high. Her ears were also drooped as she walked inside. She went straight to him and greeted him with a brief nose nuzzle.

"How was your hunt?" he asked.

"Nothing. You?" she answered while laying down at his side.

"One small four-leg-hopper."

She grumbled and rested her head on the ground while staring out the den's entrance. A pair of moon-cycles had passed since they became mates. It was now past the middle of the hot-season and should be the best part of the season-cycle for hunting, but it was not this time. There was almost nothing left to hunt now.

Not much had changed from how life had been before they became mates. They still had to hunt and range separately at times in search of four-legs. More and more of the ponds became emptied of fish as they were forced to turn to the only remaining known source of food available. They even flew out to the two-leg nest together but decided against attacking it when they saw the number of two-legs that were now alert for any attacks. That would only be an option of the most terrible desperation.

"I did not see any large-four-leg-prey in the trees," he grumbled.

"This is a bad season-cycle for food," she lamented with a swish of her tail.

Then she turned her head with a soft growl, briefly glancing at his side.

"You are very thin, my mate."

"And you are not. That is what I want," he answered.

She closed her eyes and moaned.

"I do not know what to do," she whispered.

She never spoke with such despair and defeat.

He had plenty of time to think of a flight over the last cycles. There was only one that seemed to hold any air under its wings, even though it was a flight that would be hard and dangerous at best.

"What pond has the most fish now?"

"The one with the old, dead tree," she answered after a moment of thought.

"We should eat all the fish and drink all the water we can. Then we fly with the sun's flight over the endless grasses to where I ranged from."

She leaned closely against his side as he draped a wing over her and held her close.

"Tell me about it again."

He hummed deeply as he closed his eyes and remembered it.

"From here the flight is a half-moon-cycle. The range is by the ocean. High mountains go around most of the range. You must walk for a full sun-cycle to cross its length. There are trees and grass plains where large herds of many prey graze. The water-shallows have ocean-fish, and the small rivers have clean water to drink. There are several caves to make into dens. Best, there are no two-legs that I know of near the range."

She quietly considered all that he said and then looked around at the den.

"I thought I would always nest here, lay my eggs here if I ever found a mate, and die here. This is all that I know."

"There is not enough food here for both of us or for hatchlings," he softly rumbled.

She sighed with resignation, acknowledging the difficult truth in his words.

"No, there is not."

* * *

They emptied the pond of fish and drank all the water they could comfortably keep down throughout the following sun-cycle. Then they perched on the edge of the mountain-range at sun-fall as they prepared for the long flight. She took one last glance back at what had been her range for many season-cycles. Then she turned away with a pained roar and leapt from the ledge. He looked away from the highest peaks, a place which would always hold a special place in his memory-flight, and followed her into the sky.

They followed the sun's red dying light and then used the stars and moon to guide their flight for many sun cycles.

Grass and more grass.

They took turns shielding each other under their wings as they slept under the heat of the sun.

Grass and more grass.

There were no prey-animals to catch or ponds to drink from on the empty plain. Their hunger and, more chillingly, thirst grew more intense with no sources of water available.

She never complained aloud, but he could see the terrible change coming over her. She was flying slower with every sun, and her weight started to fall quickly. Her strength began to fade, and she became more easily confused. They were all the terrible signs of the jaws of a water-lacking-death starting to close.

Then he saw the approaching storm on the horizon and growled in frustration. They landed before the storm line and its winds arrived. She curled up against his side while he sheltered her with a wing.

 _Why are we not there yet? We should be there by now!_

He lowered his chin to her forehead and rumbled comfort, for all the good it would do her. The rotten part of his liver constantly whispered to him that she would not survive much longer.

The wind began to pick up, softly rustling the grasses they lay in. In that moment, he realized something obvious and horrible.

 _I was flying with the wind last time... Fighting the wind will take longer..._

Lift departed from his liver. Bringing her on this flight was going to kill her.

 _Winds and skies... please help us..._

The rain arrived in a heavy downpour which rolled off his back. She weakly moaned and bent to the ground, trying to lap at the little rainwater that collected on the ground before vanishing into the thirsty dirt.

 _'The storm you meet will be a curse and a gift...'_

He stared for a moment before his life-fire, so recently chilled with dread, flared at something wonderful. At the wind that had roared to life under their flailing wings.

"Green-Wings! Get up!"

She groaned heavily and struggled to rise. He stepped to her, angled himself appropriately, and extended a wing to its full length. The pouring rain collected on his wing and flowed down into her open maw in a small but steady stream.

He could almost see her strength and awareness returning to her by the moment as she drank the precious rain off his wing. Once she lay back down with her thirst slaked, he craned his neck around and quenched his own thirst as best as he could. Then he covered her over again, and they waited for the storm to pass. Food they could go without for a while longer, but another sun without water would have been her death.

He glanced up at the billowing, rolling clouds and sky-lights far overhead and hummed his ever-thanks to them.

 _I will name a hatchling after you..._

* * *

There was something barely visible on the horizon as soon as the storm passed and the sky cleared.

Mountains and trees.

Nothing hindered their flight from then on. They passed over the mountains and hunted among the trees and slopes. He caught a head-horn-bleater, which they ate down to the hooves, bones, and fur, and then set out over the inland ocean.

They rested in his old hatchling den, as he explained to her it was. This time, with her at his side and their tails entwined, he did not have any bad sleep-visions or imagine hearing any twisted-voices.

Back in the land of forests and rivers again, they felt comfortable flying under the sun instead of only the moon. They started playing more as they flew and their livers warmed. She marveled at the strangeness of the lands; the number and size of the mountains and trees and the flocks of many different types of prey. She narrowed her gaze and growled at every sign of a two-leg-nest, of which there were very few.

He spared a glance off in the direction of where she-who-sees roosted. Those peaks were barely visible on the distant horizon. If it were just himself on the winds, he might have flown there to see if that strange kin was still alive, but getting Green-Wings to their new range and den was more important. And from what he remembered of these ranges the last cycle he was here, they were almost to his own range.

Finally, after nearly a full moon-cycle since leaving her far distant range, they landed on the top of a ridge and looked out over a gleaming vista of green as far as their eyes could see out to the distant blue ocean. The mountains continued on far down the coast in both directions. The visible plain had an entire herd of four-leg-grazers. There were no signs of any two-legs or other kin. All was exactly as it was when he had left it on foot over a full seasons-cycle ago.

He turned to her and nuzzled her neck with a deep thrum.

"This is our range."

He showed her to their den first. She bounded inside and began to investigate the place, breathing in the smells of the cave and looking for the best places to sleep. She clearly seemed impressed. He became impatient though and bounced on his feet in excitement.

"I want to show you something else."

"What?"

"Follow me!"

He eagerly swept out from the den and glided down the plain. With both of them being full from a previous meal, they did not need to hunt, so she roared aloud with delight when she saw up close how large the prey-flock was and how many young-prey there were for future seasons.

Then they arrived at his favorite place on the entire range. The hot-water-bubbling pool. They stepped closer to it with her narrowing her eyes with suspicion at the mist rising from the water.

"What is it?" she nervously asked.

His answer was to growl happily and to leap into the hot water with a great splash. Her reluctance was broken when she saw him swimming and floating while humming with contentment. He protested at the resulting splash that turned him over as she joined him in the hot water.

Once finished with the bubbling waters, he led her on a short flight up to the rolling, flowing plain. There was a large patch of special grass at the edge of the forest. She saw the long-tooth-grass and dashed for it without any encouragement. He watched from a short distance and with mirth dancing in his liver as she leapt wildly and rolled on her back like a youngling at play.

She glanced at him with her tongue dangling from her mouth and beckoned him over. She nipped at his ear with a happy growl while he rumbled in mock dismay and pounced on her in retaliation. They rolled in the grass as the sun fell low in its flight.

Their life-fires spent by the flight and exploration of their range, they finally returned to their new den. She fell in at his side after he briefly flamed the stones for them both.

"What do you think?" he asked.

She closed her eyes with a deep hum.

"I think this den will need a sand-nest soon."


	33. II - A Song Of Life

_**Author's Note - After everything that Toothless has been through let me remind you that I did say that things were going to start improving for him. In three words - baby Night Fury.**_

 _ **For those who have been eagerly waiting, the chapter following this one will have the promised track change to Hiccup's arc starting back after the end of the first volume (just over two years ago in story time). Some events and scenes in this arc will prove to be crucial later on. I know that some of you are eager to see a certain reunion but I would ask you to remember that to all things there is a time and a place.**_

* * *

" _Love begins by taking care of the closest ones – the ones at home." - Mother Theresa_

* * *

A Song Of Life

* * *

The leaves began to fall, and the forest's green began to fade into brown. The skies and clouds had changed and flew in advance of the approaching cold-season with their new shapes and colors. Life was slowing down.

He, on the other paw, was not.

There was a task that he was busily working at. It was work that he was glad to do, even if it was difficult to accomplish and had the constant threat of letting him be distracted for a considerable amount of the sun-cycle.

He held his breath as he crept closer to the dangerous place. Shuffling slightly closer until he could reach out with a paw and slice the grass off at the ground. But it felt so good. A pawful of it fell to the dirt. It was sure to smell very good too. Humming to himself with care, he picked up the long-tooth-grass in his claws and dashed away from the clearing.

He survived and went aloft with the dangerous prize in paw.

She was still exactly where he had left her at the back of the den and sitting on the pile of sand. It had taken a full sun of them both flying down to the shore and carrying sand back by the mouthful until she had thought there was enough. And then he had to do the hardest part, bringing all the long-tooth-grass. That was an essential point, she had told him.

 _There was some of that in my old hatching den. I wonder if it is for the coming egg or for her? Not that I truly care..._

He approached very slowly this time. Something was different.

She was singing.

He could not remember ever hearing a sound quite like it, a slow and soft but powerful hum. Something about it warmed his liver and sent all his concerns and fears scattering on the winds.

She lifted her head at his approach.

"You were gone long..." she mumbled.

He held out the latest pawful of still-powerful long-tooth-grass.

"It is dangerous," he explained himself.

"Not as dangerous as making your mate sit her egg without enough long-tooth-grass..." she growled.

"Yes, that would be more..."

He froze and looked up at her in amazement, only now noticing the mirth sparkling in her eyes.

"Are you... is it here?"

She got to her feet and stepped back as he darted closer. A black dome was half-buried in the sand and partly covered in the old long-tooth-grass he had already brought up. It still had the shine of laying-water despite having been licked clean.

He bent down and inspected it up close as his liver flared.

"It is good?" he warily hissed.

"We made it. Yes, it is heavy with life."

He hummed with pride and nuzzled her neck. Overcome with daring, he flew a question.

"Do you truly need the long-tooth-grass?"

He dodged back from her to avoid her hopefully playful snap at his neck.

"You give me that grass, or I eat your liver," she hissed.

"I want my liver to stay in me..." he muttered as he hastily handed over the all-important grass.

She carefully wrapped the visible part of the egg's shell in the grass and then protectively lay her soft belly on it. Then her singing started again, and he felt a faint tingling that he could not place.

He lay down before her, closed his eyes, and listened to the enthralling and comforting song. Only this time he recognized why it felt familiar. His own dam had sung something like this song to his younger nestmate's egg and presumably to his own egg. There were no words in the song, and yet it formed vivid feelings in his thoughts.

The warmth of her great body.

The protection of the safe den.

Cycles of sleep in the dark.

Growth to shatter the world.

A burning mind-fire to spark.

* * *

She almost never moved from the rear of the den. She only ever got up to relieve herself, to eat what he caught and brought to her, or to quench her thirst. All the rest of her time was spent obsessing over a singular task.

She now nestled the precious black egg against her chest. It had been there under her care and protection for a full moon-cycle during which it needed constant attention. Every sun-cycle it had to be turned and kept warm in freshly-flamed sand or against her body. There was also rarely a quiet moment in the den. If she was not talking to the egg about the world outside, hunting, the winds, the seas, and her own and her mate's life-stories, then she was humming general comfort to it and announcing her protective presence and care. They were all essential to teach the growing hatchling even now before it broke the shell. The hatchling needed to know the sounds of its own sire and dam.

Even though they were mates and trusted each other in all things, she preferred to keep all egg-tending duties almost exclusively to herself as was her privilege. Still, on those rare occasions when she did need to leave the den, he had a few moments alone with the egg.

He again lay down with it, wrapped his tail around it, and breathed on it, his eyes drinking in its every detail. Every dark vein and every bump was committed to memory. He bent down and put his ear to the egg's shell. He purred with awe and pride as he listened to the very faint sounds of life within.

* * *

Waiting was one of the worst parts, if not the worst. His own responsibilities were very simple, mainly to just bring food for her and protect the den from threats, of which there were none.

He did start exploring their range more regularly in case there were to be any kind of threat, whether from wild kin, four-leg-hunters, or ranging two-legs. Once outside the den and somewhat removed from the warmth of the egg and her cherished presence, he started noticing something again in his liver. Something that had crawled its way inside his life-fire and had been slowly growing, but had been hidden beneath wandering, finding, mating passion, desperation of hunting and survival, their long and chilling journey over the grassy plains, and now the attention given to their egg.

He was not at peace.

He had everything that he could have wanted. His body was strong and healthy, he never slept hungry, he had a good range to hunt on with no threats, he had a worthy mate who seemed to want to stay with him, and he was a sire.

 _What is wrong with me?_

This should all be enough for him to feel content. However, he wanted more without knowing what that more was that he wanted. That knowledge was a flighty prey that he could not put his claws on without it shifting and escaping.

 _Maybe this will change when the egg hatches..._

His flight took him over the cliffs, and his attention was grasped by the bones of the two-leg water-walker. Something about it beckoned anew. He dove and cautiously alighted on the rocks next to it. It looked like one of the water-walkers that the two-legs on home-nest-island used to catch and hold fish, only it was bigger. The front half of the walker was in one piece, whereas the back half had long ago rotted away to the waves.

 _This is twisted of me._

He jumped from the rock to the wooden ground on the pitched water-walker. It creaked loudly with the suddenly added weight. The water-walker had a large depression in its middle right in front of where the broken central wing had once been. The moment that he got up to the depression and glanced into it though, he froze in alarm.

There were old bones of a fire-scale-kin piled up against the depression's wall. Chains extended from the wall to several of the neck bones. A faint growl rose in his throat.

 _It was carrying the kin as a thrall. As they did with me._

He briefly thought about the kin, trapped and unable to free itself, condemned to death because the two-legs grounded their water-walker against the rocks. Having seen enough, he turned away from the bones and looked around for anything else of interest. There was nothing else left among the water-walker's bones.

He leaped aloft and felt relieved to leave that thing behind. Too many bad memories could be given lift by dwelling on it longer.

 _Kin-thrall water-walkers swim these waters. Or did. I will need to watch for them._

* * *

He strolled inside after another successful hunt, bringing with him a very large chunk of four-leg-thigh. She looked up with excitement as soon as he entered.

"My mate," she beckoned.

He eagerly crossed the short distance to her.

"What?" he whispered.

She bent her head down to the black egg between her forearms and hummed to it. Several moments passed and then the egg noticeably shifted. His eyes went very round and wide as he stared at it.

"It moved!" he exclaimed while his tail thrashed with excitement.

"Yes, it has strong life-fire," she happily thrummed.

He leaned over and nuzzled her muzzle.

"How many suns until it hatches?"

She grumbled as she thought over how long she had sat with it.

"Not many."

He again looked down at the egg without it moving further.

"You have been with the egg for many sun-cycles. You should rest, go to the hot-bubble-water, or stretch your wings. I will sit with it."

She nervously shuffled until she reluctantly rose and gave him a brief nuzzle and nip on an ear.

"It has been long... I will be back soon."

Then she dashed outside, leaving him alone in the den's silence. Within moments, he had the egg snugly wrapped up in his tail, and he lowered his chin to the egg's top sphere.

"I wonder what you will be. I have never done this before. Been a sire... been a..."

 _What was it called?_

"...a father. I might fly the wrong winds much with you, but I will not ground you or smother your life-fire. I will help your life-fire burn hot, my little one."

He hummed in thought.

"Two-legs, you will need to know about them. They are the strangest creatures. They make things of the world to help them. They make nest-dens from the trees. They do not have much fur and take fur from other creatures. So smart, smarter than kin. They must be because they are small and weak in body."

He thought of two-leg Hiccup and Hiccup's sire and their very different ways of behaving to kin. Hiccup had nothing but warmth and lift in his liver for kin, so much so that he had once tried to approach a dangerous kin without a care for his own safety. Even Astrid had surprised him with how warm she was to the storm-flier spine-tail and how she worked to help kin live safely.

Hiccup's sire though had always seemed to have ice in his liver for kin, especially in anything concerning himself. And that was without considering the apparent betrayal.

"They are hard to trust, to know if you could call them your kin. But they can be. I do not know why their Alpha turned against me. Did he make me a thrall for more shiny rocks? Did I wrong him first? Did he have only ice in his liver because a kin took his mate?"

Grumble.

"It is safest to stay away from two-legs and be with your own kin. There is so much more you need to know about two-legs, and I will teach you, my little one."

The egg wiggled again as soon as he stopped speaking. He imagined that the hatchling within had been listening to him the whole time, even if it could not yet understand anything. That was perfectly fine for now. Listen was all it needed to do. Listen and drink in all that he and she had to say.

* * *

Another of the wiggling red-belly-fish vanished down his maw. He took another deep breath and vanished underwater to continue the hunt. The waters were teeming with these fat fish well below the surface in the deeps of the bay. He drifted closer to the massive fish-herd and struck from below with a thrust of his wings and a kick.

He crashed through the water's surface and fell on his belly with a large, thrashing fish between his teeth.

 _She will want one too._

Fish in mouth, he swam back to shore, shook himself dry, and flew home. The first thing he noticed was that Green-Wings had gotten up from where she always lay and was staring intently at the egg, now removed from being half-buried in sand. It became clear why when he came closer. She had removed it because of the large crack that now streaked down the visibly wobbling egg.

His limbs shook as he approached. Words escaped him, and there was nothing to do but attentively wait. Hatching could take a significant part of the sun-cycle or it could be over very quickly.

"Here," he mumbled past the fish between his teeth.

She grabbed the fish and quickly ate most of it but saved several large chunks of flesh. She nuzzled up against his side and turned her attention to the egg as it shook and the cracks widened. Both of them watched the hatchling's progress while humming strength and presence well into the sun's flight.

A chunk of shell above the middle of the egg eventually broke away as a tiny black nose appeared in the gap. The shape in the slimy mess within cried once and caught its breath in the fresh air. It paused and seemed to gather its strength. Then it continued working, gradually chipping away at the gap and stretching the cracks around the egg's length until the final break happened.

The two halves of the eggshell split apart. The hatchling rolled itself out of the shell and flopped onto the sand in a mess of egg-water and tiny flailing limbs and wings. Its strength being completely spent, it cried out for attention.

She moved first, lowering her head to it with a deep rumble and licking it of the remaining egg-water. He stared eagerly as the hatchling initially protested being cleaned but then was comforted by the licking. Then he slowly approached, feeling very unsure what to expect as he was about to meet so small and precious a thing.

The hatchling noticed him and recognized his distinctive rumble with a happy chirp of its own. It had his own green eyes. It remained still as he lowered his nose and breathed in its scent for the first time. Its tiny head-frills ruffled at his breath.

A strong and healthy male.

"Little one..." he whispered.

She scooped up the remaining fish and dropped the fish a short length from their hatchling. The hatchling's sleepy eyes went wide when he smelled the fish. He tried to pounce but had almost no control of his legs and stumbled wildly while voicing his hunger. They both hummed with amusement that he managed to roll over onto his back. Neither of them moved to help though. This was their hatchling's first small struggle to overcome on his own outside the egg.

The hatchling managed to find his footing, dragged himself to the fish, and began to feed with haste. Once his little belly was fat with fish, the hatchling started to fall asleep. She bent back down, carefully picked up the hatchling in her gums, and gently placed him against her side under a wing. He yawned once and fell fast asleep with his belly bulging with fish.

She turned away from the hatchling and nuzzled her mate's neck with a deep hum of contentment.

"He has your eyes," she whispered.

"He should since he is mine, I think," he teased.

She raised an eye-ridge, a devious look in her mirthful eyes.

"I was going to tell you..."

He whipped her tail with his own while she rumbled in amusement.

* * *

Life became more busy within a half-moon-cycle. The hatchling quickly found his feet and started exploring by nosing around the den. He liked attacking tails and trying to shake the tails to death like they were prey. He did not yet know to control where he relieved himself, which would take some time for him to learn by example. The single most frustrating thing he did though was that he frequently threatened to run outside the den to explore before dawn.

Was-Grounded thought that was a twisted behavior for a hatchling until she reminded him that he was himself strange in his own way. He had no answer for that.

They had come to an agreement that they would rotate the nightly hatchling-watching duties and this one was his turn.

Something nipped at his nose.

Something gnawed at his ear.

Something chirped in his face.

He opened his heavy eyes with a sigh and a grumble. The hatchling yawned widely and purred at him.

"Go to sleep, little one."

The hatchling clearly did not want that because he mewled, turned away, and dashed toward the den's mouth.

"The sky-winds hate me..." he groaned.

He got to his feet and followed after his offspring. He did not need to go far though as the little one had stopped just outside the den's mouth to stare up at the sky. Just as had already happened for several suns in a row.

"What are you looking at?"

The hatchling was intently staring at the sunrise, apparently surprised by the change of colors in the sky.

"You like the new-sun hatching. The dawn."

He grumbled at the hatchling to come back inside the den, but the little one refused to move. Instead, the hatchling stretched his little neck toward the sky and trilled happily. The hatchling sang for a moment until he bent down, picked him up by the scruff of his neck, and forcibly carried him back into the den.

Green-Wings quickly woke up when she heard the protesting cries. The hatchling would not stop protesting the treatment though until she reached out with a paw and stroked under his chin. The little one immediately tired and slunk against her side to return to sleep.

"Again?" she grumbled.

"Yes, he was singing to the dawn again."

"He does that every new-sun."

He thought about how much life-fire their hatchling clearly had; that he was so happy that he wanted to sing to welcome the new suns' hatchings. It gave him a clever idea.

"Dawn-Singer, that is his name."

She thought over the name and hummed in agreement.

"If only he could be Sleeps-Much..." she grumbled.

* * *

He went aloft to look for the prey as the sun fell low in the sky. The cold-season was drawing nearer, certainly under a moon-cycle away, and they needed to know where they could get another large meal, not only for themselves but also for Dawn-Singer. A growing hatchling needed great amounts of food to grow fast like he himself had back on home-nest-island. The little one had already added many talon-lengths to his length since hatching just under a half-moon-cycle ago.

His gaze was cast to the dark forest in search of the prey when a flash of movement and spark of light out at sea caught his attention. It was a two-leg water-walker.

He dove for land to avoid being seen and crouched on the ridge while following its movement. It was not the first living water-walker that he had seen anywhere near his range, but it was the one that came nearest to the range.

 _What is it doing here?_

The sun had fallen below the horizon long ago, and it was dark enough for him to remain hidden in the sky. As silent as a shadow, he flew forth from the ledge and approached the water-walker while staying high enough away to remain unseen. There were several two-legs busily working the arms and wings of the walker. It did not look like it had any thrall-kin, nor did it look like it intended to stop at his range.

Once he was finally assured that the water-walker was only swimming by and did not plan on stopping, he banked away and calmly flew back to shore. He circled in the cloudy darkness for a while with his eyes to the horizons in case there were any other water-walkers following the first one. Eventually, he was convinced that there were none and landed on the cliff's edge. It was again reassuring that the cliffs were so severe in most places along the coast and that there were few easy paths for two-legs to find a way up to his range.

The clouds had thinned enough that the moon began to break through, shining its light on the night. A soft, chill wind ruffled his wings, a further reminder of the coming season-change.

Everything that had happened to him in the last season-cycles washed over him. Being the two-legs' thrall, escaping from the two-legs, struggles to hunt and lessons learned, finding this good range, meeting she-who-sees, finding Green-Wings, successful and unsuccessful hunts, their encounter with the two-leg nest, the battle with other male, her acceptance of him as her mate, shared hunger and suffering, her delight at seeing his safe and hidden hunting grounds, and everything about Dawn-Singer. Just the thought of his hatchling warmed his liver and made him hum in pleasure. Even the more frustrating parts of having a hatchling, having to clean up his messes, being awoken by a pinch on the ear, or being grumble-growled at out of hunger, were normal parts of life that he and Green-Wings were glad to endure. These were new skies for them both to fly in together.

The challenge of protecting and of providing for them both seemed a small one with his many seasons of hunting to draw on. More than that though there were no other predators in this range. The three of them were hidden away in a corner of the world in relative safety. He also knew far more about the two-legs than she did, which could prove life-saving under a future sun. There was only that occasional concern brought on by the water-walkers, though they never stopped at his range.

Everything was good except for that very faint pang in his liver. That wistfulness for what once was and the wish that some good parts of life had not been changed or lost. Only now he realized deep in his liver that it was a normal part of change and growing. Just like when fledging for the first time, a part of who he was had to stay behind in the nest. Who he was had to die, had to not be, for him to be who and what he was now.

 _Hiccup's sire, the thrall-making two-legs, my broken wing... I would never have found her if those had not happened._

And yet, there was still something that remained the same in him all throughout. He still remembered the good from the past. Sharing the skies with someone he had once shared his own back and wings with. Hiccup explaining to him the liver-warming idea of brothers. His own telling Hiccup of his hope to find a mate eventually. There was still an emptiness in his own liver at the thought of never seeing his egg-mate brother again.

 _Maybe we can fly back there in the future. He would like to know that I am alive and free._

He lay on the ledge and stared up at the sky, savoring a brief moment of peace and escape from the den and overactive Dawn-Singer when something caught his eye. Specifically, an absence of something. A moving black void in the sky where the stars did not shine.


	34. II - Dark Night Of The Soul

_**Author's Note -**_ _ **As was promised, we now jump back to shortly after the end of the first volume to see what Hiccup has been doing. Some parts of this arc might seem slow at first glance or have some side plots, but there is a general feeling that I am conveying through the somewhat slower pace. After all, Hiccup has both internal and external struggles to face.**_

* * *

" _That sweet night: a secret/Nobody saw me/I did not see a thing/No other light, no other guide/Than the one burning in my heart." - St. John of the Cross - Dark Night of the Soul_

* * *

Dark Night Of The Soul

* * *

Tall pines stretched to the heavens in all directions. The birds occasionally called out their songs through the gently swaying branches. The stream flowed down from the mountains and through the dense forest. The stream glistened in the sunlight as the babbling water sang its constant song. There was one particular bend in the stream where large rocks jutted out all throughout and the water's depth was especially shallow.

On one of these rocks perched a midnight black dragon.

He sat motionless and looked out over the flowing water all around him. His tail rested slightly in the cool water. The sun's warmth was glorious on his back.

Patience.

He kept replaying every lesson he could remember from the days long since past. By now though he was quite accomplished at this type of activity, but there was still a bit of an exciting thrill which kept him focused on the task at hand.

Plus, it was now truly a matter of life and death, of eating and starvation. His weight loss to this point was terrible, and he did not have the energy that he had back home. He had not been able to catch anything more than a few fish on the best of days.

A flash of scale and a ripple on the water's surface eventually seized his attention. His gaze immediately went to the place of the disturbance without noticeably moving his head. The wiggling figure under the water's surface was impossible to mistake.

 _Breathe in and out. In and out._

The large fish meandered nearer to his rock. It did not look quite like any fish that he remembered seeing before or could put a name to, but then this was new country to him and all the fish he remembered were caught in the ocean. All that mattered was that it was a fish and any fish was definitely edible to a hungry dragon.

 _Wait for it to get close enough._

It was several seconds later. He tensed his limbs and prepared to pounce.

 _Remember that it is not where it looks like it is._

That part always confused him. Of course, he could remember the old adage about having to throw a spear below where the fish seemed to be to actually spear the fish. Any hunter or fisherman knew that. Why did not matter. All that mattered was whatever would effectively help him fill his belly.

 _It's go time!_

He lunged, throwing his jaws open and pouncing at the fish with a great splash. He guessed correctly and clenched his jaws around a large brown fish. It thrashed wildly in his mouth and went still as he bit down. He waded over to the riverbank and hauled himself out, stretching his wings to shake them of water. He stretched himself out on the rocks near the bend in the river and swallowed his catch in two bites. There was no way to properly clean any of the catches and remove the undesirable innards. It was better to get it over with and out of mind quickly. With no prospect of catching anything else, having waited here almost the entire day already, he jumped from the rock and took flight, the green forest quickly falling away beneath him.

As usual, the silence of the forest and the sky was his only company. How long had it been since he left Berk behind? How long since he set out into the unknown with nothing to go on but the faintest hope of finding his brother? How long since he left Astrid and Gobber and his fa…

The growl of anger was quickly smothered and shoved deep under the current of his thoughts.

The days had seemed to have blended together into a haze of boredom and desperation. The first days had easily been the worst. There had been a slim chance that he could have encountered the boat and found Toothless captive on it, but he had not had such luck. Tracking the coast on the distant land he eventually came to likewise did not initially show anything that would help him. There were too many places where a ship could unload cargo for transport. And it was so hard for him to search since he had to do so at night and in secret when no one else was around.

Weeks had to have passed with no progress toward his goal. The heat of the summer was already starting to die down as autumn approached.

Then he found it. The very same boat that had been moored in the harbor as long as the supposed witch had been on Berk. He had waited until everyone was gone from the docks and then snuck onboard at night. Toothless's very faint scent was definitely on the ship, but the dragon himself was naturally not there.

Following that discovery, there had been many sleepless days and nights in the forest because he wasn't sure if it was safe to fall asleep. At the same time, it was safest to travel at night when he couldn't be easily seen and did not have to expend as much energy.

The lack of food was an ever-present problem that was quickly becoming a crisis.

The worst part though was easily the loneliness. It seemed to be a tangible thing that was stalking him, slowly closing in around him and threatening his sanity. He was already having trouble remembering things about home. The only things that was still clear were Astrid, Gobber, Toothless, and his fa…

There was no one to talk to about anything. No one to tell stories with or listen to stories told by. No one to tease him about his flying technique. No one to wrestle with to resolve a disagreement or play at fighting, regardless of how hopeless he himself was at that. No one to curl up with under a beautiful night sky and feel safe next to.

So he had taken to talking to himself to pass the time. Recalling some of his best talks with Toothless, the first times that the village had seen him talk through writing, or some of the other adventures with Astrid out in the world helped to keep his spirits up. He had also started practicing his writing in the dirt as much as possible. There was no better way to spend time on the ground if he was not hunting.

He dipped through a cloud and looked out at the snow-capped mountain below. That steep slope before him held his home for now. He dove and alighted on a ledge partway up the mountain. The ledge opened up to a small crevice cut into the mountainside. It provided quite a beautiful view over the entire valley and the mountains far off on the horizon. He had needed a safe place to stay while in the area and had chosen this place because it was decently removed from most of the human villages while being hard to ambush.

There was one village almost visible from his hideout though. He had glided over the area while staying far too high for them to spy him during the night several times already. The buildings certainly did not look as big as the ones built by the Nords further up north. Neither was their village designed the way a Nordic one would be set up with a main Great Hall in the center of town. They did have the same massive beards and simple fur clothing though. It looked like they were mainly farmers.

None of this meant that they were not potentially dangerous though. Especially so to a dragon.

His main interest in the village was that it was the first large settlement on what seemed to be a trading route or other path. The same path that led inland from the ocean where the witch's ship had docked. If Toothless had been taken anywhere, he would probably have been taken along that path and through the village.

The wind began to whistle around the mountain as the storm front he had seen while gliding back began drawing near. From his place up on the mountain, he was able to see the squall lines blowing across the treetops. He spared a glance up at the clouds before huddling as far back into his crevice as he could. He hid his head under a wing and curled up to rest.

 _This is going to be a long night. Love it._

The rain began to fall steadily outside his hollow. Sheets of rain and gusts of wind made him very glad that he did not need to be flying right now.

Flashes of light managed to reach even his sheltered eyes and the faint tremors of the rolling thunder echoed through the rock. The time between the thunderclaps and the bolts diminished steadily, indicating that the worst of the storm was coming closer.

 _Offspring of lightning and death indeed… I don't care for either of those._

Unfortunately, his little hollow slanted slightly inward, and the rain began to gather into a pool right where he was resting.

 _Oh, come on... the gods hate me..._

He got to his feet and hauled himself slightly further up the slope and closer to the precipice to escape the gradual flooding. There, he was finally able to get some rest, being lulled asleep to the sounds of thunder and the constant patter of rain.

* * *

The brush parted before him as he silently crept along between the towering trees. The long grasses brushed against his tail as the smell of the warm, humid morning air filled his nostrils.

Whatever it was that grabbed his attention was just ahead in a slight clearing. Cautiously and with every sense alert, he crept out past the last stand of trees.

The clearing was filled with dragonsbane. Oddly, it had no effect on him as he walked out into its midst. In the very middle of the dell stood a figure cloaked in a black hood with its back turned to him. Something about the black robes felt wrong and made him very anxious. He could feel his heart racing as he slowly approached.

The figure slowly turned around and faced him but kept its head bowed under its hood. He and the hooded being made no other move.

Then it slowly started to lift its hood, revealing a red beard hidden under the robes.

He was frozen in fear and horror. Especially when the being pointed a small knife at him, a knife dripping with dragon blood. A sharp pain cut into his chest. His chest which now had a deep hole out of which his heart had been torn.

Then he awoke to a peal of thunder and the dying echoes of his own scream. His chest heaved as he fought for breath. The constant whistle of the wind and the drone of the rainfall helped to steadily calm his frayed nerves.

 _Just… just a bad dream. Just a dream._

He curled up once again and tried to quiet his unsettled mind. He did not fall back asleep for a very long time.

* * *

The storm passed later that evening just after dark. Several forks of lightning were still visible far off in the night.

But there was another light distinctly visible near the ground and it grabbed his complete attention. He rose to his stiff limbs and blinked away his exhaustion.

 _What?_

It was also moving through the darkness just like a torchlight would. Where there was fire there must also be people. It had been too long since he had actually seen anyone from up close.

He knew that he should not do it. It was too dangerous to possibly meet someone who did not already know him.

So of course he did it.

He leaped from his lair and gently glided over the treetops toward what seemed to be the old dirt path he had observed several days earlier. His landing was smooth as usual, only with a squelch from the mud. He walked carefully toward the path and found a large bush not one of his body-lengths from the path.

 _It should be dark enough that they cannot see me._

His dark color certainly made it almost impossible for him to be seen at night. As long as his eyes did not give him away, he should be fine. He lay down under the shrubbery and went completely still.

A few minutes passed before the clip-clop of hooves and the glare of torchlight came nearer up the path. A horse-drawn wagon came into view with a man, reins in hand, sitting on the carriage. His face was completely hidden under a cloak and bushy beard, presumably against the bad weather.

He was entirely happy to simply look at the man, the horse, and the wagon. They were signs of civilization, something which he sorely missed.

Suddenly, the horse stopped in place and reared up, neighing frantically and beating at the air. The man began shouting in a strange voice and then hopped off the carriage to try to calm the horse by stroking its mane.

 _What is wrong with it? Why is it scared?_

The gentle breeze ruffled one of his folded wings and gave him the answer. He was upwind from the horse.

 _It smells me._

Very carefully, he backed away from the place one step at a time. There was no reason to risk frightening the man, whoever he was. He stepped on a small twig which snapped underfoot. There was no way to tell whether or not it had been heard without staying around to find out.

So he turned tail and ran to the same clearing where he had landed and he took flight. Very shortly, he was back above the treetops, quietly flying back toward his mountain. He spared several glances back toward the path and saw that the torchlight had moved farther along the path since he left.

 _He must have calmed the horse. I wonder where he is going. Does he have any family he is going to?_

A few more moments of silence passed before he sighed deeply.

 _Family…_

Back at his ledge, he curled up so that he could look out across the countryside. The moon was out from behind the clouds. He could see the various creatures of the night, birds, bats, and some land animals besides, engaged in all their activities. The air after the rainfall felt and seemed to smell different and more refreshing.

All alone on that damp ledge, he finally admitted something to himself. Something that had been gnawing at him for days, weeks, now but had only been fully brought out by that very minimal chance encounter with a complete stranger on the road.

"I cannot do this alone, you agree right?" he sadly moaned to the otherwise empty ledge.

"Yes, you need help," he answered himself.

Wandering the wild like this was not going to get him any closer to finding Toothless. There was nothing in nature that would help him. He needed information and for that he needed to be around people.

Being around people is exactly what seemed completely impossible. How could he possibly get to someone to trust him long enough to not immediately try to kill him or run away?

 _It's all because they think I'm a threat. They don't know me. And farmers would never let me anywhere near the animals, which is most of their village. I cannot really blame them I guess…_

 _How am I going to do this?_

He kept asking himself the same question well into the night until he finally fell asleep.

* * *

He woke up just before dawn to an uncomfortably familiar feeling. It was not one that he had been accustomed to back on Berk in recent years.

Hunger pangs.

The three fish he had managed to catch the previous day were woefully insufficient. Resigned to his fate, he left at the crack of dawn to return to the stream and hopefully catch more fish.

He glided down and took up the same perch that he had used to some success the last few days. A quick survey of the waters around him showed no sign of any fish.

 _I just need to wait and be patient._

No fish appeared, no matter how long he waited. There were some minnows, but they were not worth trying to catch. All the while, the sun rose higher into the sky, burning away what remained of the morning mist and dew.

By midmorning and without having found anything to fill his belly, he was getting very frustrated and found it hard to stay still. He eventually growled in irritation at his lack of success and hopped down from the rock. He drank from the stream since he was thirsty from being in the sun all morning and then padded over to the riverbank to curl up in the shade of the trees.

 _I wonder if the village has fish. Maybe I could try to take some of their food tonight._

Theft was not something he wanted to be forced to resort to, especially since he was contemplating how to get the people of that village to trust him. If he had no choice but steal or starve though…

His eyes began to feel very heavy, and he nodded off to sleep shortly thereafter.

He was not sure exactly what woke him up at first. There certainly did not seem to be anything nearby, but there was a smell of something...

Cautiously, he got to his feet and crept closer to the river, dreading the very real possibility that he might not get any food today.

He froze the moment he crawled partway out onto the rock.

There was a buck quietly lapping at the water upstream from him. It was probably a couple years old from its rack on its head.

His old self could not have born the thought of attacking such a creature for sport or even for a meal. He never even enjoyed the few hunting trips that his fath... or that Gobber had taken him on many years ago.

Near-starvation has a way of changing personal sentiments on such matters. Especially when combined with vastly different dietary needs. This was no different from catching fish.

 _Ok, how to do this? What would Toothless do?_

Patience. Position. Opportunity. These were the most important things for a hunter to remember. He was already downwind from the buck. The thick underbrush behind the buck was too thick for him to possibly maneuver in. This kill had to happen by the stream's edge.

 _Aerial attack, I guess._

He carefully crept away from the rock and kept low to the ground as he walked around the bend in the stream. Only then did he spread his wings and quietly take flight.

He had never been able to figure out how Toothless, or any dragon for that matter, was supposed to control the fire they could summon. It had something to do with a part of his body that he knew nothing about and had no idea how to control. His wings and tail he could see and understand how to use, but the inner organ was a mystery. He had never been able to manage even a puff of smoke in his few embarrassing attempts at summoning fire. He could, after many convulsions and awkward attempts, bring up some of the gas that dragons apparently held somewhere within, but there was never a spark to light the gas on fire.

For this catch, he would have to use claws and teeth, messy though it would certainly be.

 _It's go time, again..._

He took one deep breath to steady himself, flexed his claws, tucked his wings, and dove while making sure to not create the infamous Night Fury scream. He had learned how to control that sound at least by adjusting his hindquarters fins.

He whipped around the tallest tree, his heart racing with excitement. This was going to be the first time he actually caught a true catch entirely on his own.

The buck lifted its head at the last moment but by then it was too late. His claws sank deeply into the buck's side as he lifted the creature from the ground with a laborious heave. He thought that he could quickly put the buck out of its misery with a quick snap of its neck. There was no reason for pointless cruelty after all.

The buck threw its head wildly in terror and one of its sharper prongs cut straight through the softer flesh under his neck.

He roared aloud in pain and dropped the buck while recoiling. It took only a moment of hovering in place before a throbbing pain forced him to the ground in a very rough landing along the stream.

For all his mistakes that he had admittedly made in both his past lives, he never had managed to get himself stabbed. He had seen plenty of people who had been and knew that such wounds had to be treated or at least cleaned very quickly.

He crawled up on some rocks to be more comfortable and was just able to maneuver a paw up to the injury. It came away sparkling with crimson blood.

 _Ok, don't panic… don't panic._

One pained shifting of his head to glance at the rock he was resting on did not help restore his confidence since the rock was also slowly becoming coated in red.

He started feeling dizzy in a growing panic.

' _Lick hurts. Mouth-water makes hurts better and not hurt.'_

Toothless had given him that advice after their dueling incident. There had been several occasions when he had seen Toothless lick scrapes and cuts only for them to seem almost as if they had never happened just days later. And he himself had treated several wounded people in exactly this way during and following the Berserker attack on Berk.

There was also no other option at the moment.

He slowly lifted the same arm up to his mouth and licked his paw, trying to get as much saliva on it as possible. Then he twisted his arm and pressed his paw against the puncture as firmly as he could.

He exhaled in relief as the pain numbed in moments. The blood stopped flowing shortly thereafter. It was truly incredible how quickly that worked. Still, he remained in the same place and repeated the procedure two more times before deciding that it was safe enough to move on. Perhaps a half hour had passed by that time. The bleeding was clearly long since over, although there was still a deep gash in his throat.

 _I might just get a scar out of that. Wow, that would have been a dumb way to die. A great and mighty Night Fury downed by a prong... Some great dragon I am..._

The current washed off as much of his blood as possible as he cleaned himself in the flowing water. The wound stung a bit, but it also felt oddly warm for being in a running stream.

He finally lifted his head and looked around. He had dropped the buck from easily several of his body-lengths. Sure enough, he spied it on a nearby slope with its neck bent at an unnatural angle.

 _No reason to waste it now._

He gingerly walked over to the corpse, shivered slightly at the sight of the red blood coating several inches of its sharp prong, and thought about how exactly to do this. A beast would simply tear at the flesh, consuming hair, hide, flesh, and bones. He was not a beast.

He held down the corpse with one arm while slicing through the hide with his free claws. Careful carving let him then bite and tear away chunks of the hide and cast them aside. It was messy work, and he could only imagine how horrifying it must look. Even though he knew it was fine for him to eat like this, eating raw meat was still rather disturbing.

Once he got down the first few mouthfuls though a strange sensation seemed to grow on him. The warm blood flowing over his tongue and dripping from his chin made his own blood feel hot with energy. The only thing he could think about was the pressing need to eat as much and as quickly as possible.

To fill his belly.

To feed.

He quickly spat out the bone he was crunching and froze in shock as he realized what he was doing. Most of the edible meat was gone and even the innards as well. When he looked back down at the mutilated remains before him, he felt utterly disgusted with himself. More precisely, he felt disgusted at how easy it had seemed to give in to instinct and forget everything else. To be no different from any other predator.

Just like a mere beast.

 _But Toothless certainly hunted like this, and he is not a monster. I... was just very hungry, that's all. I hope..._

Still, something about the whole encounter left him feeling very uneasy and unsure of himself. He slowly finished the remaining good bits of meat and then dragged the remains, mostly bones and hide to the stream where he tossed them in. Finally, he took one more dip in the stream to clean off the remaining blood from his head and mouth.

 _One good thing about this, I won't need to catch anything else for a while now. Maybe even a couple weeks._

His belly being completely stuffed, there was only one thing left for him to do even despite it being the middle of the day.

Sleep.

His wings somehow managed to support his significantly increased weight, and he slowly glided back to his shelter. All the while, he pondered how he was going to introduce himself to the village or to whoever he first encountered.

But at least he was not going to starve to death in the meantime.

* * *

This truly gave him a new perspective on how the raids must have seemed from the other side. It was his second day of calmly gliding in long, slow circles over the village. The plan was to do this until everyone saw that he wasn't doing anything threatening to anyone. It seemed a great plan.

It was quite discouraging how empty the village quickly became whenever he was in the sky. Parents ran frantically, scooping up children from the streets and fields and rushing them indoors. Farmers nervously herded cattle into barns. Only a few burly-armed men remained visible, pikes and bows in hand. It was obvious that they were not going to give him a chance to come down into the village and introduce himself.

 _All I need is the time to write. How am I going to do this?_

He was so lost in his thoughts that the arrow almost hit him. He started in surprise and shock and quickly winged higher. Somehow, he had drifted lower than he wanted to and got in range of one of the archers.

 _Well, this was stupid._

He grumbled in frustration and turned to fly back to his hideout. The few men down in the village were cheering each other on, clearly glad to have driven off the dragon once again. Several hours later back at his ledge after nightfall, he continued to mull over the problem of how to make his introduction in a peaceful way.

 _Maybe I just cannot meet in public or with a large group. I have to find one person to meet with first._

Then he noticed movement down below. Down through the darkness he could see a small company of men approaching his ridge. The moonlight glistened off the steel the dark shapes were holding.

He was very afraid.

They must have followed him back here and found his hideout. And now they came to kill him.

He wasted no time in jumping from his ledge. The wind whistled around his body as he fell from the ledge only to throw out his wings, arrest his fall, and glide away from the mountain.

He finally remembered to breathe and realized that his heart was racing. The only other times when he had actually feared for his life had been years ago when Mildew led his little uprising and when Alvin had held a dagger to his neck.

 _Well, I guess I need to find a new home now. There is no going back there._

He looked toward the east and saw only distant mountains and forests. There was no telling how far he would have to go before finding another village. And that village would be far away from where Toothless was probably taken. Nowhere else would likely have the information he needed.

It had to be this one.

 _I will make this work, I have to._

* * *

Adalwulf, son of Fenrir, hated tending the chickens. It was just terribly boring! True, he was only eleven years of age, hardly a man yet, and was given what his parents told him was supposed to be a great responsibility except that he was smart enough to see through that trick.

He would rather be running around the village, practicing with a sword, or with the tribal Chief and learning to read. Or even pushing over his little brother, Alden. That would be more fun than making sure these dumb birds didn't wander off.

His was only a farming family. His father was no great warrior anymore and his mother, Hilde, was a prize from some raid in the south many years ago. It was his lot to tend the farm and do the dirty work that was beneath the real men.

He kicked at a small pebble in frustration, sending one of the chickens clucking into the trees after it got spooked.

"Hey, get back here!"

He dropped his stick and ran after the chicken into the forest, only managing to scare it deeper though. He had been warned against going into the forest by stories of wolves and bears and ghosts, but none of those creatures came near the village during the day.

The chicken was pecking at the ground under a large pine.

"There you are."

He walked over and picked up the chicken, much to its annoyance from how it squawked and flapped its wings. He turned to head back to the chicken coop when he saw something very strange. Two green orbs were visible near the thickest underbrush.

He froze upon seeing the eyes. Where there were glowing eyes, there must also be a creature. A big creature.

He blinked, and the eyes were gone.

"Huh?"

He wasn't sure why he did it, but he tiptoed toward where the eyes were just moments before. He was sure that it was no wolf or bear.

Surprisingly, there was nothing there when he got to where the eyes had been. He looked around the bushes in confusion.

"Hmm, must have been a ghost."

The chicken began squirming madly in his arms. He heard a twig snap and gasped at realizing that there was something right behind him, right between him and the safety of the village. He slowly turned around to face his doom.

Just a few paces from him stood a black dragon. The same black dragon that everyone had seen hovering over the village and that had then disappeared for several days. Even sitting on its rear, it was several heads taller than him.

He had never been more afraid in all his life. The dragon would surely pounce and kill him any moment now.

For some reason though he couldn't tear his gaze from the dragon. Its deep green eyes bored into his soul. But the hate and hunger that he expected to see there were completely missing. Its jaws hung slightly open revealing a mouth without any teeth. Its wings were folded away. It was not raising any of its claws to tear at his belly.

It was only sitting there, as if it was doing everything possible to be as nonthreatening as possible. Just sitting there and looking at him. But this was impossible. Every story he had ever heard about dragons had been about how they sit on hordes of gold, carry off and devour maidens and youths, and drink the blood of warriors.

This one was being peaceful.

"Nnnnnice dddrragggonn," he whispered as he took a single step to the side.

The dragon whimpered at his step and then began to slowly walk toward him. He dropped the chicken, which ran off clucking wildly, hoping that the beast would chase the bird instead of him. It did not even spare the bird a glance. The fear which had dissipated somewhat returned in full, and he closed his eyes while huddling next to the bush where he had been standing. He didn't want to see it happen.

* * *

It made him very sad to see how scared this little boy was of him. The boy was curled up into a little ball on the ground and was crying. He wasn't sure what more he could do to show the boy that he was not going to hurt him.

He stopped walking right in front of the boy and sat down.

"It's ok, I won't hurt you," he whispered before gently nudging the boy with his nose.

The boy whimpered but did not otherwise react. He heard the boy whispering 'No' over and over.

 _Well, I guess I have to do this after all. Here goes nothing. Consider yourself warned, it does not wash out by the way..._

He stuck out his tongue and licked the boy right on the cheek before sitting back on his haunches. He waited as he saw the boy settle down and stop sobbing. Gradually, the boy sat upright and looked at him. The boy raised a hand to his cheek and wiped off the slobber.

"Did you… lick me?"

He nodded.

"So… you are not going to eat me?"

He blanched and let his tongue hang out while groaning.

"Good. I didn't know dragons were nice."

He nodded vigorously and nuzzled the boy again while humming happily. The boy hesitantly reached out a hand and began to pet his nose.

"Wow, you are amazing."

And he was painfully reminded of another time someone had said essentially the same thing the first time they were introduced to a Night Fury.

"I'm Adal. Wow! This is so cool!"

Adal saw the dragon nod again, clearly very happy about something. Then it looked around at the ground.

"What are you looking for?"

There was nothing but grass and a patch of dirt. Apparently, it wanted the patch of dirt because it got up and trotted over to the dirt. Then it looked back at him and beckoned him over with what looked like a wave. He was too curious to not oblige the creature.

The dragon reached out with one of its paws and began to write in the dirt! It knew how to do something that most men did not know how to do! There was just one problem.

"I don't know how to read."

The dragon blinked at him and rumbled sadly.

"I want to learn, but they say I don't need to."

The dragon slowly walked over to him and reached out a paw toward his face. He felt a twinge of fear at seeing the very sharp claws on its short digits so near to his face. But something told him that the dragon was not going to hurt him.

It rested a claw-tip on his lips and then withdrew it. Then it began rumbling and growling very strangely while looking at him. Then it put the same claw-tip to its own lips and then touched the scratches it made on the ground.

"Uhm, so you talk by writing?"

The dragon nodded and smiled an obviously happy but still strange smile since it did not seem to have any teeth.

"I didn't know that dragons have no teeth."

Adal blinked and his mouth hung open in amazement when he saw a row of dangerously-sharp teeth appear in the dragon's mouth and then disappear a moment later.

"Ok, so you are not toothless. Wow! I wish I knew what you were saying."

The dragon looked in the direction of the village and gave a rumble that could only be described as questioning. Was there anyone in the village who could read?

 _None of the warriors. Definitely the Chief, but he will not listen to me._

"Our Chief can read, but I'm just a kid. No one ever listens to me. They won't believe me if I tell them that I met a friendly, toothless dragon."

There was no mistaking the sad look on the dragon's face.

"What if I brought my parents to meet you?"

The dragon rumbled to itself in thought for several moments before nodding sharply.

"Where do want me to bring them?"

The dragon looked around the clearing before running over behind some bushes and settling down. He could just barely see it only because he knew where to look.

"Ok, I'll bring them here. Just don't run away, dragon."

Adal turned away from the place and ran back to the village. It was amazing! He made a dragon-friend! Now he just had to figure out how to get his parents and the Chief to like the dragon too. He ran past the chicken coop and spied his mother hanging up laundry after washing them in the river.

"Mother, where is father?"

"Probably milking the cows right now. Aren't you supposed to be watching the chickens?"

"I am. There is something you and father need to see."

He ran off without waiting to hear her reply. He was too excited. Some of his fellow tribesmen grumbled at seeing him run through the village, but he did not stop until he got to the stables.

His father was nowhere to be found.

 _Where did he go?_

He searched for several minutes but could not find his father anywhere tending the farm animals.

 _Maybe he went home._

He ran to his home hut and drew back the cloth across the door.

"Father!"

"What, Adal? Another rabbit scare you?" his little brother Alden teased him.

"Shut up! That was one time when I was little! And I was making a dragon friend!"

"Ha! That is silly. Everyone knows that you should run and hope dragons don't find you or else they eat you. Warriors can fight them and kill them, but you are little."

The idea of his dragon being killed was very scary and made him wonder if it was a good idea to tell his parents after all.

"Where is dad?"

"I saw him go to check on you."

 _Uh oh…_

Adal turned and ran from the hut.

"Are you in trouble? You are in trouble, aren't you?"

He ignored his brother and ran to the chicken coop. There was indeed someone waiting for him.

"Son!"

He walked up to his father, his head hung glumly.

"What were you doing? The chickens were running everywhere!"

"I'm sorry. I was in the forest and…"

"What!"

"One of them ran in there, and I had to go get it."

"And why didn't you come back here to do as you were told?"

"There was something I wanted to show you."

"What? What could possibly be important enough to let the chickens loose?"

Adal mumbled.

"What? Speak up!" his father demanded.

"A dragon…"

His father gasped.

"Dragon, what dragon?"

"The… small black one."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, father."

"Where was it?"

He almost pointed toward the clearing, but he paused. He knew now from his father's expression that it would not be good for the dragon if he told his father where to find it.

He pointed into the woods past the field where the cattle grazed; just far enough away that the dragon should be safe, but close enough that it was possible that he could have stumbled there while chasing a chicken.

"Ok, go home. The gods were watching over you."

"What are you going to do, father?"

"I'm going to get some men to go after the dragon and scare it off again or kill it. Now go back son, we wouldn't want the dragon to get you."

Adal glumly followed his father back to the family hut. His father then ran off to alert the guards. Adal paused at the door and looked in the direction of the small clearing.

He already missed his dragon friend. This was not going well.

* * *

He was beyond impatient and had to keep his tail from twitching anxiously. It had already been a very long time and there was no sign of the boy or the boy's parents.

He wasn't sure how such a meeting was supposed to happen and end well for everyone. The more he thought about it the worse of an idea it seemed.

 _It has to have been a couple hours now. Maybe he is not coming._

He got to his feet and began to pace, deep in thought.

 _Maybe they didn't believe him just like he said. Maybe I have to go in the village after all._

He slowly began to walk closer to the village, one cautious step following the next and every sense straining for any hint of a trap or of people nearby. Finally, he was close enough to look out from through a bush at the clearing in which the huts and tents were assembled.

It was not an especially comfortable looking place. There was mud everywhere as well as pelts, tanning leather, and pens filled with farm animals.

 _Ok, do I do this? Let them know I am here?_

He almost stepped out and into the light of day. Something held him back though. There were people beginning to walk about the village, some taking pitchforks, bows, and shields. He tensed and prepared to run.

But they did not start walking toward him. Instead, they set out for the deep woods on the other side of the village.

 _He told them I was over there? Must have._

There was no chance to meet in the village. He just had to be patient. He already made one friend and just needed to wait for opportunity.

He turned from the village and walked back toward his clearing. It was either keep waiting here or leave to go sleep somewhere else. Considering that there were armed men walking around the woods, it was not a difficult decision.

He kept on walking farther into the woods, eventually coming to a grove of large oaks. He launched himself into the air and flew to the place in the trees where the interlocking branches almost formed a cradle. They easily held his weight. It was easy to wrap himself in his wings and wedge himself into the nook.

The silence of the forest, only broken by an occasional bird call, was a grating, imposing quiet compared to the noise and activity of the village.

Perhaps everything would change tomorrow.

There was already a warm feeling in his chest, and that feeling had not been there in a very long time. He had peacefully interacted with another person and had even apparently gotten the boy's trust.

It was not much, but it was a start.

* * *

The moon was high in the sky, and the entire village had gone silent. But he could not sleep and kept tossing and turning in his sheets. He rolled up against his brother and pushed him away in frustration.

Was it still waiting for him? Had the warriors found it? That would be very bad.

He was afraid for it.

"Psst, are you asleep?" Alden asked.

"Idiot, if I were asleep I could not say yes."

"Stop kicking me…"

"I miss my friend."

"What friend?"

"My dragon friend."

"You aren't serious, are you?"

"I really did meet it. It is friendly."

"I don't believe you."

"Fine, I will show you, tomorrow. I will take you to the dragon and show you myself. Deal?"

"Deal."

.

"Stop kicking me…"

* * *

He had never worked as eagerly in his life as he did that morning. The faster his chores were finished, the sooner he was free to do what he wanted. He and his brother finally found time to sneak off together after lunch.

Alden crossed his arms with a frown.

"So, where is it?"

"Let's go."

Alden paused when they reached the forest's edge.

"Father said not to go in there."

"The dragon is in there."

Alden looked around suspiciously, as if looking for his father or anyone else who might be observing them. Seeing no one, he grinned mischievously.

"Ok, let's go in."

They were trudging through bushes and shrubbery a moment later. It helped that both of them liked to forge trails in the brush when they had the chance to explore in secret.

Adal paused when he and his brother stepped out into the familiar but apparently empty clearing.

"So? Where is it?"

"This is where I found it."

Alden put his hands on his hips and groaned.

"Wow, Adal, very amazing. A very scary dragon."

Adal rounded on his brother in anger.

"He is here! I mean it!"

Alden then froze and pointed over his head.

"What!"

"D… D…Dr…"

"What, did you step in cow sh…"

Something very big huffed behind him and rustled his hair. He quickly spun around with a grin and looked into a pair of familiar green eyes.

"It's you!"

He reached up to hug his dragon.

And Alden screamed at the top of his lungs.

"No… stop!"

His little brother had already turned away and started running toward the village, shrieking all the way. He ran after him but fell behind his much faster little brother.

"He is not dangerous!"

It was too late. His brother had reached the village and had already been surrounded by guards.

"What is it? What happened?" they were all demanding.

 _Please don't…_

He saw Alden raise a single trembling finger and point into the woods.

"Dragon!"

"Let's go!"

A full dozen men sporting daggers and pikes charged into the forest. Only this time they were headed straight for where his dragon was hiding.

* * *

He fidgeted nervously. It was not good that the little boy had run away screaming. That was almost certain to draw the attention of the guards. Sure enough, something started crashing through the brush. That something was several men charging at him. Several arrows also flew past him.

There was no time to waste.

He turned tail and started bounding through the woods as the men started yelling behind him. His heart was racing, and he was more than a little afraid. He dashed into the first clearing that was large enough and threw his wings wide. Within moments, he found himself aloft and beyond the reach of the hunters.

And he almost screamed in frustration when he noticed something that felt wrong. He glanced down and noticed an arrow sticking out of his chest.

 _Gods… really?_

At least it was not buried deeply and was not bleeding heavily. Neither of which changed the fact that he had just been shot though.

He flew off into the east until there was absolutely no sign of civilization and then landed next to a pond. The length of the arrow was easy enough to break off, but doing so left the arrowhead buried.

 _Pain, love it..._

He dug a claw around the wound despite the searing hot pain doing so caused. After a few excruciating minutes of whimpering and hissing and a bloody mess later, the barbed arrowhead was removed. He licked the injury and limped into the trees, overcome with frustration and sadness. Then he curled up into as small a ball as possible and trembled.

"Why? Why…" he moaned.

* * *

His mother would not stop hugging him.

"I'm fine, mom."

"It almost killed you. Stupid, stupid boy!"

She hugged him again and did not stop until the door to the hut opened. The village Chief stepped through the door along with several warriors and his own father.

"We need to talk to my son," Fenrir told her.

"Son, answer the Chief's questions," she commanded.

"Yes, mother."

The Chief was an impressive figure in person with his wild hair, long beard, bone necklace, and fierce eyes.

"Adalwulf, what happened to you? Why didn't the dragon kill you?" the Chief asked him.

"Because he is not bad."

Everyone started murmuring among themselves.

"I mean it, he is not bad."

"Don't be silly, son, everyone knows dragons are monsters. They eat little children and steal gold and women," Fenrir growled.

"Not this one dad. It's…"

"This is not a game, son!"

"Fenrir, quiet," the Chief demanded.

He then took Adal by the chin and stared into the boy's eyes.

"Why should we listen to you?" the Chief finally asked.

Adal had no idea what to say. He was so nervous around the Chief anyway and the Chief was asking him questions. Was there any way he could prove that the dragon was good?

The idea came to him in a flash.

"He knows how to write!"

Even the Chief looked dumbfounded.

"That is absurd! Loki has taken him!" one of the soldiers exclaimed.

"I can show you! He wrote already to me, but I don't know what it says."

"It can write? How?"

"In the dirt."

"In the dirt? Can you show me where this writing is?" demanded the Chief.

"Yes, I know where it is."

"Take me there."

The entire group got up and left for the woods with Adal leading them toward the clearing. He finally reached the clearing where he had first met the dragon and looked for the dirt patch.

"There!" he pointed.

The Chief walked over to the dirt and put his hands on his hips while staring down at the scratches. No one said anything as the seconds passed.

"Fenrir, can your son write?"

"No, Chief."

"What does it say?" Adal meekly ventured.

The Chief turned to face him, his expression thoroughly inscrutable.

"Where is the dragon?" the Chief asked the guards.

"We shot at it, and it ran off."

"Let me know if it comes back."

"But it will attack us!"

"Has it done anything aggressive to us? Has it taken any animals or attacked anyone?"

"It attacked my son!" Fenrir declared.

"No, father. It licked me and was nice."

"Just let me know if it does come back and do not try to kill it unless it attacks you first. And keep a watch out for the raiders. They are about due to try something," the Chief commanded.

* * *

He followed his father's steps through the brush, crushing twigs underfoot. Neither of them were saying anything to each other. Everywhere he looked he saw nothing but bushes, tall pine trees, and small game trails.

"What were you thinking!"

"I…"

"You have no idea how dangerous those monsters are!"

"Not this one…"

"Don't you interrupt me! They killed my brother, and I will not lose you to them!"

Adal did not dare say anything after that. His father had a hot temper which he did not want to tempt. Especially when he needed to get his father to like his dragon.

But it was nowhere to be found. They eventually reached the place where he had last seen his dragon; where the archers had shot at it and chased it away after he brought his brother to meet it. His father knelt down and inspected the footprints which led deeper into the forest.

"Just look at those claws, so sharp. Could easy tear a man's skin off."

 _But it wouldn't do that._

"Look at how wide the stride is even for a smaller one."

Then his father stopped walking and reached down to touch the ground. He lifted a finger up to his nose.

"What is it, father?"

Fenrir turned around with a grin and showed his son the crimson liquid.

"It was hit."

Adal froze and stared in horror at the blood.

"No!"

He turned around and ran straight home in tears. Horrible visions of his friendly dragon pierced with arrows assailed him all the way.

"Stop!"

He obeyed and waited for his father to catch up.

"What is your problem?"

"They hurt him! They hurt my friend!"

"It. Is. A. Dragon. It is not your friend! I will not hear any more of this nonsense, or else you will feel it for weeks! Do you understand?"

"Yes, father..."

Fenrir clapped his son on the back.

"Good, run along now. I will tell the Chief that we did not find the beast and that it was shot. Maybe we will find it dead tomorrow."

Adal shuffled along back to the family hut. His heart was torn in half; half of him wanted his father's approval and knew that he had to be a dutiful son and obey, but the other half knew that his father was wrong. The dragon was not bad and certainly did not want to hurt him. It had enough of a chance to kill him or eat him if it had wanted to do so.

He climbed into his bed and hid under the blankets. Introducing his little brother to his friend had only gotten his dragon hurt or worse. There was no doubt what his father would do if he found the dragon. The Chief's intentions were unknown.

"I'm sorry. I hope you are ok."

* * *

He woke up late at night and found bugs crawling all over him. That sent him flying to his feet and hopping around stupidly in an attempt to get the crawlers off. He finally hopped into the pond and completely submerged himself. That finally brought relief, though it left him dripping wet and a bit cold.

It was in times like these that he deeply wished he knew how to summon the narrow stream of flames that Toothless could in order to warm up his bed or to burn off ticks and other critters that affixed themselves to his skin or tried to burrow under his scales.

Instead, he spread his wings and went for a short flight. It was a cloudless night. Far, far off in the west he could see a distant gleam of torches from the village as he slowly drifted closer.

The small cavity in his chest was still completely raw and stung in the cool night air. Regular licking had definitely helped to numb the pain though. And he could not even be angry at the men who had shot him. They were only doing what made sense to them. It was terribly unfortunate that they did not even give him a chance to prove himself.

 _Maybe I need to kidnap one of them. If I take one of them and then give them back, they have to see that I don't mean any harm._

 _Wait, what am I thinking... That is a terrible idea._

Then another possibility eventually came to him. It was something that he had been thinking about doing for a while now. They were not giving him a chance to write to them in person, so what he had to do was take another opportunity to write. He knew from his midnight flights over the village that there were only a few guards out at night, and they tended to be on the outskirts anyway. There was almost never anyone in the village square.

He set out for the village once again with haste. The plan was simple enough. Land in the square, write out a clear message that no human could have made, and then get out. Come back the next day after word had spread and then see what happened.

The village itself finally came into view but something was different about it.

 _Strange, what are they all doing awake right now?_

He strained his eyes and gasped when he realized why it looked so different. Then he abandoned his gentle flight and flew as fast as he could.

Part of the village was burning.


	35. II - Shadowwing

_**Author's Note - Hiccup works his charms and manages to find a way into this tribe. As is tradition in this world though he will also take a new name. A name that he can be proud of out in the world and is quite appropriate for a Night Fury.  
**_

* * *

" _But it is one thing to read about dragons and another to meet them." - Ursula K. Le Guin - A Wizard of Earthsea_

* * *

Shadowwing

* * *

Adal was woken up late in the night by his mother rushing through the door and shaking him awake.

"Get up! Raid!" she screamed.

He hopped to his feet, instantly awake and afraid. His mother held his hand and led him out into the main room where both his little brother and father were waiting. His father held a shield and sword.

"Take them to the square!" he shouted.

She held both of the boys' hands as they rushed outside. It was chaos everywhere. Groggy guards were rushing into the woods in search of fleeing bandits. Huts were on fire. Farm animals were running aimlessly in the confusion.

They passed a man lying on the ground. His mother covered his eyes and dragged him along.

"Don't look, son."

The center of the village was the place where the women and children were safest, and there was already a small crowd gathered there. They huddled together in the torchlight and in fear with several armed men standing guard as shadowy figures rushed between the huts. It became harder to tell friend from foe beyond this immediate gathering.

More fires were lit and the village gradually became illuminated as the flames grew higher. Several of the women and smaller children were crying. Several minutes passed with nothing happening, and he was almost tempted to ask if everything was over. It certainly seemed like the fighting was done.

"Hrah!" "Get them!" "Charge!"

Nearly a dozen men rushed forward with a battle-cry, torches and blades raised. Everyone started screaming and running around in terror, and he was lost in the confusion.

"Mom!"

He was pushed to the ground and nearly stepped on. Then he was roughly picked up and flung across a massive set of shoulders. It was one of the attackers.

He kicked and screamed at the top of his lungs but nothing helped. The raider carried him off into the woods along with several other men and their captives.

"Let's take them!"

He opened his eyes just enough to see his captors. Big burly men with unkempt beards. The captives, unsurprisingly, were mostly women and girls.

"Faster! To the bridge!"

Their captors picked up the pace. He was barely able to make out the torches of the pursuers following their captors.

* * *

He stared down at the burning village in horror as he circled in the darkness. He could see several bodies motionless on the ground.

 _No!_

This may have ruined everything. The unknown attackers may have destroyed every chance he would have had to find Toothless though this people.

But he could see what looked like torches far off in the woods and flew off in that direction. It became clear from the shouting and from there being people carried off who the attackers were. There were maybe a dozen or so in this company.

He had to do something but the forest here was far too dense for him to maneuver in.

 _Maybe at the river…_

He flew on ahead and grimly noticed the single bridge leading over the rapidly flowing river. The attackers had to cross over that, giving him the chance to block their way and prevent their escape.

It would be very dangerous. Do they have bows and arrows? How much do they fear dragons? Will they want to fight and kill him for his hide?

 _But I have to do this. It is the only way to get the people to trust me._

Resigned to the possibility of conflict or at least danger, he dove over the bridge and landed on the far riverbank. He stood upon the bridge and tried to make himself look more threatening by spreading his wings to their full length and baring all his teeth. He briefly glanced down at his sharp claws. Then he rolled his eyes and groaned.

 _Gods, I wish I knew how to make fire too. That would be perfect for this._

He waited as the torchlight came closer.

* * *

The raiding party burst through the trees, ran down the slope of the riverbank, and froze when they saw the bridge. A dragon, fangs bared and wings extended, stood on the other end of the bridge. The demon was glaring straight at them, its evil eyes shining in the torchlight.

They all shuffled anxiously with their captives, not knowing what to do. It was a somewhat small dragon. Its shoulders were slightly higher than an adult horse but that was no measure of how dangerous it could be.

The defenders arrived behind them and began spreading out around the attackers to cut them off from any escape. The raiders were gradually forced up closer to the bridge.

"Quick, give it one of them," one of the raiders demanded.

Another man slowly crept forward onto the bridge and closer to the dragon. When he reached halfway on the bridge, he threw down the little girl in his arms. She fell with a scream of pain and rolled down to the dragon's feet where she lay motionless.

The dragon was the first to move. It looked down at the girl, bent down, and…

…licked her cheek.

Then it looked back at the raiders and growled.

One very brave man drew his sword and marched onto the bridge only to stop when the dragon raised a claw with razor sharp talons and opened its mouth to show its teeth. The sharp white fangs glistened in the torchlight. The man stepped back, overcome with primal fear.

The raiders looked around at the circle enclosing around them and at the monster on the bridge. People they could possibly entreat or bargain with, but a demon monster…

"Release them…"

They released the captives, all of whom ran behind the circle of defenders. Then no one moved. Both sides still had weapons drawn and looked ready to tear each other apart. Then the dragon howled softly, and they all turned to look at it.

The dragon reached down with an open mouth. Everyone thought it was about to tear into the girl but instead it dragged the terrified girl off the main road. Then it stood protectively over her and glared at the attackers, leaving the main path completely open.

The raiders looked at each other and at the dragon. It was just standing there and glaring at them. The irate villagers behind them made their decision for them by marching forward and forcing them all onto the bridge. The raiders then fled across the river and into the forest. The dragon faced the raiders' direction and roared defiantly. The roar echoed through the forest and unsettled everything in hearing.

A cautious quiet ensued as several of the villagers continued on across the bridge while keeping their eyes and weapons drawn on the dragon.

"It's you!"

Adal escaped his mother's embrace and ran down to the riverbank.

The dragon looked over at the lad across the river, gave him a toothless smile, stepped away from the girl, and nodded at the men on the bridge. They looked at each other incredulously.

Then the dragon turned tail, flew off over the river, and vanished into the night.

The lad turned and stared at his parents, at his Chief, and at the rest of his stunned village.

"Believe me now?"

* * *

He was waiting for them when they returned from the woods. As soon as the torches drew near, he dove and landed in the square. Most of the fires had since died down and been put out.

 _They lost many homes and maybe people. If they don't listen to me now…_

He folded his wings away, sat down on his rump, and waited for the party to return. As soon as they broke the tree line, he howled softly to announce his presence and to not scare anyone unnecessarily. The line of villagers nervously drew nearer and stopped about twenty paces away. Some of the men nervously fingered their spears and bows. He was hopeful but also knew that he had to be ready to flee with only a moment of warning.

Then two figures, one large and the other small, broke from the crowd and slowly advanced. The torch in the larger one's hand revealed his prominent garb and eminent status in the village while also revealing the small person to be Adal.

The young lad then abandoned all pretense of being serious and ran forward, throwing his arms around his neck. He slowly reached out with one arm and hugged the lad back with a soft purr. The onlookers gasped in amazement and alarm.

"You saved me. You saved us."

He nodded to acknowledge the words.

"Adal, can it really understand us?"

"Yes, Chief. Ask it."

The Chief fixed his ancient, tired eyes on him.

"Dragon, can you understand us."

He nodded deliberately without breaking eye contact. If the Chief was shocked, he did a very good job of concealing it.

"I... am impressed. The gods never said this would happen. Adal says you can write."

He nodded again and reached out to the dirt with a forepaw.

 **Yes, I can**

The Chief stared at the Norse carvings illuminated by the torchlight.

"Most of my people cannot do that. I… we owe you many lives, dragon. Those men would have gotten away if you had not stopped them."

By now, the rest of the crowd had regathered its courage in the face of its Chief and a youth standing fearlessly before the dragon and they began to draw nearer, their weapons still in hand. He took a slow step back while eyeing the swords and spears.

"Stop! No one will hurt it!" the Chief commanded.

"It is a dragon…" several men muttered.

"It helped us, and we will not harm it. Everyone go to bed. We rebuild tomorrow."

The rest of the village obeyed, save for Adal and his mother who stayed very close to her son. The Chief turned back to him.

"I know now that you do not want to hurt us. I wondered why you never attacked these last few moons," the Chief continued.

 **I wanted to talk**

 **I need help**

"Help, how could we possibly help you?" the Chief seemed incredulous.

This could take a while to explain. He considered how tired both Adal and the Chief looked and how exhausted he himself was. He turned aside and yawned widely.

 **Can we talk in the morning?**

"Yes, that is a good idea. Where will you go?"

"It can stay with us, right mother?" Adal eagerly offered.

She was clearly not enthusiastic about that idea from how nervously she was still holding him. She glanced from her Chief to her son while avoiding looking at the dragon.

"I don't think it is a good idea for a dragon to be indoors, son. It will not fit through the doors."

"Oh, the stables then. It can stay in the stables. It is not very nice, but there is enough hay to sleep on."

He spared the stable a swift glance. It did look very poor and certainly could not be pleasant to sleep in, but it was a roof over his head.

 **I will sleep there tonight**

"Ok, I will take you there. Say goodnight, Adal," the Chief commanded.

Adal reluctantly hugged his neck one more time before returning to his mother.

"Bye dragon-friend."

He watched Adal and his mother as they walked off into the night. The Chief proceeded to the stable doors and opened them. He walked right in and grimaced at the smells of barnyard animals, but he was not in a mood to complain.

"I will come to you in the morning."

He nodded in acknowledgment and almost became alarmed when he heard a latch click after the Chief closed the door. But it was obvious that this rickety building could not hold him if he truly wanted to escape. He walked around the room and eventually lay down after finding the spot with the cleanest-looking and least foul-smelling hay.

Even though he trusted Adal and wanted to trust this Chief, he did not go to sleep immediately but rather remained awake and listened for any sign of stirring from beyond. It was only after waiting for a long time without hearing any disturbance that he felt safe enough to go to sleep.

There, in an old stable filled with old hay in a tiny village on the mainland, he gave a great sigh and imagined a tiny burden being lifted away. He had finally managed to make a peaceful contact with a completely new people and was hopefully one step closer to finding Toothless.

 _I did it._

* * *

He woke up the moment he heard someone fiddling with the door at dawn. The door swung open revealing the Chief and a few others. The Chief's white hair was wild and unkempt, suggesting that he had not slept well.

"Are you ready?"

He got up and walked out of the stable. It was relieving to see that none of the other people present were carrying any weapons, nor did they seem especially afraid. They were still wary though and kept their distance. He followed the Chief to the edge of town where they could speak and write freely.

"Do you need to eat?"

 **Do you have fish?**

"Not now, we could try to catch some though."

 **Later then**

"Ok, what do you need help with?"

 **I am looking for my brother**

"Your brother?"

 **He was captured and taken this way**

 **Do you know anything?**

The Chief, apparently deep in thought, stroked his beard.

"I think I would know if a dragon was brought this way. You are the only one I have seen."

He almost despaired, but the Chief continued.

"There was one strange thing that happened. Traders from the north came through here a couple months ago. They did have one large wagon that they did not let anyone near."

 **Anything else?**

"They were selling dragon scales."

 **Was its leader a witch?**

"Maybe, she certainly looked like she could have been. Called herself Maera or something like that."

He almost gasped. That had to be it! There was no way that all those details would fit together and be only coincidence.

 **Where did they go?**

"I do not know. I can ask my people though since some of them traded with them."

 **Thank you**

The Chief looked down at the writing and then put his hand to his forehead.

"I need to know. How do you know runes?"

 **I grew up with humans**

 **They taught me**

"I did not know that dragons were this smart. I thought you were just dumb beasts that eat maidens and horde gold."

He snorted.

 **Dragons do not do that**

 **They mostly eat fish**

 **And want peace or to be left alone**

Halvden grunted as well.

"That has not been our experience. All our stories and legends say differently. There is a reason why dragons are almost gone from the mainland. Where did you come from?"

 **Berk**

"Berk, never heard of it."

 **It is an island far in the northwest**

That the man did not immediately recognize it spoke to how remote Berk and the surrounding isles truly were and how little contact they had with the rest of the world in the last few decades. But the man had said something that he puzzled over.

 **What do you mean about dragons being gone?**

By then a small crowd had gathered to watch the dragon's scrawling. No one else came as near though.

"You do not know any of it I see. The stories are that there were many dragons generations ago. Then the dragons started living farther north and started attacking our villages for food. The dragons that lived deeper inland are... gone. Even up here, there are almost never any wild dragons anymore. The only other dragons any of us know about are in Rorikfeld."

 **What is Rorikfeld?**

"It started several years ago. A merchant opened a show in which dragons fight people or other dragons. I have no idea where he gets the creatures. The fights always get a lot of people to attend and place bets. The rest of the village is where people trade things. The show is what keeps the place going though."

He considered this news. It certainly sounded possible that Toothless could have been taken there. No, it was almost certain that Toothless was there. But what was going to happen to him? Would he be in the fighting show, would he be sold, or something else? Were the fights fights to the death?

 _He is a Night Fury; there is no way they want to hurt him. Not yet anyway._

"And then there is also the Dragon Master."

 **What?**

"No one knows who he is, but he calls himself the Master of Dragons. I have only heard whispers and rumors about him, and supposedly he commands thousands of dragons."

He wrinkled his brow as he thought about this information. It certainly sounded quite fantastical.

 _An army of dragons? Really? That is a good one._

Despite his age, the Chief managed to look rather sheepish at something.

"I should apologize for what we did to you. For your getting shot. Does it hurt? Is there anything that we can do to help?"

He showed him the wound, still quite raw but no longer bleeding. His own treatment of it was perfectly sufficient.

 **Time is enough**

"We can make a salve for it though. I am also going to ask my people if they know anything that might help find your brother."

He respectfully inclined his head as the Chief turned to depart. But then the man stopped after a few steps and faced him again.

"Do you have a name?"

A name.

Hiccup…

That name was a part of his old life...

The traditional hideous name he had been given by his fath…

Who was he now?

 _Who are you dark wing?_

He was not sure what to say. His given name seemed quite ridiculous outside of a place that had strange naming customs to ward off gnomes and trolls. Not only that but it brought back rather painful memories.

But what to call himself instead? What would be a name befitting a Night Fury? What do people most recognize about dragons, especially one that lived in the shadows?

And then an obvious answer came to mind for a name that he could use out here in the world and not feel thoroughly embarrassed by.

 **Shadowwing**

"Shadowwing, I am Halvden."

And with that, the Chief and most of the other people who had come with him departed. Only a couple remained behind.

"Shadowwing?" one of them timidly offered.

He turned to face the young man and gave him a reassuring hum.

"I know my runes so you can talk to me. I am Bori."

 **Hello Bori**

Bori grinned like a little kid and elbowed his companion while pointing at the scratched-out symbols.

"I wanted to say blessings on you for helping us yesterday. My baby sister Aelfleda was one of the ones they took. She was actually the one they gave to you on the bridge. I was so afraid that you were going to…"

 **I would never**

 **Is she well?**

"She is still scared by what happened and did not want to meet you, but I will tell her how friendly you are."

He hummed happily.

 **Thank you Bori**

 **Is there anything I can do to help?**

 **Your homes need to be fixed**

"We can manage rebuilding, we always do. It is those raiders, Loki spawn, that we cannot stop. Damn cowards. They keep coming back. Normally, it is just one person who goes missing, but they have been getting braver recently. It would have been terrible for us last night if you had not showed up."

 **Why do they attack you?**

"That is obvious. They want to take our women and make us their slaves."

 **Why?**

"Why? I guess you do not know the ways of humans. If you want to help you could move some logs after we cut down some trees."

He considered the ruined huts and agreed that the people needed shelter. He looked back at Bori and nodded.

 **Let me know when**

"I will. I've never met a friendly dragon before. Uhm, you don't mind if I…" Bori stammered while glancing at his wings.

 _Really? Oh, well. Why not?_

He took a step forward and extended his wings, allowing Bori to stroke them. He could feel Bori's fingers gently flowing over the thin membrane between his wing bones. It was strangely comforting and relaxing. Although, Toothless had enjoyed similar grooming back in the cove in their previous lives, so maybe it was not so strange after all.

"Are you purring?"

He blinked and realized that he had indeed been purring. He stopped and looked away in embarrassment before hastily scratching out a reply.

 **It feels nice**

"I had no idea that dragons could purr."

Groan.

A bit of motion at one of the huts caught his eye. It was Adal. But the boy came out of the hut slowly and did not run over to him. Instead, he looked sullen and miserable.

He hopped over in his direction, but Adal ignored him. He could practically smell Adal's frustration and sadness.

 _What is it?_

He turned back to Bori and beckoned him over.

 **Why is Adal sad?**

Bori relayed the question.

"My father was angry that I did not obey him. He told me that I would not see the monster again or else he would hit me again."

He recoiled and growled in anger.

 _How dare that man! Even my dad didn't…_

 **I saved you**

 **Does that matter to him?**

Adal reluctantly grumbled after having that repeated to him.

"I should not be talking to you."

Then the boy wandered off toward the chicken coop to do his duties. He just stared after him, wondering why Adal's father was so... so stubborn.

So like someone else he knew and...

Hated?

Bori picked up on his frustration and stepped closer to him.

"Fenrir has always been an angry sort. I don't know why he is not letting his boy see you though. I guess you met Adalwulf a while ago."

 **He was the first I met from here**

"Give it some time, his father will come around. How about we go help with rebuilding now?"

He nodded and followed Bori. As they walked past one of the remaining untouched buildings, a girl gasped and hid behind the house.

"Aelfie, come over here! Shadowwing wants to meet you!"

Bori dashed behind the house and dragged her out by the arm.

"But… but… I don't…"

"Don't be silly, he won't hurt you. Wait…"

Bori turned around with a puzzled expression.

"You are a he, right?"

He nodded.

"I thought so. See Aelfie, he is a nice dragon. Come on, he will let you pet him."

 _I am a nice... Wait, I didn't say... Oh, the things I have to do…_

He stayed still and let Bori stroke his neck while watching Aelf. He could almost see her fear and nervousness melt as she inched her way closer to him at her brother's behest.

"You can talk to him. He is smart."

"Hu… hi dragon."

She cautiously raised a hand before him, and he gladly leaned forward into it. Her smile of awe warmed his heart as she stroked his chin. She even giggled as he hummed to her.

 **Where are your parents?**

"Alright Aelf, do you like him?"

"Yes, he is nice," she continued to pet his neck.

"He has some work to do now. We will be back when we are done."

She reluctantly patted him one more time and stepped away.

"Bye, dragon."

Bori waited until they had left earshot before he spoke up.

"It is just us now. Our parents are gone. I didn't want her to hear about it again."

He nudged Bori on the shoulder and nodded solemnly to show that he understood.

"She is all I have left now, and you saved her life. I will always remember that, Shadowwing."

They continued on together into the woods where they got to work hauling logs and timber back into the village. Everywhere he went he could see more looks of awe and fascination from the villagers. The children even started bravely dashing closer to him, although none of them were quite brave enough to touch him yet.

It made him feel very warm to know that these people would likely look at or think about dragons differently after today, all because of him. But not all of them yet. He still wanted to find a way to convince Fenrir so that he could talk to Adal freely. He really felt that he owed it to the boy since it was because of him that he had managed to introduce himself to the village.

It was while he was hauling a second load of lumber that the grim truth finally hit him that he was going to leave this people. That just when he finally succeeded in getting these people to trust and accept him he was going to leave and possibly have to start this painful and difficult process over again somewhere else.

 _I'm going to miss them: Bori, Aelf, Adal, Halvden, and everyone else._

* * *

"Shadowwing?" Halvden called.

He roused himself from his afternoon nap and walked out of the stable. A strange woman in mostly plain garment was standing next to the Chief.

He blinked when he saw the necklace she was wearing. It was a simple chain cut through several green and blue Nadder scales.

"This is Idonea. Idonea, tell Shadowwing what you told me."

She stared at the ground before him, clearly nervous to be anywhere near him.

"I traded with the people who came through here for this charm."

"Where did they say they were going?" Halvden asked.

"She said they were traveling to Rorikfeld."

 **Was her name Moirai**

Halvden relayed the question, and Idonea started in surprise while staring at the writing.

"Yes, I think so."

Halvden looked back at him and then dismissed her.

"Thank you Idonea, you may go now."

She bowed to her Chief and scurried off. Halvden turned to him with a solemn expression.

"I take it you know where you must go."

Yes.

"What will you do when you get there? It is a large city with many guards all throughout. You cannot safely get in."

His expression fell, and he clenched the dirt between his claws while thinking it over. That all made sense. If Toothless was being held prisoner in that city, it was very unlikely that anyone would set him free or that he could get to Toothless unseen.

 **What do you think**

 **I cannot leave him**

"I don't know what to say. You are welcome to stay here as long as you wish, as long as you help get food. I'm sure that dragons eat a lot, and we are a small group."

 **Thank you**

 **I will help you get food**

 **But I must save him**

"I will think about it and let you know if I have any ideas."

He nodded in appreciation and walked back to the stable. When he got back, Bori and Aelf were shoveling hay out and putting freshly cut grass in its place.

"Hi, we wanted you to have something nice…nicer… to sleep on."

The small act of kindness and consideration warmed him greatly. He walked over to them both and purred deeply while brushing their foreheads. Aelf giggled and started to stroke his chin. He did not let her do so for long, else he make a fool of himself, and walked into the stable. The new hay completely covered up the mud and helped a lot with the smell of old animal waste.

He mulled over the problem that Halvden brought up. He knew where Toothless was being held, but that did not mean that he knew how to free Toothless.

 _The witch-merchant knew how smart we are and captured him anyway. Probably to sell him to that merchant in Rorikfeld._

A captive Night Fury would definitely fetch an enormous price.

 _Maybe I can get the other dragons there to help, to break free… I need to see the place first though._

There was no real planning he could do without even knowing what the place looked like.

He looked out over the village and marveled at how quickly some of the structures had gone up. Sure, they were very basic hovels, but they would keep out the rain and most of the wind already.

 _I need to hunt. He is right that I would be a strain on them without helping them._

He walked out from the barn and launched himself into the sky to begin searching for any deer or elk to bring back.

 _And this time I will not forget about their antlers._

* * *

It was only his hearing that spared his life back in the barn that night.

He woke up in the middle of the night and looked around lazily for the source of the noise. His eyes were not much impacted by the darkness and clearly showed him the door being pushed open.

The torchlight from beyond gleamed off the knife the unknown man was carrying.

He scrambled to his feet in a hurry and started shaking his head to plead with the man. The man either did not see or did not care and lunged at him with the knife after dropping the torch.

"Dragon! Monster!"

The man stood between him and the door and seemed to have no intention of letting him out alive. The shadowed man lunged again, and the blade just barely bounced off his chest.

Despite his attempt to remain calm, he felt a hot anger building inside him as the man continued to swing his blade and yell profanities. He leapt with a snarl, ready to reach out with a claw and swipe the man aside, to stomp on his attacker, to sink his teeth into this man's belly, and to tear out…

He blinked and recoiled from the man who he had just shoved to the ground and at the same moment recognized through a heavy stench of ale.

Fenrir. Adal's father.

 _No!_

He stepped back again in shock, and his flanks snapped one of the main support beams. The entire barn creaked for several seconds, and then the entire structure caved in. He tucked his wings in as tightly as he could as the beams and logs cracked and snapped around him.

It was over in an instant, and he lay there in the mud underneath an unknown amount of wooden beams and boards. Splinters poked at him everywhere. Voices began echoing from outside the wreckage, and he started to hear bits of the collapsed structure being pulled away.

"Faster! The fire is catching!"

 _Fire, what fire? I didn't… the torch!_

He quickly experimented to make sure that nothing was hurt or would get hurt by his moving, and then he stood up. He groaned deeply as he bore the weight on his back. Wooden beams creaked and splintered all around him. Then they all fell away, and he was able to stand up freely despite still being partly buried. He slowly wiggled himself out and dragged his tail out from under the wreckage.

"Shadowwing! What happened?"

It was Bori.

 _Fenrir…_

He did not hesitate after seeing the flames continuing to grow. He reached back down under the wreckage and started lifting it away as fast as he could. A foot quickly became visible. He grabbed the foot with his mouth and dragged Fenrir out of the burning mass. The man had a dark mark on his forehead and was completely unconscious.

Bori and a couple guards others saw to Fenrir after he stepped back and panted in fear and energy. There was no chance that he was going to be able to sleep after this.

"By the gods, what happened here? Why was he here with you?"

 **He attacked me**

"What! He attacked you! Wait here…"

Bori whispered to one of his companions, who in turn ran off toward the Chief's tent.

 **I did not want to hurt him**

"No, you didn't hurt him. You saved him. Why? He tried to kill you."

He just shook his head and lay down on the ground without saying anything. He was willing to wait until the Chief arrived, which happened shortly thereafter.

"What is the meaning of this!" Halvden shouted.

"Chief, see for yourself," Bori gestured at the carved words.

Halvden, still quite bleary-eyed from being awoken in the middle of the night, stared at what was written. Then he sighed deeply and shook his head.

"I should have known. He has always been more rash than most of us. He lost a brother to a dragon many years ago. But he attacked a guest of the tribe and that means he must die."

He shot to his feet and furiously scribbled when he heard that.

 **No, do not kill him**

"He attacked you and defied my order to the entire tribe. I have to keep order."

He couldn't bear the thought of Adal's father dying because of him. Even given that Fenrir had just tried to kill him.

 **Please let me punish him then**

"Let a dragon decide punishment for one of my men…"

 **He attacked me**

"He also attacked the tribe by doing this…"

The light from the fire danced on Halvden's face as the Chief pondered and paced.

He waited anxiously. How could he possibly face Adal if his father was killed because of what happened? He knew very well how terrible it was to a youth to grow up with an absent father.

"Fine, whatever punishment you wish for him. I will assemble the tribe tomorrow, and we will do it then. I'm afraid that I have nowhere for you to sleep now," he added with a glance at the new bonfire.

Bori timidly stepped forward.

"Chief, I offer to let him stay with me. My place is not as large as the stables were, but it has a roof and he will fit inside."

Shadowwing gave Bori a soft rumble of appreciation and a nod.

"Ok. Gods, Loki's breath seems to follow you everywhere you go, Shadowwing."

The guards carried Fenrir off to the healer's hut. Only a couple of people remained behind to watch the fire and prevent it from spreading.

He followed Bori toward a corner of the village. Bori opened the door to his house to reveal a surprisingly well-kept, if sparse, interior. It even had wooden panels across the floor. He paused before going in because of all the mud on his limbs though.

"Do you need something, Shadowwing?

He held up a muddy limb and grumbled.

"One moment."

Bori fetched a cloth and used it to wipe down his limbs as he entered the house. Thankfully, he was easily able to fit through the door without knocking anything down inside.

"I'm afraid there is nowhere for you other than here on the floor. Is that ok?"

Yes, he nodded.

"Ok, sleep well. Don't be surprised if Aelf comes to give you a hug in the morning."

He lay down where he stood while trying to leave room for anyone else to walk. Finally being left in peace, he was able to think about what had just happened. It made him both sad and angry at the same time.

 _Why would Fenrir do that? I helped the tribe! I saved his son!_

Maybe it was some twisted sense of justice or revenge. Maybe it was pride or anger that Adal somehow disobeyed him or wasn't what he thought his son should be. Regardless, he spent quite a while thinking about what punishment would be appropriate.

* * *

The tribe turned out in full in the morning. Those that had not been awoken during the night were told about what happened from their fellow members of the tribe. Fenrir had attacked the resident dragon and burned down the barn. Stranger than that though was that the Chief was going to let the dragon punish Fenrir.

Finding out from his mother what his father had done left Adal crying in his room and refusing to come out. Alden took it no better as he was also old enough to know what kind of punishment was inevitable. Their mother finally came into their room and held them tightly.

"We have to go, boys."

Sniffle.

"I don't want to watch…"

"Then don't, son. Just stay with me, we have to go out there. Everyone does."

The boys reluctantly followed her outside and joined the crowd ringing the main square. In the middle of the square stood the Chief, the dragon, and a bound and gagged Fenrir on his knees. Adal took one look at his father and then closed his eyes again in fear.

A few more minutes elapsed before Halvden addressed the gathering.

"My brothers and sisters, Fenrir attacked Shadowwing last night and burned down the barn. I ordered that none of us would try to do harm to the dragon. Fenrir disobeyed me. The punishment for this disobedience is sacrifice."

He paused to judge their reactions.

"But the dragon asked to decide upon and give the punishment himself. I agreed."

The Chief then removed Fenrir's gag.

"Do you have anything you want to say?"

"It is a dragon! So what if it can write? That does not change what it is. I go to the ancestors only wishing that I actually killed it," the spittle flew from the man's mouth as he shouted.

"I think you are a coward, Fenrir. You attacked our guest in the night. You will not go into the next life with honor or as a part of this tribe."

The Chief turned and nodded to Shadowwing, who rose to his feet and slowly walked toward the bound man. Everyone who could see started whispering and pointing excitedly. Fenrir only grinned maniacally.

"Bring it, dragon!"

Shadowwing sat down before him and hissed with his mouth agape and all his sharp teeth visible. The two stared each other down as if their lives depended on it, neither willing to back down. The moments stretched out.

Until Fenrir blinked and visibly shivered in fear.

Everyone expected the dragon to finish it and take its revenge then. They expected Fenrir's head to be bitten off or him to be set on fire. Instead, the dragon reached out for the ground and started writing. It wrote several lines and then beckoned Halvden over to translate.

"Are you sure?" Halvden asked incredulously.

The dragon nodded and then deliberately sat down on its rump while Halvden relayed the message.

"I could have killed you now, Fenrir. But I know about broken families. You will never again hurt your children or their mother. You will let them talk to me. If you hurt them…"

Shadowwing growled one more time at Fenrir and then turned his back on the prisoner.

 **I will be back**

Then he looked around at the stunned crowd and flew off, quickly vanishing over the treetops.

Everyone started muttering again at what had happened and what had not happened. Halvden said nothing for a minute.

"You are one lucky man, Fenrir. I did not think a dragon could have mercy. You will have to earn your place back among us. What you do to keep order in your family is your business, but I will enforce Shadowwing's threat if I find out that you are hurting them again. Do you understand me?"

.

"You will answer me!"

"Yes, I understand," Fenrir mumbled.

"I hope so."

Halvden then gestured for him to be released.

Even after the crowd had mostly dispersed, Fenrir remained on his knees and stared up at the sky. His wild courage was completely spent. He remembered the smoke that had risen from a funeral pyre many years ago. Then he cried as the decades old memories again washed over him.

* * *

He flew long and far just coasting on the currents and thermals. It felt good to get away from all the stress and activity on the ground and even the people for a time.

Pulling lazy loops and dives in the air reminded him of long gone flying lessons and his real purpose out here. He had to find a way into Rorikfeld and somehow free Toothless.

 _I could go and look at it if I knew where to go. Or how far it is from here._

Sigh.

 _I need to ask Halvden that too._

His stomach reminded him of another problem. He was starting to get hungry again and considered seeking out the nearest lake. Until he spied a deer lapping at a small stream.

 _Alright, let's try this again. No antlers to worry about this time._

Another careful dive left him downwind of the deer. He swooped down, much like before, and sank his claws deep into its flanks and side. It squealed and struggled mightily as he hauled it up into the sky. He craned his neck around and under him and neatly snapped its neck. It went limp in his grasp, a clean catch and kill. He growled softly to himself with pleasure at his success.

 _Not bad, I could get used to this._

His catch in paw, he flew back toward the village.

 _They'll be glad not to have to feed me._

Just the thought of some properly cooked and smoked venison made his mouth water.

* * *

"Well, well, looks like you caught yourself dinner," Halvden remarked upon his return.

Shadowwing dropped the deer on the ground and started writing.

 **Everyone can eat**

 **As long as I get enough of course**

"Well, that is a given. Better you eat it than eat us. If you could take it to the butcher, he will get started on it right away."

He picked up the limp deer and carried it over to the butcher. Halvden conveyed the instructions to prepare the largest portion for the dragon, and the butcher got to work skinning the catch.

"I think there is someone who wants to talk to you," Halvden announced.

He turned around and saw a very sheepish-looking Adal standing nearby. Adal was staring at his feet and completely refused to meet his gaze.

"Go ahead Adal, talk to him. I will tell you what he writes."

"I… my dad… I thought…" Adal eventually mumbled.

He was moved to pity. How confusing all this must have been for such a young boy. To have his own father try to kill his newfound friend and also to think that his father was going to be put to death by that friend.

 **I want him to learn**

 **Not to kill him**

Adal looked like he wanted to say something when Halvden relayed the message but was not able to speak. Instead, he stumbled forward and hugged his neck very tightly. He slowly raised an arm and hugged Adal back as gently as he could.

"You didn't hurt him… Even after he tried to hurt you…"

He just purred back and nodded once to show his understanding. The next hour was filled with Adal asking all manner of questions and Bori, whom Halvden had summoned over to take his place, patiently replying on his behalf. Adal savored every moment from his place leaning against his side and partly covered by a wing.

"So you have been looking for your brother for over three months? I can't imagine looking for Alden for that long if he disappeared."

 **If you cared about him you would**

"I guess so. I'm just too little to imagine going out into the world."

 **I am little for a dragon**

"Really? How big will you get?"

He got up and paced off roughly how long he remembered full-grown Toothless being from nosetip to tailtip.

"Wow. You know other dragons then. What is your home like?"

He paused and took his time smoothing out a patch of dirt. He was not sure how to answer that question.

 **It is a place where many humans and dragons are friends**

"It sounds nice."

 **It was**

 **I do not know if I can go back**

"Why not," Bori asked.

He took a long time before he started writing again.

 **I had to leave to find my brother**

 **But I do not know if I want to go back**

 **Some people there hurt me badly**

"Then you can stay here with us! I'm sure the Chief would be happy to have you stay with us," Adal eagerly answered.

He did not have the heart to explain to Adal that he could not stay with this tribe forever. That was not his reason for being out here. How could he tell this happy little boy that the new friend he had just made was going to have to leave and probably never see him again?

But what about after he rescued Toothless? What would he do then? Was there a chance that they both could return here? Was there even a remote possibility that they could actually return to Berk? He had no idea.

Bori picked up on something and whispered to Adal.

"How about you run on and find out when we will have dinner. Shadowwing brought us a nice catch earlier today."

"Ok. By Shadowwing!" Adal gave him a quick pat on the nose before running off.

They watched him run off into the distance.

"What is the matter?" Bori asked.

 **I cannot stay here**

 **This is not my home**

"He thinks you will always be here. He wants you to stay here, but you need to look after your own. I understand that."

 **I am alone except for my brother**

"How long have you been away from home?"

 **Three months**

"That is a long time to be away from your people. When are you going to leave us?"

 **I do not know**

"Well, do not fly off without letting us know. I and Aelf will surely want to see you one last time."

He nodded in agreement just as Adal hurried back with a welcome message.

Dinner was about to be served.

It did not turn out to be a fancy affair. Most of the village turned out to gather around the bonfire where the deer was roasting. The story of the heroic dragon that foiled the escape of the attackers and flamed their entire company was spreading like wildfire through everyone gathered.

Perhaps the story had been more than slightly embellished somewhere in the telling.

He lay on the ground in their midst and listened to the songs of thanks sung to various gods for the catch. He was also glad to hear and see how many families had been saved just a few nights ago now.

Admittedly, there were a dozen or so people who kept staring at him and kept their distance, but there were others who bravely walked right up to him and embarrassingly, for him at least, offered to pet him. He resigned himself to having to endure such treatment and allowed them to stroke his neck.

 _Only for their own good though._

It was comforting though. Not only because it felt pleasing, but also because he knew that giving everyone happy experiences with a dragon was definitely a good thing.

The butcher eventually brought out a large haunch of cooked venison and nervously handed it off to him. He dipped his head, smiled in appreciation, and started to gnaw on the food.

 _Finally some cooked food! Even if it is a little dry._

A bit of thought gave him the answer as to why the venison tasted off. It did not have any fresh blood.

 _Disturbing…_

But he ate his fill anyway.

* * *

Everyone was starting to finish their meals when Halvden approached him.

"Shadowwing, I would like to talk to you before you leave for the night. Shall we step aside?"

He nodded and followed Halvden a few paces from the gathering.

 _I wonder what he needs to say._

"I may have a way to get you into Rorikfeld, but it won't be easy."

He sat down and gave Halvden his full attention.

"Whoever it is that is leading that place enjoys a good dragon fight. All the tribes for days of marches around here know about that. You are a special dragon; in fact, I have only seen or heard of one of your kind, you. What if there were two of your kind, two Night Furies as you call yourselves, and they were to fight? That would draw the largest crowds ever."

 _I suppose so, but what is your point?_

Halvden paused and collected his thoughts for a moment.

"We could pretend that my tribe captured you and wants to arrange a fight between you and a 'worthy' opponent. There is only one dragon that they could possibly use. And then you will help your brother escape."

There were obvious flaws in the plan. Mainly, it required him letting himself be chained up and led like cattle through a hostile city. And that was if nothing went wrong. He also wasn't sure if he would be able to help Toothless escape.

 **I will think about it**

"There is one more thing. If I am going to do this, I must take you to Rorikfeld and bring enough men to 'control' you. But I cannot leave my people undefended in case those raiders come back. I need you to help us get rid of them."

Get rid of them. That could only mean one thing. Halvden wanted him to help kill other people.

 **Is there another way?**

 **I will not kill anyone**

"They would kill people and they have. You know what they were trying to do the other night. It would be easy for you to attack them from above and flame them."

Leaving aside that he did not actually know how to flame like Toothless could.

 **I will not**

Halvden rubbed at his beard.

"I need to know that my village is safe before I help you in that way. If you can think of another way…"

He got up without writing another word and walked off towards Bori's house. While waiting for Bori to arrive, he pondered what had been asked of him. The more he thought though, the more hopeless his situation appeared.

 _What he said was right, he cannot leave his people to help me. But… I won't kill anyone. There must be another way._

Bori and Aelf arrived back home shortly thereafter, and he did everything he could to be cheerful for them. It was hard though when life was so confusing.

Even after Aelf and Bori both went to bed and he had curled up in front of the fireplace, he was still unable to sleep. No obvious solution to his predicament came to mind. It was increasingly looking like he would have to find a way to free Toothless completely on his own or else join with Halvden and become a killer.

 _Toothless wouldn't hesitate to kill to save me… But I… I can't… I won't._

He resolved to fly to Rorikfeld in the morning, having previously learned the location, and see this place for himself. Maybe, hopefully, he could find some other way and be spared having to betray everything he believed in.

* * *

Rorikfeld was much larger than he had expected. It was also much further away than he had figured. He spent the morning following Halvden's directions, expecting to find the place after an hour of flying. It took until high noon before he found the place while keeping to the cover of the clouds.

The scale of the city far below took him completely by surprise.

There were two large roads leading into the city from the southern and northern entrances. The city itself was easily several times larger the entire village on Berk. It was surrounded by the remains of a thick forest which had been cleared to build the walls on the outskirts and the houses inside the perimeter. People were visible going about sundry tasks; tending to cattle, laying out laundry, and working gardens and fields. Merchants were tending their stalls as customers inspected wares. All of that looked normal.

But most striking feature of the city was the largest structure in the entire complex, a large bowl cut into the ground with several rows of seats layered incrementally higher. It was clearly an arena.

The dragon fighting arena.

Everything about the place looked and felt wrong. From the massive gates that led to who-knew where to the large stakes driven into the ground. Old, dark stains in the sand were all that remained of long-gone fights.

That was place where Toothless might be trapped even right now.

He wanted to dive down from the clouds and call out for Toothless, just to find out if he was here or alive. The relief of learning that he was still alive would be…

But caution learned from being shot by Halvden's people bid him to not risk himself during the day. There was no telling what weapons the people down there might have. Getting himself caught while trying to find out if Toothless was there would not help his cause.

He flew away from the city, keeping to the clouds the entire time, and resolved to wait until nightfall before getting closer. A large oak a short flight from the city gave him the perfect place to roost and wait for the cover of darkness.

Rorikfeld did not look so horrific from above, it only seemed to be a very large city. But there was something ominous about the arena. It was a place of death. It was a larger kill ring. It was enough to make him feel sickened and a bit enraged at whoever built the place.

 _How could anyone think that is good? Why would they enjoy death?_

He remembered how his own tribe had cheered him on when he had walked confidently out into the kill ring to face a Monstrous Nightmare. Where people before him had gone to prove their worth to the tribe and to be fully accepted.

All his anger towards the denizens of the strange city vanished as he realized that Berk was not so very different long ago. They too had once found purpose and unity in violence. Hating these people for their own ignorance was not helpful.

The weather cooperated nicely by giving him a moonless, cloudy sky. The only torches were in the houses and on the walls. He glided into the village and dove silently into the dark arena. The only sound was a soft rush of wind as he landed smoothly on the sand.

A whole host of smells assailed him as soon as he settled down and started exploring the arena. Sweat, dung, fish, and blood. Fear, anger, challenge, and strength. Nightmare seemed the strongest of all the dragon scents.

But there was one other very faint scent that made him freeze and stifle a cry of relief. Somewhere under the aromas of battle and death he recognized a single, unmistakable, and wonderful smell. One that was intimately familiar, reminded him of family, and which he had not smelled in months.

 _Toothless!_

He followed the track to a massive iron door and listened. Everything was silent inside. Was that good or bad? There was no way to tell. Too many scents were intermingled and Toothless's was so faint that he could not tell if anything bad had happened to him.

 _They wouldn't hurt him… He is too special…_

He looked up to the heavens and did something that he never did.

 _Odin All-Father, I don't know if you are there or if you listen to dragons. But if you do, please protect Toothless. Keep him safe._

Then he heard some boisterous guards off in the distance. It only became concerning when he noticed a faint glare of light from a torch growing brighter.

With reflexes born of months in the wild and ever-present nervousness, he spun around, hopped twice, and was silently aloft in moments. He glided over the town to avoid making any noise after gaining height.

No one had seen him, else the alarm would surely have been raised.

He flew on into the forest and returned to the same tree to sleep in for the night. He landed and draped himself across the branches while thinking about how he might free Toothless on his own. The iron door was too large to knock down. The lock was too strong to break. A merchant running a show for coin was unlikely to listen to any appeal he could make. Landing in the middle of a fight to try to break Toothless free or talk to the people there was an absolutely terrible idea.

 _There must be something..._

Nothing else came to mind.


	36. II - The Enemy Of My Enemy

_**Author's Note - A shoutout goes to those who find the Skyrim reference(s)...  
**_

* * *

" _If Hitler invaded Hell, I would make at least a favorable reference to the Devil in the House of Commons." - Winston Churchill (attributed to)_

* * *

The Enemy Of My Enemy

* * *

He flew away from Rorikfeld early the following morning. He had not been able to sleep well at all and had spent a length of time lying awake before dawn doing nothing but thinking. That thinking had led him to some frustrating conclusions.

Someone who would want to buy a dragon and keep it captive for dragon fighting would not likely be willing to listen to a dragon or even give him the time to talk. There was no telling how bad things would be if he tried to intervene in an actual fight in the ring. There were probably too many spears and bows. It was also highly unlikely that the guards would make an obvious mistake and risk such a valuable dragon escaping on its own.

Sigh.

 _I need help._

Halvden's offer kept ringing in his thoughts as he flew in the clouds. It was a fair and reasonable offer. The Chief had to ensure the safety of his own people.

But it was also something he himself was not willing to do. Not when he wanted dragons to be thought of as something other than monsters. It would be a betrayal of all that he believed in and worked for to take part in killing people. And that was not to mention the reality that he did not know how to fight well at all.

He flew straight on through the morning until he arrived back at the village and touched down in the square. Halvden and Bori were naturally the first to run up to him.

"Shadowwing! You came back," Bori exclaimed in obvious delight.

He lifted an eye-ridge in amusement.

 **Obviously**

"I'll go let Aelf know that you are back," Bori said before running off.

That left only him and the Chief. A quiet moment passed between them.

"So, you found Rorikfeld I take it."

Yes, he nodded.

 **He is there**

"And did you find a way to get him out?"

He slowly hung and shook his head.

"My men are eager and my offer still stands."

 **I have never killed anyone**

 **I will not do that**

Halvden almost looked disappointed at that answer.

"I never imagined that a dragon would be so… sensitive and agreeable. You must have grown up in a good place where dragons and humans are not at each other's throats."

Yes, he reluctantly nodded.

"But you are a dragon! Why do you have teeth, claws, and fire if not to use them?"

 **Only to defend myself**

 **But I will not kill people**

"Even if not fighting means losing everything? I would do anything for my people, for my family. If you had to choose between fighting or never seeing him again, what would you do for him?"

He had no answer for that point. It was a powerful motivation, the need to protect one's own. But he knew another time when someone did something extreme and reckless, supposedly for his family.

 **What about scaring them away?**

"No, they do not scare easily, and they would only come back later. They need to be completely destroyed."

He growled to himself in frustration and started pacing while still deep in thought. Halvden certainly thought that talking to the raiders would not work. That belief had to involve a lot of prejudice. Maybe this was no different from how his own people had once been toward the dragons.

But the raiders had been carrying off women and children when he stopped them. It was not hard to imagine what fate would have awaited the women in that case. That behavior was worse than anything the dragons had ever done. At least the dragons had understandable and defensible reasons, mere survival, for what they had done in the past.

 **Where is their village?**

"To the south-east near a river."

 **I will look at it tonight**

"Good, get an idea how to strike at them. They will never expect it."

That was of course not the reason why he wanted to see the place. There may still be a chance to talk this out, or at the very least to scare them away before any fighting.

But for now he was hungry and sleepy. He turned away from Halvden and started meandering his way over to Bori's house. And of course Aelf attacked his head with a massive hug before he got there.

"It's good to see you again. I thought you flew away."

He shook his head.

"My brother told me that you are looking for your brother. I hope you find him."

The sweetness with which she said that pierced him through, and he found himself purring softly without intending to. Bori approached, which let him write to her with the young man translating as usual.

 **I know I will**

 **I am sleepy now**

"Ok, you should take a nap inside. Are you hungry? I can run get you some fish if you would like."

He smiled back at her and gave her a nod. Some fish sounded very nice indeed. True to her word, she returned in minutes with two filleted fish halves in hand. He did not question from where she had obtained them, gobbled them down without objection, and curled up to sleep while she happily watched over him. He did not fall asleep for a while though as his thoughts were quite troubled by the tension between what he seemed to need to do and what he was willing to do.

* * *

He used that night to investigate the target village. It took a while to find as it was hidden in the trees. Then he finally found it, landed, and started tiptoeing around.

It was quite surprising how squalid the place was. The huts were small, the paths were muddy, the meats hung out to dry looked a bit old, and the whole area had a generally malicious feeling about it. It felt nothing at all like Halvden's village, which, while maybe just as poor, felt more alive and friendlier.

 _Maybe that's just because I know what they did... do here…_

He froze when nearby motion caught his eye. A man walked out from a hut and walked over to a bush in which the man started relieving himself.

 _Is he a bad man? Does he like what is happening here? Does he go on the raids?_

He started to back away when he heard a gasp. The man had turned and was looking right in his direction. The man stared for a few moments and then someone else walked up from another tent.

"What is it?"

"I thought I heard something."

"Ya heard something? You sure about that or was it the ale?"

They listened and slowly came closer to where he hid low to the ground behind several large bushes. He held himself ready to dash away if they noticed him. Several tense moments passed.

"There is nothing here, ya lump."

"Yeah, just getting jumpy I guess."

Both of the men turned around and left. He took the opportunity to leave as quickly as possible. A couple bounds got him away from the village and into the sky a moment later.

He paused and started circling the village far above. There was no chance anyone would see him as it was another cloudy night.

 _Halvden wants them dead._

"What can I do?" he whispered.

Go along with those plans to attack or be refused any help in rescuing Toothless. Do a bad thing or risk letting something horrible happen because he couldn't... wouldn't act?

A very vivid and terrifying image of Toothless trapped in an underground cell for years or forced to fight and maybe die for other peoples' pleasure forced its way foremost into his mind. A faint growl rose in his throat at the thought.

That was something he knew he could not allow to happen. He would not be able to forgive himself if that happened.

 _I have lost too much already. I cannot lose him too._

He glanced down at the scattered huts below. It was still too painful to imagine himself down there among the fighting with his claws and teeth covered in blood. To have men jabbing at him with spears and raining arrows upon him. To spread fear of dragons in peoples' hearts was something that he would not do. He did not even know how to fight properly and would not do that even if he was able.

 _There has to be another way to help Halvden's cause and not shed blood myself._

He remembered how terrified the raiding party had been at the mere sight of him back on the bridge when he had foiled their escape.

The obvious solution to his dilemma came to mind. He still felt hesitant about it and it was certainly dangerous, but it was at least acceptable since he would not directly get any blood on his claws.

 _This just might work._

* * *

 **I have a plan**

"What are you going to do?" Halvden asked.

 **I will fly over their village**

 **Draw their guards away**

 **You attack when they are not ready**

"But you won't fight with us?"

 **I do not know how to fight**

 **I cannot breathe fire anyway**

"What? Of course you can. You are a dragon."

He slowly shook his head and quickly came up with an excuse.

 **Even if I wanted to**

 **I am not big enough to make fire**

Halvden paced back and forth with his hands behind his back. The Chief was obviously deep in thought.

"That might be good enough. You distract the guards and draw their attention away, we sneak in, and take them down. They would not expect anything so soon after a raid or have any reason to think that you would be helping us."

Halvden stopped pacing and smiled a savage smile, obviously having made a decision.

"Yes, we go tonight. I will tell my warriors."

Halvden turned away and returned to his hut to make preparations and assemble his fighters.

 _He seems so happy about planning war. But he thinks it will mean the end of the fighting for his tribe. He has good intentions, I guess._

He walked through the village and down toward the stream. Several of the men and women glanced at him as he passed by, but they gave no overt sign of being afraid of him. A couple women were still down at the water's edge and doing some laundry.

Would any of their sons, brothers, or husbands not come back after tonight? Would any more families be broken soon?

"Shadowwing!"

He turned around and saw Adal, Alden, and their mother slowly walking toward him. The two boys seemed far more sure of themselves than she did. But she was carrying a bucket and a basket that he could smell was filled with fish.

They stopped in front of him and stood still.

"Go on mom, say hello," Adal whispered.

"Uh, hi dragon… Shadowwing."

He slowly raised a paw and waved while happily humming to her.

"He seems very nice."

"Tell him your name, mom."

"I… I'm Hilde."

He respectfully bowed to her.

"He bowed to me..." she gasped.

"I told you he is nice," Adal laughed.

"We brought you some water and fish," she nervously continued.

She sat the bucket down before him, and the three of them each grabbed the fish from the basket.

"Here you go!"

Adal and Alden eagerly tossed their fish into his open mouth. Hilde was a bit more nervous about the idea of putting her hands anywhere near his teeth. He slowly reached out and let her drop it into his open paw.

"See mom, he is nice."

"I know. He is the nicest dragon I know."

"But mom, he is the only dragon you know."

He deeply chuckled.

 _Such a clever lad._

"He is laughing, how cute," she said.

He stopped laughing at that.

"I am going to go back. Bring the bucket when he is done."

He looked back at the bucket filled with clear water. The thought of drinking some boiled water, or at least not pond or stream water, was very refreshing. And it was definitely more civilized.

 _I bet they've never seen a dragon drink from a cup... bucket like them before._

He clasped the bucket and downed the entire bucket in seconds. There was nowhere on the ground to write on and neither of the two boys could read anyway. So he showed his appreciation by giving both of them a half-hug.

"Thanks Shadowwing, we'll be back!"

The boys both ran off to take the bucket back. As much fun as they might be able to have together, there were more important matters for him to attend to. He had been flying a lot over the last few days and needed to be ready for tonight.

 _Time to sleep. Maybe I can make it up to them another day._

There was no doubt why there was a large gathering of men around the Chief's tent. Halvden was sharing the plan with the warriors.

Neither Bori nor Aelf were at home when he got there. He nudged open the door and slipped inside. While the temptation was great to go straight to bed, he hadn't actually been alone in the house by himself before and had never really had a chance to look around.

 _I don't think they would mind much._

He tiptoed down the short hall and nudged open the doors.

Both of their rooms were very sparse. However, Bori's had several books and Aelf's room had many pictures tacked to the wall. The pictures were drawn on old paper and had an exceptional amount of detail for so young an artist. The most detailed drawings were obviously of her parents.

Something about the room felt a bit too sad to him. Almost like it reminded him of someone else who liked to draw pictures.

He took another look at the books in Bori's room. The styles on the covers were different from what he was used to and he could not recognize all the symbols. Others he knew were about hunting, medicine, dragons, the tribe's gods, and probably their myths as well.

He carefully slid one of the books that had been lying on the floor out the door and into the hallway. The room itself was too small for him to easily stand in. The same old problem presented itself to him after he opened the book's front cover.

Short digits with sharp claws did not do a good job of flipping pages without tearing them.

He spent a long time carefully turning each page and straining his eyes to make out the faint symbols. The Norse was rather different from what he was used to, but it was not so different that he couldn't make anything out. It was apparently an epic about a man named Beaowulf.

He did not have a chance to start reading before he heard Bori yelling for him.

"Shadowwing! Are you in there?"

"Yes," he mumbled in reply

The door opened and Bori entered. The young man was dressed in leather armor and had a bow and arrows slung over his back with a sword at his hip.

He was dressed for battle.

"Shadowwing, the Chief wants to see you."

He put down the book and nodded solemnly at Bori. They both knew without needing to say anything that the coming evening was going to be a hard one for everyone. Bori grinned though when he saw the book on the floor.

"That is a good story. There is a dragon in it."

He gave Bori his 'I'm impressed, do tell me more' look.

"It is not a good dragon though. I know that must be very surprising. His name is Faefnir. Maybe after this is over we can talk about it. Shall we go?"

He nodded once and prepared to follow Bori outside and into the village square, but he paused at the door. The young man had an oddly stern and distant expression that looked out of place on him.

"Oh, don't you worry about me. I know how to handle a sword."

He nodded once and stepped outside to where a strange and somewhat frightening sight awaited him. What had to be all the men from the village and even some of the sturdier women were all clad the same as Bori with leather armor and were carrying pikes, bows, and clubs. Halvden had covered his entire face in war paint.

He could not help but notice that one of the men was flying a flag on which a roaring dragon was clearly recently painted. He was not sure whether to be more ashamed or honored at being put on their flag.

"Shadowwing, we are ready. Are you?"

He took a deep breath and deliberately nodded once.

Halvden grimly nodded back.

"We will wait in hiding outside their village until we see that you have distracted them. Fly above them, roar at them, burn something if you can. Then we will strike when they are afraid of you and are unprepared for us."

Halvden turned away from him and faced his people.

"My people! Today is the day of our victory! After today, you will never fear that the beasts will come in the night and take our daughters, sisters, and wives. We will destroy them all!"

He was met with cheers all around.

"The gods have sent us a gift that not even I foresaw. Who could imagine that they would send us a dragon, a dragon who could speak with us and who would aid our cause? But they did."

He raised his arms high above the crowd.

"Tonight, we will prevail on the land and in the sky. No torches until we get there, we don't want them to know we are coming. We will wait until we can see that he has distracted the enemy. Then we attack. And when we vanquish our enemy we will feast and give sacrifices to the gods. Let us march now to our triumph."

A raucous cheer went up from all the gathered warriors.

Shadowwing watched as the lines of armored soldiers rushed off into the woods. The women and children remaining in the village all went inside and locked the doors, leaving him alone outside in the square. He settled down and curled up to rest outside in the remaining sunlight.

 _They should be there around midnight. I can't believe that I am about to do this._

* * *

It was a few hours later that he silently took to the air and flew in the direction of the raiders' village. He scanned the forest all the way, looking for Halvden and his soldiers as he flew. But they were good at hiding, especially since they were moving without any torches. The sun had long since set and the clouds covered the moon, making the night almost as dark as possible, which was rather fortunate for his purpose.

He flew onward until he found it again. The village of raiders. He flew slow circles above the village, watching for any sign of guards or of Halvden's men approaching.

Then there were shadowy figures creeping through the forest toward the encampment.

 _Time for me now. Time to be a monster… love it..._

He tucked his wings and dove. A slight adjustment of his wings and hindquarter fins produced that gradually building scream for which Night Furies were infamous.

There was no chance that it would go unheard.

He landed in the clearing just outside the village. Where before he had tried to be as silent as possible, this time he had to make a lot of noise and draw as much attention as he could. He howled and started running between the huts.

The village, which just moments before had been completely still and silent, quickly started swarming with activity. Men were emerging from sleep, weapons already in hand, and guards came running and shouting..

"Devil!" "It's a dragon!" "Kill it!" "This'll be good!"

 _Gotta catch me first!_

A man, sword in hand, appeared right in front of him. He hissed at the man and hopped on top of the nearby hovel. It creaked under his weight and began to collapse. One great thrust of his wings carried him through the air, over the heads of the surrounding raiders, and away from the center of the village.

Voices and indistinct yelling followed him as he bounded off into the forest. It seemed that nearly half of the village had to be on his tail. But none of them could possibly catch up to him.

Something flew through the air past him. A sharp pain erupted in his hindquarters as one of the shots found its mark.

 _Really? Not this again! Cannot even boast of that one..._

He kept running into the darkness and left the ground behind as soon as he reached the clearing in which he had landed. It was only after he was safely above the treetops and invisible in the night sky that he relaxed at all.

His heart was racing and he was short of breath even though he had only been on the ground for a minute at most. It was not that he was tired at all. Rather, there was something about the experience of taking part in an attack and fleeing with pursuers after him that was oddly and terrifyingly exciting. Something about it made his blood boil with energy.

Such musings were silenced when the screaming started up again alongside the clash of steel upon steel.

Hesitantly, he looked down and saw a mass of people fleeing the village as a wave of torches appeared without warning. From his aerial view he could easily see the advancing force as dark figures fell in its advance. The battle itself seemed to be over as quickly as it had begun. The defenders had been split with well over half their numbers outside the village. Small fires began spreading as the village was put to the torch.

He had done his part and circled the village for several minutes until he saw a crowd of people gather in the middle of the village. The victors had gathered to celebrate. Halvden's men had unsurprisingly carried the day.

 _I guess I should go down there too._

He flew down and landed in the same clearing from which he had recently fled. It was the second time in a couple weeks that he found himself in a ruined village with fires burning all around him. He briefly took a moment to pull the one arrow from his flank as it had not buried deeply at all.

Then he noticed the bodies.

There were easily a dozen bodies of bearded men, most of whom had no armor since they had been awoken in the middle of the night.

He felt sick with the metallic tang of blood in the air. Try as he might, it was not possible to avoid stepping in some crimson pool, and he found that he had stepped in blood at some point and had gotten all his limbs tainted by it.

 _Just don't think about it… oh gods..._

"There he is!" Halvden shouted.

The man had a triumphant smile that he thought was rather unfitting for someone who had just been through a battle. Especially considering the wounded among his soldiers, although there were not as many as he had feared there might be.

"We easily won. They were completely unprepared for us. You did a good job."

He glanced around at the injured men, some of whom were being carried or assisted by their companions. Some were able to move under their own power. And then there was one younger man among them whom he clearly recognized.

 _Bori!_

He bounded over to Bori with a spike of fear in his heart. The young man was sitting on the ground and in obvious pain. He quickly looked him over to try to see what was wrong.

"Shadow...wing, good… grr… to see you. They got my leg."

The leg did have an unnatural bend in it. But it was only a bruised and broken leg. Others had received far worse.

He let out a sigh of relief as Halvden's voice thundered out.

"Let's get the wounded on horses! Get the cattle and spoils! Let's go home!"

The warriors gave weary cheers. He could see that they were all very relieved, which made sense because they would not have to worry about raids in the night.

They would be safer now.

The few of their own dead were gathered together in a pile and burned as those able to stand paid their respects. Halvden spoke a few words to praise their bravery and the sacrifice they made for their tribe. The dead from the defending raiders were left where they fell to be food for the crows, wolves, and other scavengers.

Everyone began making their way out of town, hauling various articles of loot or tending to a wounded companion. He would have flown straight back, but he noticed that Bori was limping along painfully with a makeshift crutch because there were not enough horses. The young man was groaning in pain with every step.

Bori had taken him into his house and showed him every kindness possible under the circumstances. There was something he could do in return. Something he had never done for anyone before.

 _This is crazy. I can't believe I am going to do this._

He walked up next to Bori and grunted to get his attention.

"Shadow… come to join me for the… argh… journey home?"

No, he shook his head.

"What are you doing?"

He walked around in front of Bori and lay down, making himself as flat as possible. Then he looked around at Bori and gestured at his back.

Bori stared in disbelief.

"You… want me to… ride you?"

Yes, he nodded.

"But… I can manage. You are not a horse."

 _No, I am not a horse..._

He grumble growled and gestured at his back again.

"Ok then, if you insist."

He waited as Bori limped over to him. The young man then grasped his shoulders and vaulted up onto his back. It was the first time he had ever allowed anyone to sit on him. He had not been big enough in the past to allow this even if he had wanted to. It felt quite strange with the foreign weight on him, light though Bori was in comparison to the other men. As inconvenient and slightly humbling as it was though this was something he wanted to do to help a friend.

He craned his head around to check that Bori was settled. Seeing that his passenger was ready, he quickly scratched out a message.

 **Tell me the Beaowulf story**

Then he resumed walking to catch up with the rest of the survivors.

"Ok, it's the least I can do. I'll skip to the part that you would be most interested in. Beaowulf and Faefnir..."

He listened raptly while trying to not jostle his passenger. It wasn't as easy as he thought it would be. He had not quite appreciated how much his shoulders rolled when walking. Though maybe that was only an issue when carrying someone.

 _Almost all my time on Toothless had been flying instead of walking, so I didn't really know much from those experiences. I should ask him what he thought of carrying me. I don't think we ever talked much about that before._

They walked back through the night while men around them drank, ate, and celebrated as much as possible while marching.

It was finally around dawn when they arrived back in the village. He did not even feel sore from having carried Bori through the night although he knew that he would sleep very well.

The warriors were given a greeting worthy of victors. Wives and daughters ran out to embrace their loved ones. Healers went to the wounded. Those whose loved ones did not return solemnly gathered around the sacrificial pillar. Possibly to appease the gods or to honor the dead, he wasn't sure.

And Aelf ran toward them both with a furious scowl almost impossible from a young girl. She put her hands on her hips and glared in his direction.

He almost retreated even though he knew that she was not angry at him.

"Brother!"

"Aelfie."

"You get down here right now!"

He looked around at Bori, and they shared an expression of the man's impending doom. Then he lay down and stayed still while Bori dismounted. But he still let him hold onto his neck to not put any weight on the broken leg.

Aelf walked up to her brother and then punched him in the belly.

"You said you would not get hurt! You… you… you!"

She hugged her brother and refused to let go even after she started sobbing into his side.

"Oh sis, I'll be fine. It's just a broken leg. We won."

"Of course… you won. Just a leg…"

"But think about what this means. No more attacks. No more people disappearing. We will have peace."

"I like that," she whispered.

She started helping him hobble inside their home.

 _Well, he is certainly going to be in good hands. It might be a while before he can walk properly again, assuming that the break gets set correctly._

He crept out of the village and made his way down to the river. He did not feel like being around the celebration at the moment, plus he had some dried blood on his side and limbs to wash off. He waded out into the water, closed his eyes, and ducked underwater. The cool, crisp water flowed over him as he took a moment to lay on the river's floor.

 _Everyone here will be better off now, at least there is that._

There were a couple things about the outcome of the battle that especially did not seem right to him. One was that Halvden and his fighters had not taken any prisoners. The other was that there had not been any former tribesmen or tribeswomen of Halvden's formerly taken prisoner to rescue. What did the raiders do with the prisoners they had taken?

 _It can't be good, whatever it is._

He emerged from the river feeling much cleaner and took a nap right there by the riverbank. Once he woke back up later in the afternoon, he made his way back to the village where a feast was already being prepared. A cow, a spoil taken after the battle, was sacrificed on the altar in front of the entire village and a bonfire was prepared.

There was no chance that this could compare to the grand Blott feasts back on Berk. Even so, the relief among all the inhabitants was palpable, and the promise of meat was enough to liven even the dourest of spirits. Even those who had just lost someone seemed tough and willing to accept what had happened.

He lounged off to the side of the ceremony and listened as people happily recounted their heroic deeds, most of which were rather embellished. Halvden stood up before everyone and gave a triumphant speech to which he paid little attention. It was sufficient that he had time to rest. Boys and girls ran every which way carrying pitchers, mugs, and plates of meats and bread. With a distinct warmth in his heart, he noticed Adal and Fenrir sitting together at a table, the man looking far more timid or at least calm than he had been in the past.

"But it would not have been possible without him!"

Everyone turned and looked at him. He suddenly felt rather nervous being the center of attention.

"The dragon helped us win. I'll not hear any more complaining about him. Shadowwing has been with us for weeks now, and he has never done anything to hurt anyone here. He showed us that he can be better than us even. He helped us win the battle without us losing many of our own. Shadowwing, come join us."

Halvden beckoned him forward, and he could hardly resist in such a festive setting. Especially when dozens of people began clapping and cheering for him. A couple he passed by were even brave enough to reach out and pat him on the shoulder.

Joining the leader of the tribe at the head of a ceremony was very bittersweet because of the memories it brought back. Good, but painful memories.

"Greta, bring up the haunch for him. I'd say he's earned it!"

That got his attention. A large woman approached holding a speared hunk of meat practically dripping with fat. Just the sight of it made his mouth water and his stomach rumble.

 _That looks wonderful! Skirmishing and hauling loads all through the night are hard work after all._

Then he smelled the meat. It had been cooked over the open fire and then prepared with several herbs, one of which was dragonsbane. While it smelled and looked truly wondrous, he could not help but wonder if it was safe for him to eat.

He remembered rather vaguely the effect that dragonsbane had on him. It was easy to remember Toothless blissfully rolling around on his back, tongue lolling out, and then struggling to stand up and walk afterwards. That was not terribly unlike how Nords could get on a festive occasion after too many drinks. All he could remember from his own limited experience with it though was feeling perfectly happy, having no desire to do anything at all, and the sensation of floating on a warm wind over the sea. And that was just from rolling in it. Who knew what effect actually eating it could have?

Greta held aloft the haunch for him to take.

To refuse would be an insult on this night of celebration and it would probably take too long to explain his reservation to them. Plus, they had just won a battle, and he could afford to be a bit... daring. Resigned to whatever might happen, he let her hand him the mouthful and dug into it.

 _Maybe there isn't enough to actually do anything bad. I hope..._

Aside from his lingering concern about the unknown effect the dragonsbane may have on him, the haunch was as juicy and as tender and as dripping with fat as he imagined it would be. This was the proper way to eat, not tearing apart a freshly caught animal with no preparation. There not being much blood was somewhat of a letdown though.

A very faint pall gradually descended over everything around him. Voices became more indistinct and slurred. Several shapes ran over to him with helpings of meats to offer him, which he gladly accepted. It became a very, very good and pleasant evening.

Admittedly though he began feeling rather sleepy and wasn't quite sure what was going on around him as the roaring bonfire billowed higher and all voices molded into one constant drone of laughter, conversation, dancing, tales of combat and battle-deeds, songs of praise to the gods…

Blink...

The smell of roasting meats was the most pleasant smell he could ever remember being drowned in as the ringing voices filled his ears...

It was hard to keep his heavy eyes open...

.

He opened his eyes and realized that he was completely splayed out on the ground. The party had long since ended, and it was well after nightfall. He gave a faint growl at the throb in his head and noticed that there was a faint pool of drool where his head had been resting.

 _Gods, that stuff is strong. I slept through the whole party._

He struggled to his feet and started for Bori's hut when he heard a voice.

"Well, you are finally awake again."

Halvden strolled over to meet him. The Chief had a pipe in his mouth and was smoking a strange herb.

"I wanted to wait for you to wake up. Did you get enough to eat?"

He nodded, slightly grimacing at the pain in his belly.

"You nodded off in the middle of the feasting, just lay down by the fire and went out. We tried to get you up, but you sleep deeper than old Stonehead."

 _I was very sleepy, and... did you know that dragonsbane is powerful stuff..._

"Shall we go to my place to talk?"

He followed Halvden over to his hut and carefully wiggled inside. If anything, it reminded him of the Elder's hut back on Berk, with its glass bottles filled with dried leaves, strange artifacts, and a few ragged books. It was different though in the swords and pikes that Halvden had stored by the door. The Chief tossed a few feeder logs on the fire, and then sat down with a gesture at the only bare patch of dirt.

"I know you didn't want to fight today, but you did help us. You helped us destroy our enemy, and we owe you much. I owe you much."

Halvden paused for a moment.

"We have a deal, and you did your part. You want to get into Rorikfeld and help your brother escape if you can, right?"

Yes.

"None of us know what it is like in the arena between the fights. All we know is that every moon or so there is a dragon fight held at Rorikfeld. Dragons fight humans or other dragons, sometimes to the death. People gather to watch the fights and they bet on each fight for fun and for entertainment. I don't know if they would have your brother fight now. Dragons like you are very rare, and they might not want to risk harm to their prize."

 _I hope not._

"So you want to get in there. Here is how I think we can do it as I mentioned to you before. They always need dragons to fight. I could have my men take you there as if we caught you and want to have you fight. You can pretend to be trained for battle or something. They will definitely want to let you in then. That will give you the chance to find him and do something."

It again sounded like a good plan, at least the best plan that either of them had come up with, except for one important detail.

 **Will I need to fight?**

Halvden nodded without hesitation.

"You might need to. If you do, the human or dragon you have to fight will try to kill you."

He hung his head in obvious dismay.

 _So I have to fight back…_

"You can't avoid that. Fighting is necessary if you want to protect your own. I know this. That is why I did what I did last night. Yes, I did hate those monsters, and I was happy to be able to fight and kill them. But only because of the bad things they did to my tribe and my people."

"I said that I would need a few men to seem to control you. You will need to let us put ropes on you so that it looks like we are leading you."

He nodded in resignation, as distasteful as the notion was. Though he suspected that it would not be the last time he would need to do something disagreeable in this mission.

"We will need a few weeks to prepare. I will send some people to Rorikfeld to see if they are interested in this deal, and I will let you know when we hear back from them."

 **I understand**

Halvden grimly nodded as well.

"Have you thought about what will happen later? After you find him and get him out I mean?"

 _Not really, I haven't thought that far ahead._

He shook his head.

"Well, we enjoy you being here. I think we would all welcome you and your brother here if you wanted to stay. I certainly would. It certainly helps us to have a dragon on our side."

He felt a distinct warmth at the offer. Being accepted as part of a people was very comforting and gave a feeling of place in the world. There were certainly good people in this small tribe whom he had come to know and care for.

But none of that could replace the memories of his real home and friends. And then there were also Toothless' unknown wishes. What would he want to do?

 **I do not know**

"You have plenty of time to think about it."

He carefully backed out of Halvden's hut and walked back outside into the village square. He could see a few fires lit inside the dwellings, but there was no sign that anyone was stirring. Everything was peaceful and everyone was resting after the fighting and feasting.

He paused in front of Bori's house, and eventually turned away to walk down toward the river. Something felt better about being outside and under the open skies at the moment. The birds and owls sang their respective songs in the trees and bushes all around as he followed the worn trail and lay down by the water's edge.

The gently flowing water's babble was very helpful at calming his nerves.

 _What have I gotten myself into? Get taken as a prisoner into a city that makes dragons fight humans and other dragons just to find a way to maybe get Toothless out? Is this stupid or crazy or both?"_

Sigh.

 _But he has been there for months now. He has been through far worse than I will. And at least we will be together soon._

He glanced up at the stars one more time before he covered himself with a wing. He shivered slightly at the chill in the air, knowing full well that it was only a taste of the approaching winter.


	37. II - Departure

_**Author's Note - The timing of events seems to be confusing a few people. This is understandable whenever there are split arcs (and yes, I did make myself a chart to help me keep straight the passage of time). Toothless is still captive in the city as of the end of the prior chapter. It should be clear after this chapter and into the next one though how nearly the two arcs wove together.**_

* * *

 _" _There is a time for departure even when there's no certain place to go." - Tennessee Williams – Camino Real__

* * *

Departure

* * *

A couple weeks passed during which he did nothing but help hunt, fly to calm his nerves, aid with various tasks around the village, and listen to more of the story from Bori's bedside as the young man recovered. The weather continued to turn colder in that time, as though the gods themselves saw fit to foil his plans. And of course he eagerly awaited news from the messengers who had been sent to Rorikfeld.

Then Halvden, looking quite frustrated and possibly even a bit worried as well, came to him as he reclined near the river late in the afternoon.

"There is a problem, Shadowwing."

 _Great, another one. I do not have enough of those..._

"The messengers we sent just got back. They were at Rorikfeld and asked about the dragon fights, but the city is closed right now. The guards said that there are never any fights after the first of Haustmánuður. Something about dragons starting to go to sleep and not wanting to fight anymore."

 _That makes sense._

 **Yes, many sleep in the winter**

"But that means that the city shuts down for the winter. No dragon fights means that we cannot get you in there until the spring."

 _Wait... What!_

He slowly spun away from the Chief and growled in frustration. His claws kneaded at the ground, and his tail thrashed in dismay. Being delayed until the spring was a terrible change in his plans, but there seemed to be no way around this unfortunate development. It made sense that the city would go silent in the worst of the winter. Berk did something very similar.

"What do you want to do?"

 _Well, there is nothing else for it but stay here, I guess._

 **Would you let me stay here this winter?**

Halvden rubbed his beard in thought and gave him a nod.

"Certainly, what do you need?"

 **Only a warm room to sleep in**

"We could do that, yes. We have a few huts that are empty now. What about food?"

 **I can help more with hunting until then**

"You helping to hunt would definitely make it easier on us. I did say that you would be welcome to stay with us. A few of the tribe would definitely be glad if you decide to stay a while longer."

He sighed in resignation and took to the skies, knowing that this was just a delay in his mission. A frustrating and lengthy delay. But Toothless would certainly still be there in the spring.

 _At least I can still do some good for these people while I am here. The more good experiences they have with dragons the better it is for them._

* * *

Several more weeks passed during which he devoted all his spare time to hunting. He managed to catch and haul back to the village almost a dozen deer for the village to prepare for the winter. They were more than sufficient provision for the village and his own coming needs, especially when combined with the number of smoked fish and other animals that had been slaughtered or were available.

The Chief gave him one of the huts previously owned by someone who had died in the battle and left no heirs.

He grumbled as he inspected it himself, but he was not about to turn his nose at the offered accommodations. It would be a bit tight, but it was more than he had expected he would have under the circumstances. He had been preparing himself to have to tough it out in a poor stable.

 _Hmm, should be just big enough. Though it does have very strange things to be gotten rid of. It also needs a fireplace. All considered though it is much better than a stable._

He and Bori spent a while clearing it out of the remaining weapons, refuse, and other peculiar trinkets. The young man's leg was fast on its way to healing because the break was a clean one that was quickly set. They then carefully stacked bricks and rocks into a makeshift fireplace on the ground in the main room.

He paused, gave the modified hut a satisfied nod, and turned to the dirt outside his temporary home.

 **How bad are the winters here?**

"Not as bad as they are further north. We usually only have to stay inside for the worst during Morsugur and Þorri. Sometimes into Gói if the winter is very long," Bori replied.

 _Only three months then, that's better than back at home._

"What do dragons do in the winter?"

 **Most leave to have their babies**

"What?"

 **They lay eggs on an island with bubbling waters**

"Really? Why?"

 **It helps the babies stay warm**

"I see. Amazing. What about you though?"

He grumbled a bit at that as he remembered how boring and lazy the winters almost always were.

 **I will sleep a lot like what bears do**

 **Not all the time though**

Bori stood there for a moment while saying nothing. Then the young man glanced at his belly and nodded at him.

He glanced down at his belly and then back up at Bori with a questioning hum of his own.

"It certainly doesn't look like you will need to eat much during the winter."

 _Oh, I will. You must not know how much a... What!_

"Yeah, you've been... preparing well..."

 _I am not a fat dragon!_

"Uh, I know what you're thinking and yeah, you are a bit. That's not bad though. Even we pack on a bit of extra blubber as winter gets closer. Helps to keep us warmer," Bori laughed openly.

Shadowwing only grumbled and rolled his eyes in response.

 _Ok, maybe there is a little extra of me, but that is normal for this time of the year..._

 **Well, it would be nice if someone would visit**

 **There is more to the story you were telling me**

"That can be arranged for sure," Bori added with a smug grin.

* * *

The wind whistled outside in the darkness of the long night. The nooks, crevices, and corners of his dwelling had various chill drafts, but the makeshift fireplace continued to burn with warmth. Being completely wrapped up in his wings and resting on old furs also helped a lot to stay warm.

Wake up, shake off the heavy furs, roll a new log into place in the fire, and burrow back under the blankets to bask in the warmth. Dash outside to take care of necessary business every few days when it was warmest. Eat roughly every week or so and regularly collect some snow to melt and drink or simply eat. Collect the many old scales that he shed.

That was the necessary and boring routine. It was a routine that brought lots of sleep and dreams.

Blissful dreams of floating in the sky on warm winds.

Happy dreams of a woman with bright golden hair billowing out behind her from up on her Nadder's back.

Somber dreams of a Night Fury caged underground and tortured in unknown, terrible ways.

Pained and confusing dreams of a massive, bearded man struggling to make a fateful choice.

* * *

" _I hurt you. I broke tail!"_

" _Why did you not kill me?"_

" _You silly Toothless."_

" _I made us in the dirt."_

" _Toothless, teach me flying."_

" _You did it, Hiccup! You were flying!"_

" _Hiccup, you need learn how to fight."_

" _Lick hurts. Mouth-water helps hurts."_

" _Why do we have claws and teeth?"_

" _Not good to fly in dark-cold-wind."_

" _I want to fight for my nest."_

" _Much like two-leg you are, Toothless."_

 _"Just remember why you are out there."_

 _._

" _Hiccup?"_

" _Shadowwing?"_

 _._

" _Who are you dark wing?"_

 _._

He woke up and lifted his tailfins from his head. He wearily looked around the hut, saw nothing, and then got up to put another log into place. Then he curled himself closer to the flames with his long tail wrapped halfway around the fireplace. He stared at the tongues of fire as they rolled over the crackling log. The wind was very loud and sharp outside at this moment in the middle of the night. A wolf's howl was barely audible somewhere out in the night.

 _That is odd. I could have sworn I heard something. Who am I indeed?_

Sigh.

 _Maybe I am just going crazy after all._

* * *

The routine was only broken by the occasional visit from someone outside. Bori and Halvden visited most frequently, usually to bring him some freshly cooked food or just to talk with him.

Bori even showed up for several days with the full copy of the story about the Norse hero and spent hours reading to him while reclining at his side.

This people did not have a mid-winter festival, which was mildly disappointing since he missed the large feasts and happy gatherings of old. The warmth of company was much to be desired. The festivals were also good even if for no reason other than the abundance of food.

Winter continued to pass in relative peace and quiet; however, there was an always present void at his side and in his heart which could not be filled by any amount of talk or visits from these good people.

* * *

He nudged open the door, stepped outside, and glanced at the muddy, slushy ground as he had many times already since the weather turned for the better. The trees were budding all around the village, and the air, though still cool, had none of its deeply biting chill anymore. He took a step forward and froze at a pinch from behind.

The door had closed on his tail behind him.

Again.

He grumbled and glared at the traitorous door.

 _Ugh, how did I do that this time?_

He backpedaled, nudged open the door, and yanked his tail outside with a hiss of mild frustration.

 _Well, I hope no one saw that._

Then he stepped back onto the soft ground and yawned, stretching his jaws and wings wide. Everything again felt slightly different. Another quick glance at his wings and tail confirmed what he suspected. They were noticeably larger than they were before the winter. He was noticeably larger in general. Bori and Halvden had already mentioned it to him several times, but it was hard to truly accept.

 _Being well-fed and having a lot of rest really does that over the winter. Gods, another year or so and I might even be as big as Toothless was before. What a strange thought._ _Who knew that Night Furies became adults in about four years? Certainly not me. Add that to the Book of Dragons._

Thoughts of his time in this village swarmed over him as he looked around at everyone he could see. Halvden's understanding and strength as a leader, Bori and Aelf's kindness, Adal's youthful innocence, and everyone else's general acceptance were far more than he could have hoped for. Being allowed to sleep indoors again under a roof and have a proper bed of sorts were comforts that he would never again take for granted. Even more than having shelter though, he strongly appreciated the certainty that he would be able to eat well. That was something that was never present out in nature, out in the wild where dragons usually lived.

 _It is nice here, and there are good people here. Almost like home._

He gave a sad sigh.

 _Home... it will hurt a bit to leave here. I wish I could do something for them. Something for them to remember me by._

Then he gave a smug grin as he had an idea of something that he could do for those he cared the most for and who would miss him the most.

 _I cannot make them alone, but I think the smith would be willing to help, especially for a certain payment. There are a few to spare._

* * *

Chief Halvden approached him a couple weeks later.

"We will be ready to leave in a few days. We are building a wagon now."

Shadowwing glanced over at the wagon that several men were constructing and gave the Chief a nod.

"It is a week to Rorikfeld on foot. We will tie you to the wagon when we leave. Bori volunteered to be your... handler."

 _I am happy to hear that._

"He will take a message inside Rorikfeld to let them know about you while you and the guards wait outside the city. They will send people to see you and bring you inside as a fighter with Bori along to... handle you. Then, well, that part is up to you. You will have to figure out how to escape with your brother."

 **That is fair**

"We don't know what it is like in there. You will have to be careful."

 **I will**

 _Finally, we are doing something!_

He closed his eyes and thought about Rorikfeld and its fighting arena. The very place that he might need to spend time as a prisoner. The place where he might have to change in unknown and terrible ways through fighting if that could not be avoided. But at least he knew someone else dear to him who was also prisoner there.

* * *

The entire village turned out to witness the departure of their adopted dragon. Halvden said a few glowing words of praise directed at him, much to his chagrin. Then it was time to do something he had been waiting to do for weeks.

He hopped over to the modified hut he had been given, dashed inside to retrieve what he came for, and returned to the gathering. He walked directly over to Adal, Alden, Hilde, and Fenrir and considered them. His eyes found Fenrir's and did not look away. The man eventually cast his eyes down and whispered to his son.

"Go on, son."

Adal slowly stepped forward.

"You have to go now," he said.

Yes, he nodded.

"To find your brother."

Yes.

Shadowwing leaned forward before the lad could say anything else and held out his clenched paw toward Adal. In his paw was a simple, heavy string necklace woven through several dozen black scales that had small holes cut into their center.

"Is... that for me?" Adal whispered.

Yes, he nodded.

"Why?" Adal gasped.

The Chief stepped forward to translate for him.

 **To remember me if I do not come back**

 **You remind me of someone I once knew**

Adal eagerly grabbed the necklace and slung it over his head with a giddy grin. Then the lad gave his head an eager hug.

"Shadowwing," Fenrir whispered.

He looked up at Adal's father. At the man who had once tried to kill him, apparently in a drunken stupor made worse by old memories. They looked at each other for several moments. Fenrir struggled to say anything at all but did eventually nod respectfully to him.

 _That is good enough for me._

He nodded back and then received a tearful hug from Aelf. He wrote down a brief instruction to Halvden to let the girl know something after he himself was gone. Then he took a deep breath and walked over to the wagon.

"Remember, when you get there we cannot be very friendly to you. You are just a wild dragon that we… somehow captured and... trained. And you know to... obey me. Understand?" Bori said.

Yes, he nodded.

Bori held up the loop of rope in his hands.

"You are sure about this?"

Shadowwing looked around the small group of people who were going along with him as guards. He did not know any of the others well, but neither had any of them ever done him any violence. And he course trusted Bori heartily.

Yes.

He held himself still as the heavy rope was fitted over his head and tied to the wagon.

"May the gods watch over you," Halvden gave him a quick blessing.

The wagon began to move, and he followed behind it. The guards, led by a man named Naeris, were already busily talking among themselves while Bori moved to walk at his side.

He and Bori shared a glance at each other and at the village gradually vanishing behind them. At Aelf, Adal, Halvden, and the other friendly men, women, and children he had come to know and who were waving a solemn farewell.

"Hey, I'll not have you looking at my village like that... dragon!" Bori suddenly growled.

He glanced up at the young man and easily saw the amusement in his eyes. He responded by lowering his head and butting into him while chuckling at him.

"You'll never get out of that knot. I tied it myself. I'm the best in the clan at that," Bori proudly announced.

It certainly seemed a very tight one indeed.

Then he turned his thoughts to the long road ahead and to many days of walking. All the while drawing closer to hopefully achieving his mission.

 _Just a while longer, Toothless. I am on my way._

* * *

He stood in the arena again and watched as the audience all around him shouted and cheered. He could feel his own hackles rising and blood boiling as the conflict drew nearer.

The gate on the far end of the arena opened, and a black dragon bounded out to meet its opponent. They saw each other, and his opponent looked at him in amazement.

Red was all he himself saw as he leapt at it with a furious bellow of challenge. His fire flew forth, claws flashed, and teeth snapped. Chunks of wing were torn away. The other dragon rolled to a stop underneath him and went still as his own jaws broke its neck.

His roar of victory was echoed by the audience. He was the victor! He was the great one! He was Alpha!

He turned back to the body, to all the meat right there for him to enjoy under the scales. To the delicious liver that he would have to dig to find.

And he saw the dead dragon's toothless smile.

A toothless smile.

 _Toothless!_

" _Shadowwing!"_

He stepped back from the body in complete terror as he glanced at his own bloodied claws.

" _Wake up!"_

"No! No!" he screamed as he beheld his brother's dead body.

He rolled awake with a whimper of fear and saw them all worriedly gathered around him. The other guards and Bori were right there with him. He subtly glanced at his own limbs and claws and saw no blood at all.

"Shadowwing, are you alright?"

His breathing slowed as he collected himself.

"Bad dream?" Bori whispered.

 _Very bad..._

He slowly nodded in response.

"It is alright now," Bori gently patted him on the head.

The young man returned to the campfire a few moments later after he himself settled down.

Try as he might, he could not easily return to rest himself though. That dream felt so real, vivid, and terrifying.

 _I could never do that to him or anyone. I am not a monster. Surely there will be another way once I get there._

His own thoughts felt somewhat hollow though. He glanced back down at his claws and knew with a terrible certainty that he would eventually have no choice but to coat them in blood.

* * *

The week of marching passed without any other disturbance until they finally came within sight of Rorikfeld early in the afternoon. The large wooden walls that encompassed the entire village and the farm houses outside the protection of the walls were familiar even from the ground.

It all looked still and peaceful from afar. That at least was quite different from how it had looked from the sky.

"We should make camp out here so that they don't see us," Naeris announced.

"Alright, I will go in and let them know about our... prize," Bori announced as a couple guards moved to flank him.

Then Bori turned back and gave him a nod before leaving for the city.

It was terrible to do nothing but sit and wait for news. He expected that it should be fast, that it was only a matter of talk to someone and bring them out to see him, at which point he would need to pretend to be tamed, broken, or something.

But instead nothing happened the rest of the afternoon and into the early evening. He had just started to feel genuinely worried when he noticed several returning shapes approaching by torchlight.

Bori came straight up to him without hesitation.

"We need to talk."

 _Why? What is wrong?_

"It is empty. There is nothing there."

 _What?_

He growled softly in alarm and confusion.

"The dragon fighting arena is empty, as is most of the town. We went to the mead hall, that is still there at least, and asked what happened. They said that someone called the dragon master had all the dragons taken away."

 _No! We are too late!_

He hung his head in dismay.

 **Taken where?**

"I asked. They were not sure, but some of them said that they saw dragons being led west toward the ocean."

 **My brother?**

Bori briefly paused.

"They said that there was a dragon like you that was taken away, yes."

He gave an involuntary sigh of relief at the confirmation that Toothless was at least not dead. Then he glanced to the west and toward the far distant ocean perhaps a few days' march away.

 **When?**

"A few weeks ago. They were not clear on when though. We are hungry and are going to make some food. Let me know if you need anything else and what you want to do now."

He nodded back at Bori and then lay down, lost to his somber thoughts.

 _I was so close. He was here._ _If only we were here sooner. If I had been quicker to get to know these people..._

Sigh.

 _They left weeks ago and have probably reached the boats. I will never find them then. But I have to try._

His heart was pained at the sudden realization that he had no time to waste and had to leave immediately. He had hoped that he might be able to say a proper farewell to everyone he knew back in the village instead of the brief farewell a week ago, but that was not going to be possible now.

He looked up and noticed several dark figures dashing through the trees just away from the campfire.

 _Wait, what?_

He glanced over his shoulder and saw all five of the guards and Bori standing by the fire. Only a moment passed before he realized what had to be happening. He jumped to his feet and bellowed in alarm.

"What is it?" Bori and a couple of the guards rushed over.

He tossed his head at the trees and growled.

"An attack!" "They followed us!"

Weapons were raised and all the guards huddled together for protection as the marauders approached. There were easily a couple dozen of them, all with nets and pikes in hand. The guards nervously shifted as none of them had clearly thought there would be any fighting. Naeris turned to the other four guards.

"Uh, I don't think we can fight them."

"Nope," "Got that right," "Let's get!"

"We are not leaving him!" Bori shouted back at them.

"Look! There are twenty of them. What can we do?" Naeris objected.

He got their attention with a growl. They all looked at him and were amazed when he sadly gestured them toward the open forest.

"He wants us to go. That works for me," Naeris shouted as the other guards followed and disappeared into the night.

Bori did not move and instead turned to face the unknown marauders despite the dragon's anguished protests directed at him.

"What do you want?" Bori shouted.

One of the attackers stepped forward with a clear presence of authority.

"He took them! All my prizes! I'm taking this one!" the man roared.

"Dragons are not prizes!" Bori shouted back.

"Who are you?" the leader shouted.

"I am Bori of Clan Ironfist."

"Ironfist... never heard of it. Take it!" the leader yelled.

They all advanced in a practiced line that gradually surrounded the wagon and closed in on all sides.

"You need me alive," Bori shouted.

"Why?"

"I'm its handler. I trained it."

The leader held up his fist, and the advancing men paused.

"Let me show you..."

Bori slowly stepped over to his side and lay a hand on his neck. The attackers were obviously surprised that the dragon did nothing aggressive at all toward him. The leader stared for a moment before he spoke.

"Impressive. Too bad I do not need any other dragon handlers anymore."

Bori only smiled and grabbed the rope. One careful tug was all it took and the false knot unraveled, leaving the heavy rope coiled loosely.

"Go..." Bori whispered.

"Get them!"

The men charged outright.

He glanced back at Bori, at the man he called his friend, who had saved him, and who was willing to die for him. He shook the loose rope from his neck, threw out his wings, and crouched, ready to leap to freedom.

But...

It would be stupid and crazy. He was not even sure if he was strong enough. But he had to try it anyway.

He reached out with his forearms and grabbed Bori as he pushed off from the ground just before the nets were hurled his way. He growled and beat his wings against the strain from the added weight as the yells of dismay echoed from the clearing below.

His flight was awkward, and he pitched heavily, struggling mightily against the difficulty of staying aloft. He pitched to avoid the crown of a large tree. Then he leveled off above the treetops and steadied his flight into a slow glide with his passenger awkwardly clutched against his breast.

Bori eventually stopped shouting in alarm. Then, out of nowhere, Bori found his courage and gave a yell of delight as he beheld the trees beneath him. The young man let go his arms and held his own arms out wide.

He could not help but add a roar of his own as they soared on the wind to safety.

* * *

They found the guards easily enough on the road back home. Naeris and the other four looked very timid at their return from the skies. If they expected him to be angry with them though, they were quite surprised by what he had to say.

 **I wanted you to leave and not have to die for me**

"I'm not so happy about it," Bori grumbled at them.

"The Chief didn't say anything about fighting. There should have been a score of us at least," Naeris protested.

"Aye, there should have been. What is done is done. Let's not think about it now," Bori finally answered.

"And you?" he turned to Shadowwing.

They both knew without needing to say anything. He still lowered a claw to the dirt anyway.

 **I must go**

 **Cannot lose time**

"I know. It is so sudden. Aelf and Adal will miss you. And I will miss you. Stay safe out there."

They embraced with Bori wrapping his arms around his neck and him gently patting the young man on the back while humming sadly. Then he stepped back with one final message for his friend.

 **Check with Aelf**

 **I left you both scale necklaces**

Bori nodded once without saying anything, clearly choked by feeling from the tears he had shed, and then stepped back to give him space.

Shadowwing leaped for the sky with a beat of his wings and vanished into the darkness.


	38. II - The Road Goes On

_**Author's Note - Don't you miss the days of the good old 18,000 word chapters of volume I? This is more of a transition chapter than it is actual exposition of new content. A decent amount of time passes with Hiccup somewhat wandering the wild or not accomplishing much. I did not feel a need to manufacture additional content just to fill temporal space. It is basically late summer by the end of the chapter. Anyhow, you should easily be able to guess at where Hiccup's arc is going next. I think it is fair to say that there will be no more 'slow' chapters from here on out.**_

* * *

" _Not all those who wander are lost." - J.R.R. Tolkien - The Fellowship of the Ring_

* * *

The Road Goes On

* * *

Shadowwing flew on through the night, his heart again heavy at another forced departure on very short notice. He passed by Rorikfeld, found the main path that led out toward the ocean, and began following it.

In the silence of the night, he thought again of the people he was leaving behind and of the time he had spent with them. While it was unlikely that they would ever meet wild dragons, given how rare free dragons seemed to be in the world now, they were certain to treat any such dragons very differently in the future.

 _They should know enough to be able to convince a dragon to stay with them. That could help protect them against any other raiders too, I suppose. If they ever find a dragon that is. And I did tell them that other dragons do not talk like I can, so they won't try anything too stupid._

Then he turned his attention back to the road far below and grumbled at himself to remain focused on his true mission. Toothless had been taken from Rorikfeld to the sea by the orders of someone named the dragon master, whatever that title meant. This someone had an odd fascination with dragons such that he had all the arena dragons taken from Rorikfeld.

 _That does not sound like a pleasant person._

He followed the path from above, passing through the darkness as silently as a shadow. The first day of flight and searching along the road did not reveal anything significant. However, the second day changed everything.

The path cut up and through a mountain pass from which the distant ocean was barely visible. He dove toward the ground and landed when he noticed wreckage in the middle of the road. The wagon looked like it had lain abandoned for some time, quite possibly for weeks. The wagon had its rear torn off. Further, there were abandoned weapons as well as a pile of chains and a muzzle discarded in the road.

 _What happened here? It looks like there was a fight._

He bent down to the ground and the abandoned items but could not smell anything that would give away what had happened. However, there were some prints in the ground that could be marks from claws. Something else about the area also felt oddly familiar.

 _That has to be it. They were taking a dragon this way, and it fought its way out somehow?_

He gave a questioning grumble and wandered off the trail and up toward the nearest trees to think over everything he had seen. However, he noticed something definitive and wonderful even before he lay down.

There were clear claw marks up around the tree. More than that though there was a black scale visible in the grass. It was unmistakable what dragon had been brought this way and had clearly escaped.

"Toothless! You did it! You escaped!"

He roared aloud in profound relief. All his exhaustion passed, and he bent back down to the ground. There was a very faint trail from both footprints and scent. The scent trail was so faint that he would have missed it if he did not know to look for it and if the scent were not so familiar and dear. It could not have been more than a couple weeks old, else it would certainly have been lost to the elements. It was quite remarkable that there was enough left for him to be able to follow at all.

 _Or maybe dragons can smell far older scents than humans can. That is probably it._

He followed the trail on the ground for the rest of the day going north along the coast. There were several times when he had to take refuge and hide while a group of people passed nearby. There were also times when he lost the path and had to guess at where it had gone or had to retrace his steps.

Something started bothering him by the end of the day. There was something he could not understand and had initially overlooked in his eagerness and sheer joy that Toothless had escaped.

 _Why is he only walking instead of flying? True, there would be no trail to follow in the air, but..._

 _Maybe he is on the ground to hunt better? No, that is not right._

He paused mid-step and gave a wary growl as a terrible idea bit at his heart.

 _Or maybe he is on the ground because he was hurt... and cannot fly. Gods, I hope not._

The trail continued further north for many days. Some signs and smells of the path were more obvious than others, however unpleasant they were to find. Still, he was grateful to find any confirmation that he was still on the correct path.

The days again blended together into a haze of following the trail, guessing at where the trail would lead, losing the trail and retracing his steps, and suffering the always present hunger. However, he was far better practiced as a hunter by this point and was much better prepared to resolve that situation.

He spied several deer grazing in a nearby field and ducked low to the ground, deep in his planning his attack. Just a single fat deer would keep him fed for easily several weeks. The deer gradually made their way further out into the field as he crept away to take flight. Within minutes and following a dive from above the treetops, he had his dead catch firmly in his claws.

Just like the first time he had eaten a fresh catch, something felt wild and dangerous about it. There was a wild pleasure at the taste of raw, bloody meat, and a disturbing sensation of needing to fill his belly and sate his hunger. He still ate his fill without the regrets that he once had felt, left behind only bones and fur, and continued on his ordained path.

Then the path surprisingly led toward a small farm outside a city.

 _Why would he go here?_

He crept closer along the ground and noticed all the sheep and goats grazing freely in the nearby pastures.

 _Yeah, he definitely grabbed one to eat. I really wish he did not have to do that._

Another couple days passed of following the trail, and then the trail seemed to vanish at a river. He checked up and down along the coast on both sides into the evening but could not find any sign of the trail. The river was certainly not deep enough or fast enough to be a danger to a dragon like Toothless.

He remained there by the edge of the river, feeling completely lost and empty until the moon was high in the sky.

The trail had completely vanished with nothing left for him to follow. He moaned sadly, darted back under the cover of nearby trees, and vanished in his wings to try for some sleep.

 _Maybe I will think of... something._

* * *

 _'Closer dark wing, you are still lost...'_

 _'You need to be shown the winds of life...'_

 _._

 _'Who are you dark wing?'_

He bolted awake in alarm, blinked the sleep from his eyes, and looked around. He could have sworn there was a voice nearby. It felt like there had been someone right there next to him.

Seeing nothing and no one immediately around him, he got up and quenched his thirst in the river. Then he looked to the northern aurora, now glowing a bright green in the night sky.

A wonderful realization struck him. There was a perfectly reasonable explanation for why the trail had vanished.

 _He flew away. He must have. Why now? Why only now?_

He thought for several moments before the obvious answer came to mind.

 _He was prisoner for many months and could not fly all that time. Maybe he needed to recover his strength first and only now can fly again. Yes, that is it!_

It made perfect sense.

 _I cannot stop now, not after everything I have already done. So what if it will be a bit harder to find him now. He is out there somewhere. He must be._

"Toothless, where would you go?"

He aimed himself for the north along the coast and took to the skies, keeping his gaze on the lands below the whole time.

* * *

The trail had vanished over a month ago, judging by the lunar cycle, with no sign of any dragons anywhere on foot or in the sky in all that time. Deeper inland he had searched and found nothing despite successfully having a peaceful meeting with a small tribe after several days of making peaceful advances toward them. They knew nothing that could help him, and he did not wait around to get to know them like he had before with the Ironfist clan. After this most recent letdown, he had returned to the coast and began searching further north.

The lands were very strange and were completely foreign even to the very old maps he vaguely remembered from many years ago.

 _All right, I will admit it. I am lost..._

He knew from prior experience that searching the wild was not likely to help his cause, so he again sought out the nearest village. This one looked like a fishing village as it was directly by the coast and had several small boats. As opposed to his previous attempts at integrating himself into a village, he had a much better idea of how to go about making introductions this time and waited until after nightfall.

The last person finally went inside, leaving the village square empty. He waited another few minutes before making his move. He silently glided over the village and swiftly touched down in the square. A quick glance every direction confirmed that he was alone and not in any immediate danger. He then got to work scratching out his message of greeting in the dirt. Once he finished, he stood up, took a deep breath to calm himself, and howled softly.

Doors opened and shouting started almost immediately as men started flooding out. There was a brief cry of alarm and then an obvious battle cry went up as weapons were recovered.

He was gone and into the sky well before any of them could possibly threaten him.

While slowly gliding up above in the dark sky, he watched as more people spilled out into the village square and gathered roughly where had been standing.

 _Hopefully some of them know their runes._

There certainly seemed to be a large gathering that was busily talking about something down on the ground. He watched until the gathering began to disperse again. A few of the people remained by the runes though and seemed in animated conversation.

 _Don't worry, I will be back._

He came back the following day around midday exactly as he told them he would. Unsurprisingly, and a little discouragingly, a lot of weapons appeared in peoples' hands when he started calmly gliding in circles over the village. Farm animals, children, and women were ushered inside the buildings.

But there was still the clearing in the middle of the village where he could freely land. It looked like it was being intentionally kept open for him. A brief moment of wary consideration passed and then he dove, smoothly alighting on the ground where he had stood just the prior evening.

Guards swarmed around the square and formed a rough circle while keeping their distance. He nervously shifted on his feet as well and kept his wings ready to hasten his escape at a moment's notice should it prove necessary.

No one moved.

 _Stay calm... stay calm..._

One man eventually broke through the line of defenders and slowly began to approach. He was a tall man with many years behind him, a brilliant gray beard, and decent attire for so remote a village. Best of all, he did not appear to have a weapon.

 _Probably an Elder._

The man stopped several lengths away.

 **Hello**

The man looked down at the words that he had just seen scratched into the ground by the dragon standing before him. The man stared for several moments and then looked back up in evident amazement and confusion.

"Loki's armpits, I do not believe it."

Shadowwing laughed at that despite the otherwise precarious situation.

 _I have not heard that one before._

"Impossible. It laughed. The dragon just laughed."

 **Surprising, I know**

"How is this possible?"

 **I learned how to write**

 **I understand everything you say**

The entire audience of guards and even a few women and children had gotten slightly closer. There was much whispering and pointing taking place.

 **My name is Shadowwing**

 **Your name is?**

"Felldir. I am the Elder of the Fireforge Clan."

He bowed to the Elder in full view of everyone. A collective gasp went through the entire audience.

"What do you want with us... Shadowwing?" Felldir recovered himself.

 **I need your help**

"Help? What?"

 **My brother is missing**

"Your brother?"

 **He might have come this way**

 **Have you seen any other dragons like me?**

Felldir raised a hand to his gray beard and rubbed it in thought.

"I don't think so. We almost never see dragons anymore."

The Elder then addressed everyone gathered nearby.

"Has anyone seen any other dragons like this one?"

Heads shook and everyone responded with some variant of 'no'.

"None of us have seen any other dragons like you."

He sadly nodded at Felldir, grateful for the answers though they were not what he had hoped to hear.

 **Is there anything you know that might help?**

"We almost never see dragons now. I remember that the few that we have seen over the years have all flown out to sea."

 _To sea? What?_

 **Where?**

"Toward the Jotun's horn."

 **Where is that?**

Felldir waved a hand up toward the western sky.

"Seven bright stars that make a horn in the sky. It is said that a giant will blow the horn in the end times."

 _Hmm, I can look for that later this evening._

 **Thank you**

 **I will look for it tonight**

"Are you... going to leave us in peace?"

He stared evenly back at the Elder and gave him a nod.

 **Of course I will**

 **Dragons are not monsters**

 **Despite what you may think**

Felldir slowly nodded back to him.

"After this, I am not so sure about the old stories anymore."

He gave Felldir a happy rumble and then bowed again to him. Then he jumped for the sky and left the village behind to find somewhere safe and quiet to rest for a few hours until the stars made their appearance.

* * *

He stood alone in the long grasses inland from the coastline and stared out to the rolling, crashing sea. Specifically, he gazed toward the constellation that Felldir had described. Seven bright stars together made the shape of a horn with the middle star being the brightest. It was readily visible on this clear night.

 _What is out there? I do not remember there being much._ _Maybe the extremely distant islands very far north and east of Berk. We never got around to filling in the maps that far away._

"Where are you, Toothless?"

He again considered for a moment the possibility that Toothless might have wanted to fly back to Berk. Something did not feel right about that though. Toothless would not want to be anywhere around Stoick, not after how he had been betrayed. Toothless was easily smart enough to figure out more or less what had happened. He also had not felt like he fit in on Berk.

Perhaps most significantly though, Toothless had mentioned on several occasions his desire to go find more of his own kind.

More of their own kind.

He lay his head down in the swaying grass and closed his eyes in thought, completely torn on what to do. Stay here on the mainland and keep searching the wild in this way while hoping for a random encounter, or follow the path that the other dragons apparently flew on the chance that Toothless may have done so as well.

It was a crossroads, and he had no idea how to make such a choice.

Exhaustion gradually caught up to him. His cares and thoughts began to fade to the oblivion of rest.

A song drifted on the westerly wind.

A song of safety, of summoning, and of protection.

A song of nesting, of warmth, and of food.

 _Caves and mountains of ice..._

 _Flashes of color spiraling freely on the wind..._

 _A mountain of glimmering white..._

 _Two brilliant, massive blue eyes..._

 _...staring back into his soul._

He woke up from having nodded off and shook himself awake. Again, he looked around in alarm and saw no one nearby despite being certain that someone was just out of sight. It felt like someone or something was watching him.

 _I am definitely going crazy. Too much time out here alone._

A very deep sigh followed.

 _There must be a reason why the dragons are going out there. It is not much to go on, but I don't have anything else at this point._

He considered the danger of setting out to sea toward an uncharted destination based on nothing but the report of a stranger who had just met his first friendly dragon, an ethereal song that seemed to have echoed on the wind, and the chance that Toothless may have flown the same flight.

 _Sounds good enough for me._

He arose, stretched his limbs and wings, and took to the sky, his flight set for the unknown as he left the mainland behind.


	39. II - King And Queen

_**Author's Note - Hiccup will be at the following location for a while. Toothless would currently be well on his journey into the east (I envisioned the final destination where he found Green-Wings being somewhere around the Ural Mountains). That bit of info might help you keep the timing of everything clear. Hiccup would not have found him if he had kept going along the coast.**_

* * *

" _I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion."_ _\- Alexander the Great (attributed to)_

* * *

King And Queen

* * *

Shadowwing flew all through the night toward that odd constellation before he spotted anything at all. The first change on the horizon was a series of small islands that were little more than outcroppings of rock with no soil at all. Beyond them though were several larger islands, none of which he recognized from any old maps. The islands started having more grass and trees on them.

The longer he flew the stronger that faint song or call seemed to become. Nothing was audible, but it almost felt like a constant drone or vibration in his chest. A faint feeling that urged him onward with a promise of something. It was mildly concerning, not knowing what was causing that strange feeling and also because something about it felt so comforting and alluring.

Then he noticed something which begged for closer investigation. Specifically, a wrecked boat which was on the nearby shore. He alighted on the sandy beach next to the wreckage and then hop-flew up on deck.

The ship was a large one and had an opening down into the main hold. The hold had several broken chains and old muzzles.

He shivered and stifled a growl when he realized what the ship had to have been transporting.

 _There would be a business in that. Though I already knew that from what happened to Toothless..._

Most surprising about the ruins though was the sheer amount of damage that had been done to the ship. There were claw marks and burns from stem to stern, as though it had been savagely attacked. There were even places where the deck and railing had been rent open from a massive strike.

 _What happened here? Whoever was on this ship ran into some angry dragons, that is for sure._

He eventually turned away from the ruins of the beached ship and resumed his searching among the islands. There were a couple other remains of old wrecked boats that he passed over.

 _Sure are a lot of them up here. Were they actually trapping dragons up here?_

It was around midday when he saw something incredible above a distant snowcapped peak.

Dragons on the wing.

He altered his course and approached the flight as the dragons calmly soared on the day's warmest winds. Several more dragons gradually appeared in the air around the others. The rumbling in his chest palpably grew as he neared them.

Then he pulled up and hovered in place in slight alarm.

 _Something is not right. That does not... feel like them._

He eventually resumed his flight toward the other dragons, still wary of some unknown threat. Something else that was strange became apparent as he approached the mountain though. It seemed like a sheet of ice stretched out on the other side of the mountain.

 _What the...?_

His jaw fell open in amazement once he finally cleared the mountain and had an unobstructed view of something that should be impossible. Ice seemed to have grown up many lengths into the sky. Bright spires of ice sparkled in the sunlight. But there was also a green color inside the ice. Almost as though it was actually hollow and something was growing deep inside.

 _That is... it should have melted. How can it not melt in the summer?_

And there seemed to be a stream of dragons flying in and out of a large opening halfway up the frozen surface of the ice wall. Several of the dragons in particular caught his attention.

 _Wait, those are not on Berk! Those are Rumblehorns, Raincutters, and Snapfangs. It's a nest! A real, living dragon nest!_

His heart was almost bursting with excitement at this amazing discovery. It was not just that it was a nest, but it looked like a good nest from the outside. The dragons were not flying back laden with catches to feed a monster. Instead, they were flying for pleasure, basking in the sunlight, and washing themselves in the ocean. He tucked his wings and dove for the entrance to what was certainly an amazing sight.

The passage had several narrow places where the ground and ceiling spires of ice grew close together or where he had to adjust his flight to avoid a direct crash with an exiting dragon. Then he burst out into the inner chamber, started gliding alongside other dragons, and stared in complete awe.

His home village on Berk could easily have fit inside the enclosure and had extra room besides. There were rock and ice ledges all along the frozen wall, and dragons of all kinds seemed to have their preferred roosting places among the boulders and the growing mosses.

 _There are... so many of them. More than were ever on Dragon Island._

Several caves extended out in various directions from the main chamber. The most notable feature of the interior other than the ice and green plants was the dark pool of water that took up almost half the ground's surface. The other half was a mess of trees, shoreline, sticks, mosses, and colorful remains of small, glossy objects.

 _Wait... are those shells?_

He dove and landed on the unoccupied ledge nearest to the dark pool. There was no remaining doubt once he inspected the place from up close. At least some of these dragons certainly nested with their eggs here and did not leave to the island with the many hot-springs. He lay down on the ledge and looked about at the interior of the chamber in rapture.

A disturbance seemed to go through the other dragons gathered nearby. Many of them hopped to their feet and began circling in the air. They called aloud to each other and filled the chamber with their cries. Something was clearly happening.

Then a flash of white caught his attention. A pair of massive, curved tusks burst forth from the water, each of which was easily several times longer than he himself was from nose to tail-tip. Then the dragon's head emerged from the water. It was almost perfectly white and looked like nothing he had ever seen before, in addition to its enormous size.

He slunk close to the ground and began to creep back from the ledge, suddenly feeling very small and remembering well the last time that he had encountered a dragon of this size. Even the Monster queen on Dragon Island was certainly smaller than this living titan of a creature.

 _That... is... a... huge... dragon..._

The white titan gave a very deep rumble to the entire nest. The flocking dragons dove almost as one toward the interior shore where they landed. Then the titan lowered its massive head toward the shore as well as it could considering its tusks.

He tensed, not knowing what was about to happen.

The titan opened its mouth and spewed a rain of fish down on the shore. The much smaller dragons began attacking the still living fish that were flopping on the rocks.

He gasped in amazement.

 _It is feeding them!_

The titan closed its eyes with an evidently satisfied rumble as its flock continued to feed. The sound it made echoed throughout the ground and felt quite familiar.

 _It was making that sound... feeling thing. Amazing._

Words of warning long ago spoken echoed again in his memory. Something Toothless had once said about very large dragons. That they can influence another dragon's thoughts and make them think bad things.

But something felt very different about this titan. None of the other dragons seemed remotely afraid of it, though they were clearly deferential to it. It did not hide in the nest and expect the smaller dragons to provide for it; instead, this titan clearly provided for the other dragons. Dangerous it certainly could be, but it did not look or feel malicious. It did not feel like a monster.

Then the white titan sniffed at the air and gave a puzzled rumble as it closed its eyes. With a huff at its feeding flock on the ground, it turned with surprising speed in the water, pulled itself partway out of the deep pool, and stood up to be on the same level as the ledge on which he stood.

It stared directly at him.

He slunk back under its gaze, almost as though he wished that he could vanish into the rock. Its massive blue eyes locked on his as its dull curved tusks hung suspended in the air around him. Its breath was like a powerful wind.

For a single instant he thought he could see shock and something almost like alarm deep in its eyes. Then he averted his eyes.

 _Uh... hello there..._

It calmly stood there and continued to stare at him. His wariness seemed to melt under its gaze, and he took several slow steps toward it. Something felt old about its appearance, and its slow, purposeful movements were almost majestic, regal even.

The same silent song that he remembered from the last couple of days returned in full. He started to lose himself in its brilliant eyes as a faint buzzing feeling of comfort grew in his thoughts.

 _Protecting his nest with his strength..._

 _Filling his mouth with fish for the nest..._

 _Kin huddled together for warmth..._

 _Fledglings crawling over him in his rest..._

 _Bad-water-walkers and kin that would die..._

 _The kin-liver savior with clever paws..._

 _His roar of wrath sundered the sky..._

 _Water-walkers devoured by the ocean's jaws..._

 _Standing on the shores..._

 _Swimming in the deeps..._

 _Singing his song..._

 _Calling to all kin..._

Shadowwing stepped back with a soft growl as the buzzing vanished. He shook his head, but the vivid images remained for several moments.

 _What was that?_

The titan calmly stared back at him. Then it breathed softly, exhaling a breath of very cold mist around him. Something in its eyes again seemed sad or perhaps very ancient for a brief moment.

 _Woah..._

Then it stepped back from the ledge and dropped to the ground before retreating into the pool. It lifted its head and gave a distinctive call, almost like a summons. Then it slowly slipped back into the water and vanished into the water's dark oblivion.

He had no time to wonder over the encounter though before something else happened. A single strange dragon that he had never seen before except in writing appeared in the sky over him. It was a normally large dragon, slightly larger than an adult Nightmare, and was a mix of brown, red, and orange. It also had four wings.

 _A Stormcutter. Those are very rare. We did not have any of those on Berk and it..._

There was something else about it that gave him pause once the Stormcutter landed a short hop away from him. There was a much smaller and strange-looking dragon on its back. The odd creature on the Stormcutter's back slid down its side and dropped to the ground on all fours. There was a stick awkwardly clutched in its paws as the dragon cautiously approached.

But something felt especially strange and wrong about it. The green horns on its head and shadowed eye slits felt wrong. The claws on its paws did not move correctly with its paws. The scales did not look uniform. The dragon also had no tail.

It was almost like this was something pretending to be a dragon.

 _Wait, you are a human!_

He glanced up at the owl-like Stormcutter. It did not seem at all concerned about him from how it had already curled up to rest without looking at him.

The wild human had paused a short length away and was clearly inspecting him from how its veiled head swiveled to look him over.

 _How long have you been out here?_

Neither of them moved.

 _Time to make introductions then..._

He calmly gazed back at the mysterious person. It froze and tilted its fake head to the side as he did the same.

"I wonder if you can still talk," he wondered aloud.

It recoiled slightly from him.

 _Wait, there is no way that worked._

"Can you understand me?" he nervously asked.

The veiled human did not immediately react to his words but did eventually start slowly creeping toward him again on all fours. He remained still to not spook it. It paused a short length away, left its staff as he now recognized it on the ground, and reached up for his muzzle.

He swiftly grabbed the arm and gently wrenched it over to reveal the soft skin under the scale-weave. The human gasped, and he started in surprise.

It was a woman.

They both glanced at the visible human hand and arm gently clasped in his paw. He could barely see that her eyes were very wide inside her helmet. Then he let her go and stepped back from her.

 _Let me see who you really are._

She sat down on her rump, lifted both her hands, and stared at them for several moments in clear consideration. Her movements seemed confused until she slowly lifted her hands to her head and worked at her helmet. She pulled her horned helmet off and set it aside.

The woman was middle-age, had tangled brown hair tied in a bun, had a tired but kind face, and had brilliant green eyes that sparkled with evident awe. He could only stare in amazement at how strange it was to see a woman alone in a dragon nest and pretending to be one of them.

And there was something about those eyes...

She got to her feet this time and cautiously took several steps toward him again, this time without her facade. He let her approach without interruption. She cautiously held out the same open palm toward him, and he let her place her palm on his cheek.

They remained frozen for several moments.

"A real Night Fury," she whispered.

 _So you can talk. That is good._

He hummed softly and nodded back at her. She withdrew her hand, almost as though she felt burned by something. She stared at him in faint alarm and shock with clear disbelief in her eyes.

He looked around the ledge for a moment before he remembered that it was solid rock and had nothing to write on. The best option had to be down on the ground. He bounded over to the ledge, gave her a beckoning nod, and glided down to the ground. Then he looked up and was treated to another absolutely amazing sight.

She seemed to be dancing in the air, sliding and hopping from dragon to dragon down to the ground. It was completely unlike anything he had ever seen before. She almost seemed to be completely one with the nest, so much so that none of the dragons even reacted in surprise at her movements.

She landed on all fours while still clutching her staff and somewhat awkwardly approached while standing upright as he patiently sat by a dirt patch. While she watched, he put a single claw to the soil.

 **Hello**

She gasped and her eyes went very wide in astonishment as she beheld the written runes.

"No... it cannot be."

 **I can write**

She stared at the words and then back at him in complete astonishment. When she finally spoke, it was with obvious vulnerability and shock.

"You can write?"

 **No actually I cannot**

She leaned on her staff for a moment and then sat down before him. Her eyes were wide with childlike amazement.

"And... you understand me?"

 **Every word**

"How is that possible? None of the dragons here in this nest understand me like this."

 **I grew up in a village**

Her eyes narrowed slightly from the wide amazement they had been.

"You grew up around humans? That is hard to believe. It must have been somewhere far from here where people are very different. Not like the Nords. Do you... have a name?"

 **Shadowwing**

She inclined her head slightly.

"Shadowwing, I am... honored to meet a Night Fury."

He hummed at her approval.

 **Why all this?**

He pawed at her scale-weave armor.

"It helps when meeting new dragons at first. They are more comfortable seeing something that looks more like them."

 _I guess that makes sense._

 **What is your name?**

"I am Dragonheart," she eventually whispered.

He hummed his slight confusion.

 **Why that name?**

"Because I have always felt at home here with them. This is my place, here among these amazing creatures that only want to live their lives in freedom. They do not care if one is a man or a woman. They do not judge or hate. They only care about what is inside, about someone's character."

A dangerous glint appeared in her otherwise peaceful eyes, and she gave a snarl that would not have been out of place coming from a smaller dragon.

"And they need protection."

 **What?**

"Trappers. They hunt these waters and islands to catch dragons. They are very good at what they do. They leave traps and bait all over the islands."

She waved a hand around the nest where dragons flew freely.

"I have rescued hundreds of them from snares and treated dozens of broken legs or wings through the years."

 **Why do they trap dragons?**

She gave a deep and sad sigh.

"To sell them to someone. All I know is that he calls himself the dragon master. I know where a lot of them are kept as prisoners, but there is nothing that I can do for them at that point."

He searched his memory as something about that title sounded vaguely familiar.

 _Dragon master... where have I heard that name before?_

Her Stormcutter had apparently noticed her absence and swiftly winged down to land near her. It grumbled at him and put its owl-like head over hers.

 _Hi there._

"What is the problem with you, Jumpy?" she turned to her dragon.

It grumbled at her and huffed its fishy breath directly into her face.

"Cloudjumper! Why would you do that? We have talked about this!"

Shadowwing stepped back and chuckled at the exchange. It reminded him of two old friends pointlessly bickering with each other in good humor. She eventually finished scolding the Stormcutter, who lay down with a huff to rest at her side, and turned back to him.

"Don't mind him. He is quite protective of me and doesn't much like me giving other dragons attention except to rescue them."

 **I see that**

"So, you know what I do. Why are you here?"

 **I am looking for my brother**

"Your brother? What happened to him?"

His paw trembled for a moment as he wondered how much to reveal.

 **He was captured by trappers on the mainland**

 **But he escaped and went north**

She closed her eyes and shook her head.

"I have not seen any other Night Furies here or anywhere out in the world."

He gave a sad rumble as one more lead seemed to go nowhere.

"It was a good idea to look here though. The King has been calling all dragons to him. Your brother still might come here if he can hear the King's call."

 _The King..._

 **The big white one?**

"Yes, the great Bewilderbeast as I call him."

 **And he is good?**

"Yes. He is a good King for the nest. He provides for the small, weak, or injured, builds and sustains the walls of this nest with his ice breath, and protects against any threats. He has sent many trappers down to the depths as they deserve. Sometimes I can get the people off the ship first, but the King will not wait if there are no captive dragons on the boats."

It was slightly disturbing to know that such a large and apparently peaceful creature did actually have a violent side. Not that it was surprising though since it was the King of the nest.

 _And there were those beached and destroyed ships I passed. Maybe it did that._

 **Why do you call him a Bewilderbeast?**

She looked very pensive as she collected her thoughts.

"Sometimes I imagine that he can talk or whisper ideas to me. In dreams and other ways when he wants me to do something. He also seems able to make other dragons do things like stop quarreling just by looking at them."

 **I believe it**

There were several questions about her though that he hadn't gotten answered yet. The foremost had to do with her completely unknown origins.

 **Where are you from?**

She frowned at that and reached out to stroke Cloudjumper's proud neck.

"I have been here for many years. I try to not think about where I was before I arrived here."

 **Were you an Outcast?**

She looked at the words and did the last thing he could have expected from her. She laughed heartily.

"Yes. I was in a way, even back among what was my own people. I never fit in with them. Only a couple of them seemed to understand me or at least tolerate me. This is my home now."

 _Fair enough. I cannot say that my case is all that different._

 **And you have never seen other Night Furies**

"None. I have flown in these skies for many years, been on the mainland, and... even to the far north. I never saw another Night Fury. You are the only one," she answered.

He hung his head in renewed sadness.

 _So we are probably alone. If she has not seen any Night Furies in all the years she has been here... Especially with the King trying to bring all dragons here._

"But you grew up in a village you say. Are your parents there? Are there other Night Furies there too?"

 _Are any of my parents on Berk? Funny that you should ask that._

 **Many dragons but no other Night Furies**

 **We were rescued in the egg**

"Rescued from where?"

Sigh.

 _That is a long story for another day, if ever._

 **Not now**

She seemed to sense that this was a painful topic and left it alone.

"Ok. What are you going to do now?"

 **Rest and think**

An idea clearly came to her.

"Do you want to see where we roost?" she nervously asked.

 _That is definitely a good idea._

Yes, he nodded.

She swung up onto Cloudjumper's back, whispered some words to him, and the pair was aloft seconds later. Shadowwing followed after them and noticed something incredible about their flight.

 _She does not need a saddle. That takes a lot of skill and trust._

They flew to a high ledge that had a side passage which appeared to lead outside. Inside this passage lay a ramshackle hut clearly assembled over many years from various debris. There were other random supplies assembled outside the hut, such as crates, ropes, furs, tools, and old attempts at making her mask and flying attire. One wooden wall had a large map of the surrounding islands carved into its surface along with what looked like marks of where traps tended to be placed.

 _Very impressive for being out here in the middle of nowhere._

Then he glanced inside the simple hut. There was little inside it except for a few changes of clothing, sleeping furs, and several books and drawings on paper. The drawings were clearly of a certain Stormcutter who was currently sleeping on what was obviously his spot on the ledge outside the tunnel.

 _Where did she get a pencil? Those are good drawings. Almost as good as I made once._

"What do you think?" she asked.

He nodded at her with a happy hum.

"It is not much but it is my own little place in this big nest. A bit of the human world that lets me live in the dragon world."

She turned away from her stuff and walked over to him.

"Are you hungry?"

 _A little now that you mention it._

He gave her a half-shrug.

"The King will be back before sunset with his next catch, or you could hunt on your own. The waters around the island are filled with fish now."

 _Uh, that takes fire so I guess I will have to wait a while._

"And there is plenty of space for you to find a ledge to make your own. Just don't try to take another dragon's place unless you want to... fight a bit for it. Or... you could... stay here if you want... I don't think Cloudjumper would mind too much once he gets to know you..."

He briefly glanced around the area and saw a suitable space slightly sheltered by her hovel. He got up, grabbed one of the larger furs from her supplies, and lay it out on the ground. Then he gave her a smile and a nod.

She came over to him and nervously cupped his muzzle in her palms. Tears sparkled in her eyes alongside a very awed and wide grin.

"Thank you Shadowwing, you have no idea how much this..."

She wiped away the tears with her sleeve.

"Thank you..."

Then she stepped back and returned to Cloudjumper's side. The pair was gone and in the air within seconds.

He watched them as they flew away and vanished from sight. Then he got up, walked over to the inner ledge, and looked out over the nest. The green of the mosses and shrubs contrasted beautifully against the icy white and the dragons that sparkled throughout.

 _I did not think that a place like this could exist. It makes sense though why dragons are mostly gone from the mainland. They must have all come out here to follow the King's voice. The ones that are alive at least._

Then he remembered something else about the dragons that he had seen in the nest. While many of them were ones not native to Berk, many were the classic types that he remembered.

 _A lot of these could have come from Dragon Island too. That would help explain why so many of them vanished, even if a lot of them died somehow in what had been their home. The Monster queen died and then they heard the King. Maybe. Hopefully. Maybe Dragonheart knows something about it._

 _And she is amazing. She has been living out here for years helping dragons. She is truly different from everyone else._

 _I wonder what her name was before._

* * *

Roaring and confusion woke him up in the middle of the night. A Raincutter had landed on the ledge and was making a racket.

 _What is going on?_

The woman who called herself Dragonheart rushed out of her hut moments later in her full attire and mounted Cloudjumper. The Stormcutter followed the Raincutter into the air. The King called out to the nest from down below and several other dragons assembled into a flight.

He was too curious to ignore whatever was happening and leapt from the ledge to fly after them down the passageway and out into the crisp night air. The flight went silent with none calling out to the others. They passed like shadows in the darkness over the ocean and passed several smaller islands until they arrived at one of the larger ones with trees and actual terrain.

The Raincutter dove for land and cried out. A voice answered from below with a cry of pain and alarm.

Cloudjumper dove and fanned his wings, beating up a mighty wind on the ground as he hovered and then landed. Dragonheart hooked her staff around one of his great wingjoints, and he swiftly lowered her to the ground. Shadowwing landed as well, and his breath caught when he saw the reason for the disturbance.

Another Raincutter had a leg trapped in a horrible snare down among the trees. The poor dragon had tried to tear its leg from the snare, only to cut into its own leg and carve several inches of flesh from the bloodied leg.

The dragon whimpered in pain as Dragonheart approached on all fours. Then she made cooing and growling sounds at it, evidently to comfort it. Once it settled down, she turned her attention to the leg and the snare. She inspected it for several moments and then reached inside a pocket to retrieve a tool. She worked at the snare for several minutes until there was a metallic click and the trap opened.

The Raincutter hopped to freedom, wailing mightily as it put any weight on the leg. Then it was aloft and presumably being greeted by its mate. Dragonheart unhooked the jaws of the trap from the thick chain and dropped it before Cloudjumper, who growled and picked it up in his mouth.

She paused at Shadowwing's side and gave him a quick pat on the head before mounting Cloudjumper. They were in the sky seconds later. He remained a moment longer just staring at what remained of the trap.

He remembered the forest of Berk years ago. Stepping on a trap himself and being caught in a bag only to be hurt by Mildew's contingent of rebellious men. He growled softly in righteous anger at the thoughtlessness of whoever put the trap here. At their blindness to the harm and pain that they were causing.

 _They need to see the truth. They just don't understand what they are doing here._

He turned tail and followed after the flight as it turned back for the ice nest. He caught up to Cloudjumper's side just as the Stormcutter dropped the snare in the ocean.

Once back at the nest, Dragonheart picked up some mosses and wove them together into a bandage. Then she approached the still-pained but resting Raincutter up on its ledge. It allowed her to tend to the leg and apply the improvised bandage.

Then she and Cloudjumper returned to their ledge. Everything began to settle back down and return to sleep.

He could not sleep though as his thoughts kept turning to the trap and the blood. He got up, approached her hut, and glanced inside. She had removed her riding attire and seemed similarly unable to sleep. She rolled over and faced him with an odd, sad expression.

"That happens a lot this time of year. They fly further to get food and get caught more easily. There are also more trappers. That one was actually lucky to only get caught by the foot. Other snares can break wings."

He gasped in horror at the thought.

"Terrible, I know. Cloudjumper can carry the smallest ones back here, but the larger ones with broken wings... there is nothing I can do to help them. A torn wing I can fix, but worse wounds..."

She waved at her supplies.

"I have learned how to stitch wings if we can get the dragon back here. It is better than nothing even if not all of the dragons are able to fly again."

He sadly shook his head with a faint moan as he remembered seeing several such grounded ones at dinner. They would certainly not have survived out in the wild.

"It is only a few more months until winter, and then the dragons will be safe here in the nest," she whispered.

 _That makes sense. I guess they all huddle up together for warmth and sleep off the winter. Unless they are with their babies, which they still have in this nest, I think._

"I need to get something for you to write on up here," she grumbled.

He solemnly nodded and then retreated to his spot where he curled up and hid himself under a wing.

 _This is such an amazing place. What Skald and Astrid would give to be here._

The only remaining sounds were Cloudjumper's bellows-like breathing and a faint breeze whistling down the passageway outside his living enclosure. For the first time in a very long time, he fell asleep peacefully without any fear at all for his own safety.

* * *

She was sitting several feet away from him when he woke up in the morning and lifted his wing. He got up and stretched with a wide yawn, but she didn't move an inch.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Sorry, I just... it is still amazing to me that you are here. A real Night Fury whom I can talk to."

Then she overtly looked him over and sheepishly glanced back at him.

"Oh, do you mind if I...?"

He rolled his eyes and sighed in amusement but gave her a nod. He also fanned his wings for good measure, knowing that she would likely want to see them. She got up, approached his side, and slowly slid her fingers over his wings. That same good feeling he remembered returned at her tender and gentle touch.

"You are so thin and fast. And the proportions on your fins and wings. You are probably the fastest of all dragons. And you cannot be more than... five years old?" she clearly guessed.

He held out four short digits.

"Amazing."

Then she stepped back with an abashed look on her face.

"Sorry, I've been wanting to do that for a while..." she mumbled.

He laughed freely at that admission.

 _Fair enough. Night Furies are rather impressive I will admit._

"We should go get some food. The King always has a large catch in the morning."

 _That is a good idea._

Shadowwing and Cloudjumper flew down to the shore to await the delivery of breakfast. Being on the ground also conveyed the added benefit of there being plenty of dirt in which to write.

 **Thank you for letting me stay up there**

"Of course, it is nice to have someone to talk to. Someone whom I know is actually listening and can talk back. Someone who is not myself or owl-face here. Oh right, I should get some sand or dirt up there so we can talk. Paper is quite limited out here as you can imagine."

 **That would help**

"It is not as though this island is on the trading routes, now is it?" she laughed.

He chuckled as well.

 **I have a question**

 **Did many dragons come here about five years ago?**

She thought about the odd question.

"Now that you mention it, yes they did. I couldn't say how many but maybe a hundred or so."

He breathed a sigh of relief.

 _So, many of them did live after all. That is good._

 **Thank you**

Her grin faded as she again noticed something. She slowly approached and knelt before him to more closely inspect his chest. She gently ran her fingers against the old wound.

"You have a scar."

He glanced down at it and remembered painfully digging out the arrow that had pierced him long ago.

 **It was an arrow**

 **I had to dig it out**

"That must have hurt a lot," she whispered.

 **Yes, but other things hurt more**

"What do you mean?"

He hung his head and hummed softly.

 **Not all scars are on the outside**

She was silent for a moment as several other dragons swooped down and greeted her with happy growls and affectionate nudges. They also did the same to him but with more sniffing that he did not appreciate. Then he bellowed outright in alarm and swatted them back with a growl when they tried to get very personal with where they sniffed at him.

"Alright you all, back up..." she ordered.

Amazingly, they backed up several steps.

"Sorry about that, they are just happy to see... and smell... someone new."

Grumble.

"Well, if you ever want to... talk about those other scars, I would be glad to listen. Skies above, I know all about what it is like to have those. And I have been meaning to ask, what are you going to do now? You said that you were looking for your brother."

She certainly did not avoid the important issue of his reason for being there at all.

 **I hoped he had come this way**

"I would know if another Night Fury had ever been in this nest. He still might come this way though. The King's voice is strong and carries far on the wind."

That was a good point. It was quite likely that Toothless could indeed pass this way in the future.

 _This is probably the safest place for any dragon in the world. And with the winter coming in a few months..._

 **Can I stay here for the winter?**

She looked positively giddy at the suggestion.

"Of course you can. I would like that a lot. What about until then? I think that we still have a couple months until the weather changes for the worse."

 **Then I will stay and search for him**

 **This is a good and safe nest**

 **I can also help you protect the other dragons**

"That would be very welcome. May I see your paws?"

He held out an arm for her to gently hold. She inspected his paws, complete with their joints, short digits, and sharp claws.

"Those are different from most other dragons. With those you might even be able to help some of them out of traps without me."

He once again appreciated having useful digits on his paws. Then another question came to his mind. There was a secondary purpose that he had given himself in his time searching for Toothless.

 **Where are the nearest villages?**

She clearly frowned at that question.

"The closest to this nest is maybe on the mainland or the far southern islands. Why do you ask?"

 **So I can talk to them**

 **And change their minds about dragons**

She stared at the words for a long time before answering. She sounded very bitter when she spoke.

"People do not change. Not Nords at least. Maybe where you are from is different but here they are too stubborn, proud, and sure of themselves."

 **I spent last winter with a foreign tribe**

 **They accepted me**

"Maybe, maybe a few people can change if they get to really know you. But people in general do not change. I tried. I tried for years and my own people did not listen to me! Even my own husband didn't... listen to me..."

She stopped and wiped away the tear from her cheek while giving a decently draconic snarl of her own.

"You might be able to convince someone alone that you are not a monster but put that same person back in a crowd of their own people who want your head or think you are taken by bad spirits and they will not say anything. They will not speak up for you... and besides, the villages up here work with the trappers to make coin. They would only try to capture you."

He could practically feel the sadness and emptiness flowing from her. It was a terrible contrast to his own hopeful optimism.

 **Changing minds is what I am good at**

 **Why do you despair?**

She closed her eyes, clearly overcome by her memories. It was a long time before she answered.

"You are only four years old. You do not know the ways of the world yet. When you have seen as many years, traps, and dead or grounded dragons as I have, you will know why. The best you can do is protect your own and not think that you can change the whole world. The world is too big."

The King had arrived during their discussion and had deposited the usual bounty of flopping fish. With a fair bit of sadness in his heart, he turned away from Dragonheart and grabbed a few of the remaining smaller fish.

There was still a presence above him as he ate. He glanced up and saw that the King's powerful eyes were trained on him. It was quite humbling how large, powerful, and gentle the King was when back in the nest.

As he stared into the blue eyes, he again noticed that there was something in the King's eyes that almost conveyed a feeling of concern. That odd feeling was gone as soon as he noticed it though, leaving nothing behind but the warm strength and confidence that he remembered emanating from the King.

* * *

"Are you ready, Shadowwing?"

He nodded to Dragonheart and waited as she put on her impressive gear and climbed up on Cloudjumper's back. They left the ice nest at dawn.

This was his first time to go with her and see what it was that she did outside of the emergency rescue missions since his arrival at this amazing nest nearly a month ago. Understandably, it seemed to involve a lot of flying, which was a definite perk of patrol duty. She and Cloudjumper would fly a mostly set course around the surrounding islands every couple weeks. Any traps or snares that they would find would then be disposed of. The Stormcutter was apparently large enough to carry back to the nest any seriously injured dragons that could not fly on their own.

This flight was turning out to be a rather uneventful one as nothing much happened all morning.

Then Dragonheart must have noticed something because Cloudjumper dove for the island down below and landed near a grove of trees. He naturally followed them and landed next to the Stormcutter.

Dragonheart had dismounted and led them both to a grove among the trees. That is when he saw it along the main path. He froze and gave a faint growl.

"You see it, don't you?" she asked.

 _Oh, yes I do._

He bounded over to inspect it up close. A series of metal jaws, like those that would be used to catch wolves, only much larger, were hidden under various forest refuse and laid out around a pile of old, rotted fish. All the traps were chained together and tied to nearby trees. All it would take is a slight pressure on the central plate in each of the jaws and they would snap shut on any unsuspecting dragon that was tempted by the fish.

"Careful, let me show you what to do."

 _Actually, I already have this under control._

He shook his head and held out a paw toward her. Then he jumped up toward a nearby tree and bit off a small branch. He clasped the branch in his forepaws and cautiously stepped closer to the traps. Then he triggered the traps one at a time. Each of them violently snapped shut but found nothing to close on, having been designed to hold a leg and not a mere branch.

"Very smart. Now what do you do?"

 _Probably get rid of the trap altogether so that it cannot be reset._

He bent back down and followed the chain to the trees to which it was bound.

 _Alright, somewhere here... and... found it!_

He found the link that held the chain to the tree. Some careful manipulation of the chain in his paws eventually produced the desired result, and he unhooked the link from the base at the tree. With it done once, it was easy to do much faster the next three times.

 _And... just gotta kinda angle it... give it a twist... and... done._

With a happy hum, he clasped the massive chain in his paw and turned back to Dragonheart. Her jaw hung open in obvious amazement, and she struggled to speak for several moments.

"Well, that is amazing. How did you know what to do?"

 _Lots of experience working the forge certainly helped... I am also quite clever._

"Nevermind, you can tell me later. Think you can handle getting rid of that yourself?"

Yes, he nodded.

He collected the lengths of chain and the triggered traps in his arms, heavy though the trappers' tools were, flew out over the sea just as he remembered Cloudjumper doing, and dropped his terrible cargo in the water. He bared his teeth and growled at the chains as they fell.

 _Good riddance!_

Cloudjumper and Dragonheart rejoined him in the sky to continue on their ordained course.

 _I could get used to doing this while I am waiting here. This is good work, and it will be a couple more months until winter. Toothless might show up here if he heard the King like I did._

He glanced over at Dragonheart again and marveled at everything she was doing. At how strong and brave she was in the face of such great creatures, at how she chose to live alone out here to benefit the dragons in the nest, at the strange attire she had fashioned for herself, and at how she could fly with Cloudjumper without any saddle.

 _I wonder if Toothless and I could have been like that if he had been able to fly freely. Probably so._

Still though, he felt a nagging in the back of his head as he watched her atop Cloudjumper. There was something about her demeanor and appearance that was impossibly familiar. It was almost as though he knew her somehow but did not know her at the same time.

 _Maybe I am just lonely and want good company. To be around people who understand. I am sure that there are many stories we can share with time._


	40. II - A Mother's Heart

_**Author's Note - Get the tissues ready. It is time that these two finally realize who the other one is.**_

* * *

" _Mother's love is peace. It need not be acquired, it need not be deserved." - Erich Fromm - The Art of Loving_

* * *

A Mother's Heart

* * *

Winter was the strangest thing inside the ice nest. For one, none of the dragons left the nest to lay their eggs. Instead, they all clustered together in like groups for warmth and seemed to nest in the same place that it looked like they had for generations, judging from the number of old and brittle eggshells. There was no fighting for territory among the females, and the King quickly stilled the tempers of any of the more combative males. The dragons that did not have any eggs tended to stay on their ledges in very deep sleeps. The King kept up his routine of bringing fish, though in what deep ocean depths he found them only the gods could know. Maybe not even them.

Some dragons did still leave the nest through. One group in particular seemed to enjoy the cold more than any other. They were smaller dragons, roughly his own size, were a sky-blue color all over, and had spikes that looked like ice protruding from the crowns of their heads. Just like the King, they also breathed cold instead of fire. Dragonheart called them Blizzard Dancers because of how they enjoyed flying in the snowstorms.

The pair of adult Blizzard Dancers flew back into the nest with haste and dismay but also with their two yearlings right behind them. He watched one of the Blizzard Dancers get the King's attention.

 _That is odd. They are not missing anyone._

Regardless, Dragonheart and Cloudjumper assembled and followed the adult Blizzard Dancer back out the nest. He followed closely behind as well since he was curious what was causing all the activity. He had helped on several rescues so far in the last few months, a couple times even completely on his own. But all those rescues had been of a dragon caught in a trap.

They arrived at a pair of trapper ships on the open water. Cloudjumper flew close to the ships and hovered directly over the sails of the first one. He glanced down as well and saw that there were no dragons in the hold. The second ship, however, had a captive Nadder and a small Rumblehorn.

Spears appeared on deck at the Stormcutter's approach. Dragonheart slid down Cloudjumper's tail with evident practice and rolled to her feet on the ship's bow. She pointed her staff at the men who froze at her bizarre and alien appearance. A particularly burly man pushed his way to the front of the crew.

"Men, you've heard about it. This is our chance! Take it!" the captain shouted.

They all took one step forward and then froze when they saw the Night Fury land behind her and flare its wings threateningly. Weapons dropped to the deck.

"Night Fury!" "Get down!" "We're all going to die!" yelled the deckhands in evident dismay.

"Free the dragons!" Dragonheart commanded.

"Why? Why would we do that?"

She turned to face the defiant captain. The ship rolled and pitched as a seemingly rogue wave disturbed the vessel.

Then she pointed her staff at the other boat, drawing everyone's attention towards it.

"That is why!"

A pair of tusks emerged from the water as the King made his appearance. The King's massive head towered over the small ship. He surveyed the ship for a moment and clearly saw no dragons on it. The King bellowed in anger and raised his great tusks high as screaming echoed from the other ship.

Shadowwing felt his heart clench, knowing well what was going to happen and having no way to stop it. He also felt a surge of foreign anger at the same moment.

The tusks fell and cleaved the ship into pieces. Shards of the deck were flung through the air from the force of the strike, and the men onboard not crushed by the attack were spilled into the freezing waters.

The screaming was silenced.

Then the King turned his attention to the remaining ship and crossed the distance with one splash of his tail. He lifted his massive head out of the water, held his tusks above the ship, and growled until the ship's hull trembled.

"Free them now or die!" Dragonheart commanded.

"Ddddddd...do it," the captain whimpered.

It took a few moments of fumbling with the ropes and chains, but the crew managed to free the two captive dragons. They both went aloft immediately and turned for the nest.

Dragonheart turned back around to Shadowwing and whispered.

"Get off the ship."

Cloudjumper flew down at her signal and let her hook her staff in his tail. Then he flicked his tail and hurled her up onto his back.

 _Get off the ship?_

The King bellowed again. His blue eyes, normally so tired and peaceful, were filled with anger and death.

 _No..._

He acted without thinking. He jumped down from the ship's bow, dashed mid-ship among all the trappers, and looked up at the King.

"No! They did what you wanted!" he shouted.

The King growled deeply and lifted his head slightly. He flared his wings in response and closed his eyes. He could feel the King's powerful gaze trained on him as that powerful buzzing resumed.

 _Confusion..._

 _Anger..._

 _Protection..._

 _Command?_

 _Choice?_

 _Pain..._

 _Bravery..._

 _Respect..._

 _Mercy?_

 _Justice?_

The King snarled once, turned away from the boat, and vanished under the waves with a great splash that violently shook the boat.

Shadowwing opened his eyes and almost collapsed on deck himself. He caught his breath and glanced back at the stunned men huddled together in fear. Even the captain was completely speechless.

"You are welcome," he hissed at the man.

Then he leaped from the ship, greatly rocking it as he did so, and joined the flight home.

* * *

"What were you thinking!" she turned on him when they got back to the ledge.

He turned on her in surprise that she did not understand his reason.

 **He was going to kill them**

"Yes, as they deserve. That was so stupid of you," she seemed livid.

He grumbled himself at how short-sighted she seemed to be right now.

 _You do not understand. This helps us._

 **And now what will happen?**

 **They will get home and talk**

 **Everyone will know that a dragon protected them**

"Really? You think that is what they will say. You do not understand humans then."

He snarled in frustration at that.

 _Oh, I do understand them. Better than you could know._

 **Is it better to be the monsters they fear?**

 **To prove all their bad stories about us true**

"There is no one left to carry that message though if the trappers are all dead."

He growled openly and looked away from her. Several tense moments passed in which neither of them said anything. She eventually relented with a heavy sigh.

"Shadowwing, all the dragons here are my family. They are... like my children, and I will do anything to protect them. I let the trappers go if I can, but the King does not. He has never shown them any mercy before."

She stepped closer to him and was clearly nervous about something.

"And you... you are special among all the dragons. I do not want you to get hurt or get yourself killed on some mission to save everyone."

 **They let the dragons go**

 **We let them go**

 **That is fair**

She shook her head wildly at that.

"The King does not think like that. He knows them as threats to his nest. Threats must be destroyed or made not threats."

He sighed sadly as he thought about it. Surely the King had some sense of justice and of rightness. Maybe being a King, being a leader and protector, was more complicated than he had imagined.

"Please do not try that again. It is too reckless. You do not need to try to change the whole world. You might get yourself or someone you love killed one day."

 **That is who I am though**

He paused.

 **I am only alive because**

 **Another dragon believed in being fair**

 **And in showing mercy**

"Just be more careful. Please?" she whispered.

He glanced up at her and saw her pained expression. She was genuinely concerned for him, that much was obvious. Knowing that greatly helped to loosen the frustration wrapped around his heart.

 **I understand**

"Ok. Good."

She stood back up and seemed to relax a bit.

"Well, I'm going to help that Rumblehorn we rescued. It lost a leg to a trap, and I will need to make a peg leg for it."

That was news to him. There were a couple dragons that seemed to have very basic replacement limbs, though how she was able to make them out here was quite beyond him.

 **You can do that?**

"I have some scraps of metal around here, mostly salvaged from old traps. What I really need is a proper forge. I never had any skill with making one of those though. Cloudjumper helps a bit after I showed him that I needed some metal to get very hot, but it is not perfect."

"I really wonder how Gobber would make a forge out here. He would know what to do," she added to herself almost as an afterthought.

Then she turned and left to attend to the wounded dragon.

 _How would he indeed? There isn't much that he could use to make a fo..._

His tail froze, his eyes went wide, and he forgot to breathe. He spun around and stared after her as she vanished from sight with Cloudjumper.

 _Gobber..._

 _How do you know that name?_

He closed his eyes and quickly reconsidered everything he knew about her. She came to this nest many years ago from a tribe that did not like dragons at all. She had thought that dragons were not the monsters everyone supposed, but no one else listened to her.

In all their time together and despite all the stories they had told, neither of them had yet broached those fateful accounts of where they were truly from. But now that he thought about everything that he did know anew...

He flew to his feet, breathing as heavily as if he had flown in a full sprint.

There was someone he had once heard of who had been like that. She had been different from everyone else in her tribe and had been carried off into the night by a dragon with four wings. By a Stormcutter.

The pieces of the puzzle started to perfectly fall together.

 _No... it cannot be... she..._

She knew Gobber's name.

She was from Berk.

She has green eyes.

He turned away from the ledge and ran down the passageway, only stopping when he reached the outside of the nest. He lay down on the frozen precipice and stared out over the frigid ocean as the wind swirled around him. His mind was numb and his heart was a thoroughly tangled web of feelings born of something impossible.

A pair of words not spoken in many years rose in his thoughts.

 _Valka..._

 _Mom..._

* * *

He lay on his own up on a ledge and looked out over the entire nest. He did not notice the Raincutters, Rumblehorns, Blizzard Dancers, any of the carefree yearlings at play, or any other dragons either. He did not pay any attention to the King's comings and goings. He did not even have an appetite.

His mind was completely occupied with something else. Something wondrous and terrifying at once.

The strange woman who called herself the Dragonheart was his own long-lost and presumed-dead mother. Too many details were coincidental for it to be otherwise.

 _I never knew her. I must have been too little to remember anything. But she always felt familiar somehow._

Everything fit together. It made a lot more sense what had happened all those years ago now that she had told some parts of her story, even if she had left out the specifics of where. She found a dragon in secret that did not seem as terrible as she had been told. Her faith in the tribe's traditions had been shaken and her eyes were opened to a new world of possibilities. A world that no one else could see or seemed to want.

But what had she thought after the Stormcutter carried her off? Why had it carried her off? Clearly not for food and not for the nest on Dragon Island like the other attackers had.

Or maybe it had not been an abduction after all. Maybe she had faked it. Had she felt relief that she was escaping an oppressive tribe? Did she have any sadness or regret at leaving behind her infant son? Why had she never come back?

 _She could have come back. Surely she could have if she really wanted to. Maybe she did not want me enough. I do not know though. She has been doing a lot of good here all these years._

He could not hide the truth from her now. She had to learn who he really was and what had happened to him. It was only fair when she was truly his family. But there was no way to know how she would react. Astrid, Gobber, and his own father had all reacted so differently.

 _How is she going to react? What should someone think when they learn that a dragon used to be human? Or who I really am._

 _I can see it now. Oh, and by the way, I am actually your son who you have not seen in twenty years. Your son whom you... kind of left behind. Hi mom!_

 _How can I tell her that I am not.._.

 _That my name is not Shadowwing..._

He sighed and squeezed his eyes shut, almost in physical pain. Buried memories again threatened to burst through the wall that pain, grief, anger, and time had constructed.

 _Hiccup… that was my name. Gods that feels strange now._

It had been almost a year and a half since he had answered to that name. It hardly seemed to be him anymore. What was even left of the person who had been years ago? The awkward, hideous name that tradition had demanded he wear did not truly belong to him anymore. It did not feel like it was proper at all for a presumably adult Night Fury.

And yet, that name was part of him, part of the past that had shaped him into who he was now. That part of his life was something that could not be fully discarded as easily as old scales.

 _Alright, no point waiting around. It is go time..._

He took a deep breath and hopped from the ledge, slowly spiraling his way down to where he could probably find her. He waited until he heard Cloudjumper's distinctive call and noticed the Stormcutter gliding in as well with his human on his back as always. They must have just noticed his approach and angled to meet him on the ground.

As had happened the first time he met her, he was transfixed by her piercing, deep green eyes as she approached. Now though he was sure of why they had seemed so strangely familiar and comforting.

"Shadowwing, what is the matter?"

He rolled his shoulders in a clear shrug and then beckoned her over to a large patch of dirt well away from the water where the other dragons would gather. They walked over to the dirt while she stayed huddled inside her scale-weave bearskin cloak complete with Cloudjumper's shed scales. It was quite an amazing creation that she said helped keep her very warm when aloft.

She patiently waited while he slowly traced his words.

 **I need to talk to you**

"Sure, what about?"

He sat down and gestured for her to do the same.

 **Shadowwing is not my real name**

"Really, you have another name?"

Yes, he nodded.

"Ok, what is it?" she seemed confused.

 **First, you were once part of a human village**

Her expression fell noticeably as she frowned.

"Yes, I guess I was in a way. I was not like them though. I never felt like I was meant to be there, as I told you before."

 **You knew that dragons were not all bad**

"Yes. The rest of the people there were stupid, and no one would listen to me. This is my only home now."

He paused and inhaled. There was no going back after this moment.

 **Was it Berk?**

She audibly gasped when she saw what he had written. It was one of the few times he had ever seen her truly unsettled by anything. A row of angry trappers, shrieking dragons, and working with sensitive traps, none of those ever disturbed her.

But that one simple question left her short of breath and trembling.

"Yes… how do you know of that place?" she whispered.

.

"You've been there, haven't you?"

 **I was…**

He struggled for a moment to decide which was the correct word.

… **born there**

"You are very lucky to be alive then. I didn't know there were any Night Furies on Berk. How did you hide from the humans there?"

 _This might be hard for her…_

 **I did not**

"What?"

 **They do not hurt dragons now**

She beheld his words and slowly shook her head in evident disbelief.

"No. No. That cannot be them."

 **They changed**

 **Now there are stables**

 **People ride dragons and care for them**

 **Several tribes have dragons**

"Impossible. I tried for years to get them to change and nothing worked!" she almost yelled.

He paused and gathered himself before proceeding toward the final revelation.

 **I lived in Chief Stoick's house**

As he had expected, the direct mention of the Chief, of her likely husband and his own father, silenced her objections. The staff that she almost always held in her hand fell to the ground with a clang. She gasped for breath before recovering herself and retrieving the staff, although with all her limbs shaking.

"Stoick… you knew my husband… but that means… my son! What about my baby! His name was Hiccup! Do you know him?"

His own heart clenched as the last remaining shred of doubt was torn away. He lowered his head to be level with hers and stared deeply into her sharp green and now very familiar eyes. Very slowly and without blinking, he nodded once.

"Tell me… please. Tell me... everything," she gasped.

He wrote very slowly, laboring over every word.

 **He was like you**

 **He made a friend of a dragon**

 **The tribe would not listen**

 **He and his dragon saved everyone**

 **They killed a big dragon**

 **It was causing all the raids**

 **The raids stopped when it died**

"He sounds like a real hero. But… what else?"

There was something sparkling in the corner of her eyes.

When he hesitated, she stepped forward and put her shaking hands on his chin.

"I need to know, whatever it is. Tell me. Even if he is dead... I must know."

 **Something happened to both him and his dragon**

 **You will not believe it**

"Oh, really? I have seen some things that no one would believe."

 **They both died and lived**

"What?" her expression showed her complete confusion.

 **They were changed**

 **Hiccup became a dragon**

She stared at his last words for a long time.

"What? My son died and became a dragon?"

Then she dropped her hands to her knees and laughed uncontrollably. He nervously waited as she struggled to control herself.

"Even… even if I believed that… I don't... That is so crazy… Alright, I'll... I'll bite at that. What dragon, may I ask?"

 **A Night Fury**

Her manic laughter instantly vanished, and she quickly stood up with the staff held in front of her like a ward. Her green eyes, so like his own, were cold and fearful at the same time. He knew that she understood fully what was unwritten.

"No... No... Not possible. How could you say..." she almost screamed.

 **My name was Hiccup**

 **I had a scar on my chin**

 **Dad said I got it in a dragon attack**

Her free hand almost absentmindedly wandered up to her own chin.

 **I was also afraid of a stuffed dragon**

"The little Zipple..." she nervously and weakly chuckled.

 **You were afraid I was too small as a baby**

 **And that...**

"... you wouldn't make it..."

 **Valka**

"Valka..." she whispered back.

 **Mom**

She silently stared down at the words, her face obscured by her loose hair. Tears were freely flowing down her cheeks when she finally looked up. She turned away without looking at him and ran down a passage toward the outside of the nest, sobbing and shaking the whole way.

He slowly followed after her after several minutes, thoroughly unsure what to expect, say, or do. He was not even sure what he felt yet beyond confusion, fear, and wonder.

The passageway led outside the nest and down to the rocky beach which was now partly covered in snow. Her footprints were all too easy to follow through the blowing wind. He found her standing alone on the ledge midway down the beach. Her red cape made from bearskin and Cloudjumper's shed scales was wrapped around her to protect her from the biting wind. He slowly padded up alongside her and hummed at her, not knowing what exactly to say.

She shook in the wind and could not bring herself to face him. Then he extended a wing behind her to block the worst of the wind.

"You... you are really my son," she gasped.

"Yes," he hummed.

"How is that possible?"

There was enough snow on the ground to allow him to properly answer.

 **My dragon friend, Toothless, saved us**

 **He made us start life new together**

 **As Night Fury hatchlings**

"But how?"

 **Something like magic**

 **Know anything about it?**

She was silent for a moment, clearly deep in thought.

"No, there is... no, I had no idea dragons could do anything like that. It does sound like magic."

 **He had to do it to save our lives**

 **Apparently only Night Furies can do that**

 **Do not cry, mom**

"Ha, you try meeting a child you haven't seen in twenty years. What am I supposed to do in this situation? I... I know what you must be thinking. How could I have stayed away all these years? Why didn't I come back?"

He slowly answered.

 **I did wonder that**

She closed her eyes and remained looking out to sea away from him, still not having met his eyes since the fateful declaration.

"I have no good answer. A part of me was happy to be gone, to be away from a people where I had no place. I tried so hard for years to get them to change and find a better way. I did want to come back at first, but it took a while to learn to trust and fly with Cloudjumper. And by then I had... learned about the good I could do for the hundreds of dragons here. I guess I had to make a choice and I did."

She turned to face him directly and met his even gaze.

"All excuses though. The truth is that I was afraid. I was afraid of having to raise a baby to be what I thought of as a monster. If my Hiccup was going to become a true Nord and dragon killer, he would not become that because of me. I was weak and afraid."

He shook his head at her words.

"Yes, I was. I thought that I could lose myself, forget myself, in my work here and that I could do good to make up for my being a coward. But I have been cold for a long time here. I have not really been alive all these years. I have been running from my past and now it caught me."

"I... I had a duty to you, and I failed you. I should not have stayed away and left you to be raised alone. I... I see that now."

She shivered.

"So go on. Growl, scream, shout, do something!"

He gathered her to his side with the extended wing and then he wrote.

 **You are as beautiful as I dreamed you would be**

She stared at the words, slowly embraced his warm neck, and again wept openly with abandon. He gently put an arm around her back and hummed softly to her.

"Can you... forgive me for not being there, Hiccup?" she eventually gasped.

 **There is nothing to forgive**

She sobbed again and leaned into his warmth for several happy moments before she was reminded of something.

"Gods, it is cold. What was I thinking coming out here?" she shivered again.

 **We should go**

He glanced back up the beach and considered the long walk through the penetrating cold. Even he was starting to feel the chill. There was a much faster way to get back than by walking.

 **Get on**

"What?" she exclaimed as he crouched down.

 **Please**

"No, absolutely not. You are my son."

 **Please**

"But..."

She shivered again. Defeated by the elements and his stubbornness, she stepped over to his side and climbed flat on his back. He waited until she had her arms securely around his neck, all her usual confidence on dragonback apparently missing, and slowly spread his wings as he stood on the ledge. He had never carried anyone like this before, although he had a fairly good idea how it was from the other side.

 _I can do this..._

"Oh my..." she gasped.

He hopped into the wind off the steep ledge. The flight was as slow and gentle as he could make it as they gradually spiraled over the frozen beach and up to the level where the passageway opened into her alcove. She kept herself very low to his back to remain out of the wind as much as possible. Once inside, he softly landed and crouched down to let her dismount. She remained at his side with her hand on his warm neck as they walked down the rest of the passageway together.

Finally back at her hut, she rushed up to the ledge and gave a piercing whistle. Cloudjumper responded immediately and broke off his apparent search for her on the ground. The Stormcutter landed on their ledge and seemed to scold her for vanishing before, being satisfied that she was safe again, he curled up to rest.

Valka came back and lit a fire outside her hut to warm both of them. They both lay there in each other's presence, lost in their own thoughts.

"What happened back on Berk?"

 _What?_

"You lived there with your father in a changed and good tribe, but now you have been away from home for a long time, years even. Why?"

He closed his eyes and moaned softly. Then he got up and shifted himself to have access to the box of soil they used for writing.

 **Dad gave Toothless to a sorcerer**

 **A sacrifice to make me a human again**

She gasped and a distant, haunted expression came over her.

"So, he would sacrifice your friend to change his son back into a human. Stoick, what savage seas, what waves of life, did you face to become that?" she whispered.

A moment passed in which neither of them spoke.

"He was always a proud leader and always meant well. He tried to do the best he could with the people he was given to lead, but this... this treachery... Why would he do that? What was he thinking?"

She did not sound angry at it. Instead, she sounded only weary, weak, and more than slightly pained by it.

He could only answer with a shrug of his own shoulders and a sad moan.

"I take it that something else happened though seeing as you are not human now."

 **The sorcerer was a fake**

 **Only a merchant who tricked him**

She nodded in weary comprehension.

"Ah, a living Night Fury would fetch a very high price indeed."

 **He escaped somehow, and I have been looking for him**

"You left behind your home and everyone you knew to find your friend?"

 **Yes, he is my brother**

"That is amazing of you. I had dreamed that my boy might grow up to be a hero who would do great things, though not what the tribe would have wanted. Not much is greater than to leave home to save your own family."

Then she seemed puzzled by something.

"Why do you call him your brother?"

 **Because he is, and I love him**

 **We hatched from one egg together**

 **He taught me everything I know**

 **About being a Night Fury at least**

 **He taught me how to talk to him**

 **We fought, played, flew, and had adventures**

 **Basically had childhood together in a way**

"Well, I am happy that you had something of a real family after all," she whispered.

He hummed at her words and draped a wing over her back again. She propped her head up with a pillow and stared at him.

"Tell me about Berk. Tell me everything. The good, the bad, the happy, and the sad. All of it."

He closed his eyes and considered where to begin.

 _At the beginning of what matters, I suppose._

 **I was very small as a kid**

"You were as a baby too."

 **I could not lift a hammer**

 **Or swing an axe**

 **Or do anything that was useful to them**

"That sounds like you are talking about me," she chuckled.

 **So I built a device to throw a snare for me**

 **There was a perfect target one night during a raid...**

* * *

 _ **Author's Note - I recommend that you check out chapter 2 of 'To Fly The Winds Of Life' at this point. There is a bit more winter Shadowwing-Valka bonding time following this revelation.**_


	41. II - Apocrypha

__**Author's Note – Apocrypha more or less means hidden or secret knowledge. This is probably the most important chapter of all to this point. There were a few foreshadowings of the first big reveal up to this point for the most attentive of readers in the chapters titled Sepulchre, Schism, and Divergence. Let us just say that I wanted a pseudo-plausible explanation for how this world could exist at all. Even outside of that one revelation though there are plenty of other things brought up within this chapter that will echo for**_ _ **years**_ _ **.**__

 _ _ **The language used in the coming dialogue between this chapter's two main characters is also going to be different from the dialogue in the past between Hiccup and Toothless. The difference in the word choice is intentional and is meant to show how this communication is clearer since it does not have to go entirely through spoken words. For example, Hiccup might say aloud what Toothless taught him means 'two-legs' but to Hiccup that has always translated as 'humans'.**__

* * *

 _"_ _ _Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." - Arthur Clarke – Hazards of Prophecy__

* * *

Apocrypha

* * *

Spring broke over the ice nest as the snow melted and life came alive. Pairs of parents fawned over their hatchlings, and other dragons began flying freely without any cares in the world. The trees and grasses started regaining their color.

He felt quite content.

There were almost no quiet moments ever since learning who Dragonheart actually was, specifically his own long lost and presumed dead mother Valka. She had waited in patient amazement for many days on end as he painstakingly recounted everything that had happened on Berk in the years of her absence. Everything from the raids to the marriages and families to his old ill-fated attempts to prove his place among his tribe. She especially liked the creation of the new, better Book of Dragons. She was also very intrigued by learning about how he had applied what he had learned in secret to dragon training.

And of course everything that had happened after he shot down a certain Night Fury from the skies was especially dear to her heart. She had seemed to get a very dreamy look when he told her exactly how and where he had gotten to know said Night Fury.

Other than merely talking though one of his projects over the winter had been to aid her in building a forge. It was not a true forge the like of which would be available in a village, but it was something sufficient for her own minimal needs out here. Cloudjumper provided the fire as he himself could not.

He also found that he could write freely and openly about the issue of his father and what Stoick had done without it hurting or himself getting angry. Valka had a naturally soothing and understanding presence, likely because she herself knew how her husband could be at times.

He came back after his morning routine and sought her out to find out what was on the schedule for the current day, be it more talking about some aspect of Berk or his adventures out in the world or something more practical like keeping a lookout for trappers or disabling traps. Maybe she would have some more stories to tell of her own adventures.

She was standing right outside her hut and was staring at her large map carved into the wood. The map was quite large and displayed most of the surrounding area. In fact, she was so engrossed with the map that she did not notice him as he approached.

"Boo..."

She started in surprise.

"Hiccup... you scared me."

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"I... didn't notice you there. I was... distracted."

 _Clearly, by what though, I wonder?_

He glanced at the carved map again. It looked no different from the map that he always remembered. It still had the same ice nest, surrounding islands, and two distant marks, one far north and off the coast and one much closer but south of the nest.

"I was wondering if it would be right to... but I promised not to tell..." she mumbled.

A lifted eye-ridge and soft grumble conveyed his confusion.

"This is a strange case though. He would only want other humans to not know," she continued muttering to herself.

 _What in the blazes are you talking about, mom?_

He grumbled his annoyance at being left out of the monologue and hopped over to the writing station. She shortly took a breath, having reached some conclusion, and approached him.

"What do you think about a long flight? Just you, me, and Cloudjumper."

 **Why?**

She paused and became visibly nervous. That was something that almost never happened to her.

"There is some...thing I want you to see. I will not say more until we get there."

Regardless of the reason for her secrecy, any opportunity to be on an adventure with his mother was a welcome one which he was not going to turn down.

 **When do we leave?**

"Right now."

 _She certainly is eager. It must be important._

 **What about the nest here?**

"It will be fine without me for a few weeks even if we are gone that long. We have some time before the trappers return in numbers. You better get something to eat though because we might be gone a while."

* * *

She said nothing the entire flight despite his attempts to coax a hint from her whenever they stopped to rest. The grating silence as they all rested together in the wild and on desolate islands reminded him too much of the time he had been lost in the wild, even though he was not flying alone now.

It took several full days of flying with the wind more or less at their backs before they arrived at the destination. The lone island well off the coast was seemingly deserted with not a single creature stirring on or above it. It was far enough north that it still had not lost all its winter covering of snow upon the central peak looming in the distance.

Something about the island almost seemed familiar even though he couldn't remember distinctly from where.

He followed Cloudjumper down to the sandy beach near the crashing sea and landed next to him. Valka deftly hopped off Cloudjumper's back and strode over to him. Her usual natural confidence seemed shaken from how she kept glancing all around her. She eventually settled down with a hand on his neck though. He waved a forearm at the island while grumbling his confusion.

"I never thought that I would be back at this place. I have only been here once. All right, you want to know why I brought you here?"

He eagerly nodded.

"There is... someone here I want you to meet."

 _Wait? Someone?_

She slowly nodded.

"Yes, another... dragon. He can... talk."

He looked up and stared at her in disbelief and then wonder.

 _What! That is amazing!_

"Yes, but it is not talking like I can talk. It is more like..." she struggled to find the words... "a whisper or echo that is in your own head. A thought that does not feel like your own and that you cannot explain."

 _That sounds strange. Almost like the King in a way._

"I thought the dragon here was a god the last time I was here. That was silly of me, I guess. If anyone can do anything about your being a Night Fury or knows if it is permanent, it will be him."

Those words made him freeze and his eyes go wide in shock.

 **Do you want me to change back if I can?**

She paused as she stared at the words.

"I... do not want you to do or be anything only because I might want it. That is a choice that you must make for yourself. For what it is worth though, I do not mind you as you are. I actually wondered if this was the gods playing a trick on me by making my own son into one of the creatures I care the most about. I have always been closer to dragons than to humans after all," she added with a solemn chuckle.

He nodded, grateful that she was not set on telling him what to do or trying to shape his life as she might want it without consideration for his own wishes. That was quite possibly the most important difference between her and his father.

It was also somewhat of a contradiction since she had spent years trying to get her tribe to change and follow her way.

Maybe she had learned a life lesson.

Maybe she had given up trying to change people.

Maybe she was just complex and not entirely consistent.

Maybe she was simply imperfect like everyone else.

 **Where is he?**

She looked inland and shrugged.

"I don't know where you will find him. Just go wander and see what happens."

 **Will you come?**

"No, I can't go with you for this. You must go alone. We will be here. Oh, wait..."

She paused as a distant, dreamy expression came over her.

"Ask him to show you the other thing that is hidden here. Be sure to do that."

 _Huh? Alright, if you say so..._

 **I will**

She grinned and returned to Cloudjumper to start giving him some much desired attention after the many days of flight. Then he turned about and slowly headed off on foot into the island.

That strange feeling about the place only grew stronger the further he went. It was as though this place was both familiar and foreign to him at the same time.

 _This is very odd._

Then he reached a grassy hilltop and looked down the ridge in amazement at strange ruins. The ruins were made of a mix he had never seen used before: rock, glass, and metal. Some of the structures were partly intact but most had crumbled. There was even a large object like a bowl which was larger than most dragons but broken into many pieces.

 _The gods only know what that was for._

"What is this place?"

He sat down at the top of the ridge and continued observing what was left of a clearly very distant past.

"People lived here once," he muttered.

 _'Yes, they did.'_

He spun around in alarm and then froze in wonder.

A perfectly white dragon had appeared from nothing. The dragon had soft spines running down its neck and back and had a very long body and tail that dragged on the ground behind it. Leaving aside the tail though it was only slightly larger than he himself was.

Any alarm that he had initially felt at the sudden encounter melted away as he watched the dragon's slow and regal stride up the ridge. This was surely a noble creature that acted with purpose and awareness. It even seemed to glow and to shed light as it walked. It settled down just upwind from him and fixed him with its piercing eyes, the color of which was indeterminable.

He briefly wondered at why he could not smell anything of the dragon when it spoke without moving its lips. The slow voice seemed to linger and echo in the air itself.

 _'I have not seen one of you dark wings in many years.'_

He grimaced in pain as a splitting headache erupted and then gradually faded.

 _'My apologies, I forget my strength. I will restrain myself better. Follow.'_

The strange dragon fanned its wings and silently flew from the ledge without seeming to disturb any wind. He sighed in relief as the pain receded, but still felt himself obliged to follow the amazing creature. He glided after it and found it resting on the ground down in the shadow of one of the strange ruins. He settled down across from the faintly glowing dragon.

Something about its appearance felt masculine, as had its thought-voice, strange as that seemed.

"Who are you?" he gasped in awe.

 _'I am Mimir. I am the one who remembers. What does that matter though? There is a better question._ _Who are you, dark wing?'_

He was paralyzed as those words poured forth from his memory of certain vivid dreams he once had.

"I am... Shadowwing."

Mimir closed his eyes and hummed for a moment before he opened them. Something changed when he did. His gaze was far more intense, purposeful, and even astonished than it had been moments before.

 _'My purpose was to see the past and to remember.'_

"See the past? I do not understand."

Mimir nodded.

 _'I see your time in the ice nest, wandering the mainland, among the humans in peace, the despair of the wild, pain and betrayal, back on an island filled with humans and dragons in peace, a human war, playing and learning with another dark wing who is close to your heart, adventures, hatchling life, and...'_

Mimir stared into his eyes with a new intensity as he himself was unable to look away.

 _'Something escapes me. You are not flying on one wind only. You think that Dragonheart Valka is your mother and that you should be a human? What happened to your egg?'_

Flames roared to life and whipped around him, consuming the whole island. A clublike tail with sharp spines flew toward him. He was falling into the void with his chest torn open. A flash of light erupted from the darkness that had grabbed him. Then he was back on the warm, grassy ground under a bright spring sun.

"What did you just do?" he gasped for breath as the terrible vision passed.

 _'That was the past... Hiccup...'_

"How do you know that about me?" he whispered in dismay.

 _'I am not like other dragons you have met.'_

"I can see that."

 _'My life-power lets me see what has happened throughout a life and far more.'_

"Your life-power. You have... magic?"

 _'What do you mean by 'magic'?'_

He fumbled for a moment as he tried to figure out how to explain the idea.

"You can... make things happen by wanting them to be, things that should not be able to happen any other way and that cannot be explained yet."

Mimir tilted his head in thought.

 _'I suppose so. There are things I can make be by only wanting them to be.'_

The question burst forth before he was even aware of asking it.

"Can you make me a human again?"

Mimir stared directly at him without blinking. Several tense moments passed, and then he spoke the fateful declaration.

 _'No.'_

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He had not seriously considered the idea in a long time, but the merest possibility of being restored to what he had been once still brought out some confused feelings he had managed to bury deep inside.

 _'And your thoughts about yourself are flying on the wrong winds.'_

"What?"

 _'You think that you have a life-wind-breath that is now stuck in a wrong or different body.'_

He thought about it for a moment and nodded in agreement.

"Yes, that is what happened. Toothless saved our lives by making us new. My old body was broken. His was also."

Mimir looked away from him and stared up at the clouds.

 _'There is more to the truth than that.'_

"More? Tell me."

Mimir stared at him in obvious consideration. Then the radiant dragon slowly shook his head.

 _'No. That is not my place to say. Human or dragon? You must learn that for yourself to be able to fly out of the past. I should not tell you who and what you are.'_

"That is not helpful," he grumbled.

 _'Sometimes in life the best help is to be told that there are winds you can only fly alone.'_

"I guess so."

Then he glanced again at Mimir in renewed consideration and noticed that there was something very wrong about him. But he was not sure exactly what that wrongness was. His tail swayed in confusion.

"Something feels very strange about you."

 _'Indeed? I am glad that you noticed. Dragonheart Valka did not. Think about it. I am sure you can grasp in your claws the answer of what feels wrong about me.'_

Mimir got up from where he lay and started walking back up the ridge toward the highest nearby point overlooking the ruins. He followed, glanced down at Mimir's stride along the way, and gasped with understanding.

"You do not touch the grass or wind and you do not have a smell. You are not real."

Mimir laughed aloud, the sound crashing on his thoughts like a waterfall on rocks.

 _'I am real enough, but you are correct that my body is not with you now.'_

He slowly reached out and tried to touch Mimir, but he felt nothing but empty air where his paw should have touched Mimir's neck. The white dragon was only a phantom, only a ghost.

He shivered at the impossible realization.

"Where is it then?"

 _'Not here.'_

"Why not?"

Mimir sighed deeply and again refused to answer. The spectral eyes were firm and would not reveal anything.

"You do not have many answers for me. Are you sure that I can never be changed back?" he pleaded.

Mimir seemed to groan at the repeated question.

 _'Think about it like this. Even if that change to you could be made not, all that would happen is that you would be made as you were before the change. You would have a broken and dying body again.'_

He winced at being told that.

"I guess that helps make my decision certain then. I would rather be alive as this than dead as a human," he reluctantly admitted.

Mimir seemed to huff at him.

 _'How... wise of you...'_

"How are you doing this, talking to me without being here?"

 _'Mind is a powerful thing. The most powerful of all, almost like 'magic' you would say. Even one who is grounded can soar free on the winds of thought.'_

"I do not understand. Who are you really? Are you a... thing from beyond the skies, a god, as Dragonheart Valka said?"

Mimir shook his phantom head.

 _'No, I am not. I am only a dragon, a very special one, yes, but only a creature of flesh, blood, and mind. And to ask who I am is to ask what my purpose is. That is a long story if you would hear it all.'_

"I have time."

Mimir seemed to chuckle.

 _'It is ironic that you should say that. If you want to know who I am, then you must listen to what happened many lifetimes ago.'_

"Lifetimes?"

 _'Many hundreds of years. For that is how old I am.'_

He blinked in amazement and disbelief.

"I did not know that anything could live that long."

Mimir closed his eyes and clearly lost himself in ancient memories. Then he looked up toward the skies.

 _'Humans are amazing creatures. Would you believe me if I told you that they learned how to build things that could fly?'_

"Yes, I could. I even designed some myself though they did not work well. I hoped to make fake-wings that would let me fly with Toothless in a way."

 _'What about things that could fly with the stars?'_

"I... wait. What?" he blinked.

 _'What if I told you that they learned how to breathe life-wind-breath into the dirt and make living creatures that were not before?'_

"How is that even possible?" he gasped.

 _'Living creatures from their oldest stories. Creatures like dragons.'_

His mouth fell agape at the impossible thought.

"What?" he eventually gasped.

Mimir slowly nodded with his eyes again shut.

 _'They could once. Their potential was limited only by their mind and what they could think of doing. Limited only by what they could imagine."_

He glanced around at the ruins down on the island. They did indeed look very different from anything he had ever seen from the Nordic tribes. But it was still almost too crazy of a story to even consider.

"Let us say that story is true. What happened then?" he warily asked.

' _There was a rot in their hearts. The more power they gained, the more cold they became, the more distant they became from each other, and the more dangerous they became. They gave away more of their mind-power and life-fire to the things they made and they stopped knowing each other. Like a dragon that fills its own den with fire-gas, all it took was one spark.'_

Mimir looked up and stared into his eyes again.

Flashes of light erupted on the horizon in all directions. Columns of fire reached up, spilled out among the highest heavens, and left a lingering glow in the sky beyond the clouds. A wave of wind rushed onto the island and tore the trees from the ground as the ocean reared up higher than mountains.

And then it was all gone and the sun shone brightly again. His tail was frozen, and he remembered to breathe after witnessing such horror.

"What was that?"

Mimir bent down toward him in evident sympathy.

 _'That was the end of their world. They broke all their things and hurled the fire of the stars at each other. They made entire nests and islands and lands be not. Their surviving creatures and weapons became free and wild.'_

"The... dragons?"

 _'Yes, the greatest beasts of all. The humans had different reasons for making the dragons. Some were made to be companion creatures, mere pets. But a few of them were made differently from the others and were special.'_

"Special? What do you mean?"

 _'The greatest flight of the humans was in mind. Into the final unflown winds and skies. They had learned how to break the wall that divides mind and thought from the world around them. Just before the end, they learned how to give the gift of mind-spark and life-fire. They did that for the last dragons they brought into being.'_

"They did what? Gave some dragons... self?" he struggled with the words and the thought itself.

 _'Yes. The others were still good creatures but did not have the same potential. The others were being, stuck as they were without any desire to better themselves and be more. They never looked up at the stars and wondered. The new ones were filled with becoming, just like humans are.'_

He thought he already knew the answer but asked anyway.

"Which ones?"

 _'Your kind. My kind. The great-tusks. There were a few others also, but those others are not now.'_

"They are not? What do you mean by that?"

Mimir growled very faintly for the first time in their talk.

 _'You should know that. Humans are afraid of what is strange to them. They fear and destroy what they do not see and know from an early age.'_

"The other dragons are dead?" he gasped.

Mimir solemnly nodded.

 _'Almost all dragons in this world are now in only a few nests, two of which are the largest. The one you know and another that is... fallen. That good nest is the safest place for them... if they are to be out in the world. Your kind knew to stay away from humans and has barely survived until now.'_

"Until now? Why is now different?"

Mimir bared his phantom teeth and a wave of heat rushed over the ground where they both stood. The heat was definitely real as the grass visibly withered where he stood.

 _'There is one kind of dragon that I tried to kill off entirely. That kind of dragon lived to hunt dark wings.'_

"What?" he gasped in alarm.

 _'Yes, they were made to be weapons to hunt dark wings. I think that I killed them all, but they killed many of your kind. And you are also few because the humans are growing again. They are building more nests, having many young, and spreading out into new lands and ranges, even though all their great and terrible knowledge was lost. I knew that humans would rise again, and I had to do something for all dragons.'_

Mimir's white glow grew almost painfully bright as he seemed to burn with intensity. There again felt to be something physically present and throwing off light and heat even though there was nothing there in body.

 _'The 'magic' as you call it is something that human bodies could not grasp. Their armies and great-clever-thinkers made me to be a weapon that could wield almost all 'magic' that is. They wanted to control me and all dragons through me. They could not control me."_

"They gave you that power? The magic?"

 _'Yes. I was their last creation with all the potential they could give.'_

"But what about all the other dragons? What about their magic?"

Mimir looked up at the sun.

 _'It all comes from me even now from where I am hidden. To the great-tusks I give command and control over their nests so that they can keep order and protect, to you dark wings I give the gift to one time wrest life from the teeth of death however is necessary, and to all I give their fire or ice breath. A spark of my 'magic' is in all of them from the largest great-tusks to the smallest nibblers. I can no more take their power from them now than I can claw out my own heart.'_

He looked away and stood still in a stupor at how casually Mimir said such things. They indeed did sound like the work of a god.

"That is much to hear and understand. All magic comes from you?" he mumbled.

 _'There is only one power that I do not give. Among the living dragons now, only certain females have it. It is also the only power that humans have.'_

"Wait, what? Humans have a magic power? What is it?" he eagerly asked.

 _'What makes you both different from the other creatures in the world?'_

"We are smarter."

 _'No, being smarter does not matter. It is that you wonder. You ask questions. You are not content with the world as it is. You can put yourself outside time and think about what will or what might be. Where did that difference come from? Why do human younglings not revert to being beasts? What is the spark that burns in their hearts and minds? Where does it come from?'_

"I do not know. Where?"

 _'Both females put a spark of their own life-fire in the minds of their young within the egg. Without that spark, you would be beasts, good ones like other dragons but simple creatures only. You would not dream and hope to be more. You would not look up at the stars and wonder. Is that not a great 'magic' of its own? I do not know where the first different flame came from. That fire is passed down to the young and is the greatest making of something that the world would not have on its own.'_

He could only nod at such ideas.

He was still absorbed in the words about how Mimir apparently sustained all dragon magic when an idea, a possible solution to his own situation, that he once had crept again from his memory. Toothless had explained that his own life-will-power was spent on that fateful flight over Dragon Island.

But what about himself?

"What about me? Do I have that... magic power? Could I change myself?"

Mimir's thought voice hummed with wary consideration.

 _'You are not like the other dark wings I once knew of and you have a very different life-story. You did not have a sire and dam to sit your egg and sing to you. You also think that you are two different things instead of a whole. And even if you did have that power you would not be able to give it unless life was in true danger and your want for it eclipsed your own will to live. Truly being not is not needed to give the gift though. Not liking the skin and scales you have is not enough of a reason.'_

"So, I do not have that magic. That also makes sense because I cannot make any fire," he sighed.

Mimir chuckled his strange and unearthly laughter.

 _'You should be able to flame even without a dark wing's life-will-power. They are not the same 'magic'. Maybe it is only strange to you and you have not had a need to flame yet.'_

"Maybe. I still do not understand something else. Dragonheart Valka knew of this place. How did you meet her?"

 _'I knew she was in the nest with the old great-tusk. She was also lost on the winds of her life. I wanted to meet her and I summoned her and Cloudjumper.'_

"And you talked to her?"

 _'I let her know enough of the truth and helped her find purpose in her life again. Her purpose living in peace with dragons and helping them where they cannot help themselves.'_

"Why do you stay here and not come with us? If you could talk to more humans..."

 _'I cannot leave this place except weakly in thought unless I would burn my power. And I must stay here.'_

"But you are alone here."

 _'Yes.'_

"Are you truly alone? Are you the only of your kind of dragon or are there others?"

Mimir for the first time looked crestfallen, and his white aura dimmed noticeably.

 _'I did have a mate long ago, but that was not to be. We have not met each other or spoken in many years.'_

He hung his head in sympathy, having at least some idea of a love lost or not meant to be.

"Why not?"

 _'We, much like you dark wings, are different from the other dragons. We were the last that were made, but unlike your kind we were made wrong.'_

"What do you mean made wrong?"

 _'We could not make eggs together, new life like us. That was not... meant to be. It was not part of our winds to fly. Learning that truth hurt us both, but something hurt us even worse.'_

"What?"

 _'If I am memory, she was foresight. She saw what had not happened but might happen under future suns. We balanced each other. I conserve what is. She made change be. But her winds were harder to fly than mine were.'_

"Why?"

 _'Imagine knowing what will happen. Knowing that no matter what flight you choose to take, you will always land at the same place. That your choices do not change what will be. That is a tearing, rending knowledge to have. I knew what I thought had to be done for dragons. She disagreed with my giving all dragons 'magic'. She feared that it would ground them all.'_

"That makes no sense."

 _'All I know is that she saw something that broke her life-fire. She left me when she learned that my choice was made. And then I was alone... and I did what I had to do for all dragons.'_

"Where is she now?"

 _'Dead. She finally passed in the last cycle. I do not know why, but I felt her life-fire end even from here.'_

"I am sorry about that," he hummed.

 _'Do not be. You did nothing wrong. She was nearing the end of her time. Even I am feeling weaker now.'_

"It must still hurt to lose someone you care for."

 _'It did, but I still have purpose. That is enough to live for.'_

"Purpose... I still have not met mine. Do you know if... will I ever see my brother again?"

 _'I do not see what might be. Keep looking for him.'_

He nodded and remembered something he was supposed to ask about.

"Dragonheart Valka told me to ask you about something else that is hidden here. What is it?"

Mimir stared most intensely at him. The spectral dragon's eyes pierced though him in evident consideration.

 _'I wondered if you were going to ask about that. She is the only human who knows about it. It is only fair for you to know about it because you are a dragon also. It is a hidden world.'_

.

"A hidden world? I do not understand."

 _'I will show you. Follow.'_

Mimir then swept out his ghostly wings and took flight with him following closely behind. They flew up and deeper into the island and toward the far side of the mountain. He could see more small ruins among the trees far below.

"Where are we going?" he whispered.

Mimir's flight was quite strange, seeing as he knew that there was nothing actually there pushing on the wind despite all appearances. They passed over a massive ridge and flew down toward a plain by the side of a mountain. Mimir landed on a slight hill and turned toward the mountainside. He landed as well and walked up next to the spectral dragon as the chill wind ruffled his wings.

Then he stared in amazement at a massive cave at the base of the mountain. It was easily the largest cave he had ever seen. The cave's mouth, which he now noticed had a very faint green glow from within, was almost as large as the great white Bewilderbeast himself.

"What is that?" he gasped.

 _'That leads down into the hidden world. Follow me.'_

He followed Mimir into the cave. It only became more mysterious as they flew inside it though. The walls of the cave seemed to glow with strange light. Grass and mosses grew on the ground and the walls. It was not dead and dry like most caves were. The air also did not have the same musty smell and still feeling that was common for caves. There almost seemed to even be a faint wind blowing from within.

 _This is strange for a cave. And to say nothing of how big it is._

Deeper underground they flew with the cave never narrowing. All the while the faint glow on the cave's walls never faded. He did not know how long they had been flying down in the strange cave when they burst into a large chamber. He followed Mimir to the nearest ledge and stared at an impossible sight.

The chamber, clearly very deep under the ground, was filled with life and green and light.

Massive crystals larger than most dragons extended from the ground, walls, and the distant ceiling. The crystals radiated light, leaving the chamber blanketed in a pale light. The ground was covered in strange plants, mosses, and even odd trees. Streams seemed to flow on the distant ground. It was comfortably warm and moist. The ceiling of the chamber was so high up that Mount Thor could probably have been encompassed within the chamber. Massive columns of rock rose up to the ceiling like support beams in the Great Hall.

The entire visible chamber could easily be as large as the island of Berk itself.

And there were dragons all throughout. Dozens of dragons of all kinds and colors were freely flying without a care in the world or were lounging on rocks.

He was completely struck dumb in disbelief and slowly crept to the edge of the ledge to look down on the impossible world before him.

"What is... this place?" he gasped.

 _'It is a hidden world where dragons can live in safety away from danger.'_

"How do they live here? What do they eat?"

 _'Fish and small prey. The waters down here are filled with fish, and there are small prey on the ground just like up on the surface. There are no humans to compete with for food.'_

He could see waters covering a distant corner of the chamber.

"Are we under the ocean?"

 _'Yes. We are that deep. These waters are not part of the ocean though. This is its own world entirely.'_

"How can this be? This place should not be possible."

Mimir turned toward him with a clearly amused look.

 _'There are many things which you seem to think are impossible Shadowwing. And yet, here this world is. Would you deny your own eyes?'_

"No, but this is amazing!"

Mimir chuckled at him.

 _'There are many more chambers like this one and different from this one. I believe that all land and sky dragons that are alive today in all the ranges of the world could live here. That is another reason why I cannot leave. I keep these ones here where they are safe.'_

"What? You keep them trapped here?" he exclaimed in alarm.

 _'That is a twisting of what I do. Whenever one of these dragons flies up the cave I strongly remind it how good it is here instead of beyond. Here they have food, shelter, water, kinship among their own kind, and no threats other than what they make themselves. What more could they need? These ones have been here all their lives. They do not know humans. They do not know to fear humans.'_

"But they should not fear humans."

 _'To fear is to know a threat. Humans are a threat, as we both know well. These ones cannot do that. It is better that they live in peace here with humans not knowing about them.'_

"I would rather that humans learn to not fear them first. For that they need to see dragons. Both can live in peace."

He turned away from Mimir and looked out over the interior chamber again. An amazing possibility crossed his mind.

"Are there any Night Furies here? Any other dark wings as you call us?"

 _'None that I know of. There were some in other chambers once, but the hunter dragons I mentioned found a way in here once. I killed the hunters, but they had already done what they came to do. I killed the last one in a distant chamber maybe ten years ago. Your kind is very few in number now.'_

"How few?" he whispered.

Even Mimir visibly slumped at that question.

 _'There may not be any mated pairs now.'_

That was certainly a depressing notion. That Night Furies would eventually die out entirely was too horrible to think about. It felt wrong in every way.

"We deserve better than that..."

He stood there staring over the amazing sight, seeing the different colors of the flying dragons, both the familiar and unfamiliar ones, the sparkle of the massive glowing crystals, the green that permeated throughout, and the general impossibility that such a large place could exist without anyone knowing about it.

It was untamed, wild, and free.

Something about it called to him. It felt dangerous, mysterious, and also good at the same time.

 _'We should leave and return to the surface.'_

He reluctantly tore his gaze from the massive chamber and spread his wings as Mimir silently took to the air.

"I wonder if I will ever see this place again."

He followed Mimir back up the massive cave though with many backward glances. The return flight passed much faster than the journey down had been since he was distracted by his memories of what he had seen. The green glow gradually began to fade the farther away from the main chamber they flew.

Then there was light again. Real, natural light from a setting sun as they both burst from the cave's entrance and flew out into the wind. The wind tickled his wings as he flew in the open air. He roared aloud in relief at being out in the open air.

Then he glanced down at the island and at the ocean, trying to imagine an entire world hidden deep down beneath. It was very hard to do and believe.

 _'You, Dragonheart Valka, and Cloudjumper should leave and return to the ice nest.'_

He could barely see Cloudjumper's distant red and orange bulk as the Stormcutter lay napping on the distant sand.

 _'And Shadowwing...'_

He glanced over his shoulder at Mimir.

 _'Never talk about this place to any others. It must stay hidden from humans. You can imagine what would happen if dragon hunters ever found it.'_

He bowed his head after a moment of consideration.

"I promise."

Mimir then glanced past him out to sea.

 _'Look...'_

He looked and saw nothing special except the red glow of the setting sun. They had been gone all afternoon. Then he glanced back and Mimir was gone from the sky, completely vanished without a trace. He shuddered at the haunting sensation left by the sudden departure.

Then he turned and flew down to the shore where Valka had a small campfire set up and several freshly caught fish roasting on the fire. She got to her feet as he landed and bounded up to her. He sat down before her and stared at her.

Neither of them said anything for a while.

"So, did you meet him?" she eventually whispered.

Yes, he nodded.

 **He told me and showed me much**

"Anything about... well... you?"

 **I am stuck like this**

She slowly nodded and put a hand on his shoulder.

"What do you think about that?"

He hummed in thought, trying to figure out how to best put it into words.

 **There is no reason to cry over it**

 **I have been this for years**

 **It is normal now**

"That is very brave, son. I do not know if I could be like that if my life changed that much."

 **You have lived alone for twenty years**

 **Doing nothing but helping dragons**

 **That deserves to be in the great Eddas**

She blushed at that praise.

 **And giving up my wings would be hard now**

 **I do not know if I would want to go back**

She softly laughed at that.

"I can only imagine. And... did you see it? The hidden world?"

Yes, he nodded with very wide eyes and an amazed sigh.

Neither of them said anything for a long time.

"Amazing, isn't it. To think that there could be worlds under our feet and we not even know it."

 **I know**

 **Did you actually see in it?**

"Yes, Mimir took me and Cloudjumper down there and let me see it. It is good to know that there will always be some dragons alive in the world and living freely. Even if it is only in secret."

 **Yes, it is**

"Shall we go home now? It will be a little longer of a flight going back since we will be fighting the wind this time."

Yes, he nodded.

They roused Cloudjumper, extinguished the fire, and went aloft with their flight turned for the south. They would rest in the wild on the mainland once they got there. He hazarded a glance back at the apparently desolate island and imagined seeing a white dot soaring around the distant peak before his view was obstructed by the clouds.

 _'Who are you, dark wing?'_

He shuddered once at the haunting words that echoed in the air around him. Then he turned back to the open waters. The skies, waters, and winds felt the same and terribly different at the same time.

As did he with the new knowledge that he now carried with him.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note - You may have noticed this before, but I never once used the term Vikings in the narrative. I leave it up to you to guess whether this is set in a forgotten past in which advanced ancient humans destroyed their world or in a post-apocalyptic future. To be honest though, it does not matter which one it is. There will be no inclusion of technology more complex than anything that would be canon.**_

 _ **I also had the idea for the hidden world in some form before the first trailer for the third film was released. I took my initial idea and modified it slightly to pay some homage to the film.**_


	42. II - Wings

_**Author's Note – There was a scene that was too perfect to not include. You should probably be able to guess what it is already.**_

* * *

" _Ours is the commencement of a flying age, and I am happy to have popped into existence at a period so interesting." -_ _Amelia Earhart (attributed to)_

* * *

Wings

* * *

No disaster had appeared to have befallen the ice nest in their several weeks away. Valka and Shadowwing fell into the old routine that they had gotten used to in the fall. She would respond to any confirmed incidents and would go with Cloudjumper and the rest of the flight. Shadowwing would spend most of the day ranging around the nest and searching the islands for signs of traps. He knew exactly what to look for and where to look. The trappers were very predictable.

Most of the snares could be easily triggered with a stick or small log, and that was if he could not destroy the trap entirely. His years of practice in the forge working with metal proved invaluable, even if the going was a bit trickier now than it would have been with his old fingers. But every trap triggered or disassembled was another dragon not captured or maimed.

This continued on into the summer. And no other Night Furies happened upon the ice nest in all that time.

He also preferred being out on his own because he felt lost. The strange and disturbing words spoken by the spectral dragon Mimir haunted his waking moments. Most frightening were the twin claims that humans had somehow made dragons and that the humans who lived long ago had destroyed their own world somehow with fire and stars. Mimir had seemed so certain of it and had let him see something terrible that had apparently happened in ages past. That vision had conjured up images of Ragnarok itself.

 _Nothing can have that much power though._

He had eventually shared everything that Mimir told him with Valka. She was understandably stunned and confused.

"I... do not know what to think. That is all so... impossible."

 **I know**

 **It makes no sense**

She said nothing for a while.

"He showed me things that no one else could know about me. Things about my life. He laughed when I thought he was a god, but the things he said and showed me... I do not know."

 **I do think he is only a dragon**

 **Toothless had magic after all**

"You know as much about magic as I do, even if you do not have any yourself."

Then she grumbled with a slightly amused expression.

"Though it would help if you could figure out how to make your own fire."

 **What?**

"Yeah, then I would not have to help pick the bugs off you. You could burn them off yourself."

He rolled his eyes.

 **With my luck all that would happen**

 **Is roasted Night Fury**

"Hey, I am quite sure you are fireproof on the outside," she chuckled.

Then he sighed again.

 **Even if what he said is true**

 **I still do not understand it**

 **How could humans make new creatures?**

She frowned as she stared at the words.

"I do not know, and I do not think it matters. That world, if it ever was, is gone now. You and the other dragons are free creatures and have always been, as far as I am concerned. You do not owe the humans anything."

He slowly looked down at her and then surprised her by giving her a hug. She happily rested her head on his shoulder as he crooned softly.

"Well, this is new. Some of the smaller dragons liked to snuggle but never real hugs like this."

He stepped back and laughed heartily.

 **I am disappointed in Cloudjumper now**

"What? Him give me a hug?"

It was her turn to laugh heavily.

"Oh, there is a small problem with that. I mean, just look at all this..." she held her arms out to draw attention to her small frame.

They both laughed freely, their cries echoing down the passageway and drawing the attention of several other dragons. After recovering themselves they both caught Cloudjumper staring their direction with pure confusion on his owl-like face.

They laughed again.

* * *

 _Ok, what is this?_

He sat down on his rear and stared in befuddlement with his tail swaying as he thought. He had been inspecting one of the crates of her various supplies when he noticed that there was something very peculiar about this piece of gear.

"What are you looking at?"

He nudged the strange looking attire and gave a questioning warble.

"Oh, that? It is something I made several years ago but never actually tried to use."

His lifted eye-ridges and ears perfectly conveyed the question.

"Let me show you."

She unrolled it to its full length. It was a full-body riding garb not quite unlike what he remembered becoming common back on Berk.

"There is something special about it though."

 _Do tell..._

She reached out and grabbed both of the arms which she then spread out. A leathery film extended from the arms down to around the knees. The space between the knees was also covered in the fine leather.

 _Hmm, that looks like a wing suit. Almost like one of the old designs that I thought I might try to make..._

He blinked and looked up at her in amazement as the true purpose of the wing suit became obvious.

 _No, you did not!_

Then he had to stop himself from bouncing around in excitement. He barely managed to make legible runes in the dirt.

 **Does it work?**

"I never tried it, remember?"

 **Why not?**

"It is not exactly the smartest thing to try. Cloudjumper is big and a little bit clumsy at times. He cannot fly that fast to catch me if something went wrong."

 _That is a fair point except for one important detail..._

 **We should try it**

Her eyes went wide at the thought.

 **I can easily catch you**

"I... I do not know about that. It is too dangerous."

 **When have you ever been afraid**

 **Of flying dragonback?**

"Well, this is more falling with style. And a bit of a... special case... with you."

 **And this special dragon wants**

 **His mom to touch the clouds**

 **Like a dragon does**

"But... oh fine... if you insist," she reluctantly added with a grin.

She started to change right in front of him, perhaps forgetting her audience or just not caring. He turned away for the sake of modesty and waited for her to finish. He did not try to still his tail though.

 _I always wondered if something like this could work! I'm going flying with mom!_

"Done," she finally announced.

She looked very different with the wing suit. He could not stifle a laugh though.

"Oh, what is so funny, you useless reptile?"

He gave her a brief withering glare.

 **Now you need that**

 **Your scale and horn helmet**

 **And a fake tail**

 **More convincing than when we first met**

She laughed heartily at the mental image until she seemed to have stitches in her side.

"Alright... let's do this."

 **I will take it easy going up**

 **You will need to hold on tight**

 **We have no saddle after all**

"Oh, I am used to that."

They walked down the narrow passage to the ledge while she put on her final piece of attire, a small mask to protect against wind burn. He crouched down and let her climb flat on his back. Once he could feel her arms at the base of his wings and her legs at his sides, he glanced back at her, gave her a nod, and gently hopped from the ledge.

Just like before on their one other brief flight together, it did feel very strange having that extra weight on his back. But she was quite light, and his own eagerness to share this experience with her helped to make the burden all the lesser.

 _It must have been good for Toothless that I was so skinny. Or maybe he was just that much stronger that it did not matter to him._

He pitched up and began to spiral higher on the thermals surrounding the nest.

"Look at them all!" she shouted over the faint wind.

There were indeed dozens of dragons of all colors and types soaring on the winds over the ice nest.

 _It is a very good sight indeed._

And still they continued higher even up above the lower clouds. He could feel her hands start to shake with her nerves as the moment neared.

He hummed deeply, sure that she would feel it and be reassured. Then their flight leveled off well above the lower clouds, and he started slowly gliding into the wind.

A moment passed during which he expectantly glanced back at her.

"Alright, I cannot believe that I am about to do this!"

 _I know. It is amazing!_

She glanced down over his shoulder.

"Uhm, on second thought can we take this nice and easy?"

 _What? Mom, it will be fine!_

She slowly crept forward on his back.

"Ready?" he grumbled and again looked back to face her.

She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. Then she opened her eyes with clear excitement and eagerness.

"Ok, now!" she shouted.

He pitched down and dove.

And spun himself around in freefall as her weight vanished from his back. She fell wildly in a tumble for several seconds, struggled to right herself, and then flung out her arm-wings.

His mouth fell open in amazement.

She was gliding, slowly pitching from side to side using her arm-wings to right each sway and gust of wind.

Soaring.

Free.

He recovered himself and beat his flight forward and under her before again spinning upside down. Her expression was completely hidden under her flying mask and her eyes were still squeezed tightly against the wind. She certainly could not hear even a happy roar over the whistling wind, but he could let his own bliss show another way and gave her a wide toothless grin.

He tucked his wings and spun in place again to right himself. Then he drifted up toward her from below while effortlessly matching her pitch. Very cautiously, he brushed a wing against one of her arm-wings and made her spin in place. She tumbled for a moment and then righted herself.

They glided down through a small cloud and caught sight of the ice nest again. She made a quick beckoning motion with her hand the moment they left the cloud cover. He immediately darted underneath her.

 _Steady now..._

He felt her land on his back, and a pair of hands grabbed onto the base of his wings a moment later. He slowly pulled up into a steady flight, only then feeling her weight push into his back.

And they were smoothly gliding again back toward the ice nest after having fallen far in a glide. Then her hands vanished from his wings. He glanced back at her, still unable to see much past her flying mask.

But her cheering of delight was audible even over the wind as she held her arms out in the air. He let out a cry of elation as well, sharing in her bliss brought out by the simple act of free flight. That joy that it was too easy to take for granted in missions and quests.

 _That is the closest she will ever come to being a dragon. To truly being one of them._

He looked down at the ice nest far below and at the spiraling colors of dragons in the air. In the sky that was their domain.

In the sky that was his domain now.

And it never felt truer than it did at that moment as he glided back with the wind caressing his wings and while carrying her home. Even so, something about the distinction felt off, almost as though neither description truly applied.

He existed between two worlds.

 _To being one of us?_

 _Dragon or human?_

* * *

He sought her out shortly after the morning meal delivered by the King. There was something that he felt a duty to her to let her know. Helping to rescue dragons from traps and destroying traps was a good and worthwhile activity, but he had another mission nearer and dearer to his heart. It was a mission that he had not truly devoted himself to in far too long. And she was perfectly capable of handling trapper duties on her own as she had done for twenty years.

She looked down at his words and solemnly frowned.

"Are you sure about this?"

 **It is why I left Berk**

"I understand. He is definitely not here or in these islands. We would have seen him if he was."

 **Any final suggestions on where to look?**

She shook her head.

"You know more about where a Night Fury would want to go than I do. Whatever you do though do be careful with the human tribes."

 **I know how to meet people out there**

"You told me before. It is so strange to me. I have never seen any of the villages here be reasonable or open to dragons."

 **Have you really tried?**

"Well, no, but what else do I need to see when I see them with dragon skeletons as trophies? Or how about their trade in living dragons and... dragon parts?"

 **That does hurt to see**

 **But I know what to do**

She sighed.

"I am not going to be able to stop you, am I?"

He slowly shook his head.

"Ok, you go do what you have to do. I would not be much help out there anyway. Just come back here from time to time, will you?"

He hummed deeply at her.

 **Of course I will, mom**

 **You are my family too**

She hugged his neck again and then stepped back with a nod. He hopped over to the ledge and looked out over the green, living, and raucous activity outside the nest. He remembered what it was like deep inside the nest now. The King was resting in his deep pool while numerous yearlings and fledglings rested on his head and tusks. There was no fear or tension in the nest, except for the occasional tussling for turf or status, neither of which the King allowed to become dangerously violent.

It was all very good.

 _She can handle everything while I am gone._

Without further delay, he turned tail and flew from the nest with his course set for the distant mainland.

 _I guess start north of the Fireforge clan where I left. Maybe check further inland too. He might have wanted to get away from the ocean and people._

He spared a backward glance at the ice nest and all its freely flying dragons. The sight gave him some measure of strength and comfort as he continued out over the waters. As did the knowledge that he knew where family would be waiting for him when he returned.

* * *

She stroked the Nadder's side as she inspected the ripped wing. The King helped by calming the despondent dragon while she went about her healing work. Her only tools she had were a very fine nail she had long ago filed down to a very sharp point and some old string salvaged from clothing she had taken from dead trappers or found otherwise abandoned. She carefully drove the nail and string around the fresh tear in the wing and wove the membrane back into a whole. The entire process took the greater part of the afternoon during which she could endure no distractions.

She finally finished the last knot and tied the tear closed. A proper Elder or healer trained in medicine and mending could certainly do a far better job stitching such a wound but out here what she could give was the best that there was to be had.

She got up and patted the Nadder's snout. It got up and wandered away on foot into the nest.

Only the King was left behind, still gazing down at her. His massive eyes were as wide, powerful, and calm as ever. Then he softly huffed his icy mist breath on her, exactly as he had done many times before.

She inclined her head toward him in a practiced bow. It never ceased to awe her and fill her heart with humility that such a powerful giant could be so gentle around a creature as small as she was.

Then the King rumbled softly and looked up toward her ledge.

She followed the King's gaze and saw a black head looking down toward her. She immediately called out for Cloudjumper, who came and lifted her to their ledge. The Night Fury eagerly bounded over to her, and she knew without any doubt who it was.

She threw herself into his arms while she stifled her joyful tears.

Two whole months he had been gone, out in the world and away from the safety of this good nest. In the wild and among strange tribes.

How many times had her own dreams been haunted by the thought of him caged or worse because of his lack of experience with the world and his excessive optimism?

"Oh son... you are back."

They eventually broke apart and stepped over to their writing box.

"So, tell me. What happened out there?"

 **I did not find him**

"Nothing, no hint of where he went?"

 **No, but I did meet a few small tribes**

"And? How did that go?"

 **I think I still have my head attached**

They both laughed at that, although her chuckle was more nervous than his seemed to be.

 **Actually, they were quite reasonable**

 **It took a few days for one**

 **And a couple weeks for each of the other two**

 **But I let them see that I am not dangerous**

"I do not know how you do that."

 **Come with next time and see**

"You are going out again?"

 **Yes, I need to search one more time**

 **Farther north before the winter**

"There are some beautiful lands up there. Deep fjords, rocky cliffs, tall mountains, thick forests, and clear streams. It is quite wild. It is harsher than Berk in the winter, if you can believe that. Not many people live up there though."

He nodded.

 **That is why I want to look there**

 **Toothless might have tried to get far away from people**

"I would like to go out there with you, but the trappers have been very busy recently this year. There are more of them in these waters now than there ever have been before."

 **Any idea why?**

"None. How long will you be here?"

 **A few days**

 **I need to get back some weight**

"You are looking a bit like a fishbone," she teased.

He groaned and rolled his eyes.

"What? What is it now?"

 **They used to say that about me back on Berk**

 **Back when I was still human**

 **I was so skinny and weak**

"Back on Berk..." she whispered while averting her eyes.

.

"Have you ever thought about... going back there?"

He froze and found that he could not answer.

"Ever since you told me about everything that has happened there, I keep wondering if I should go back. See the dragons they have. See this new world they have made. See Gobber again, he was one of the few who listened to me at all. Oh, he did not agree or believe me back then, but at least he let me vent my frustrations to him. I think I should also meet this Astrid."

"And maybe see... other people too," she whispered while staring at the wall.

 **Maybe eventually**

 **It is too soon for me to see him**

"I understand. It is just something I was... wondering about."

He was about to depart to obtain a meal when an old question that he had never before thought to ask drifted into his thoughts. Thinking about years of time being away from home and not seeing people he knew and cared for in that time had turned his thoughts to something rather morbid to think about but also quite necessary.

And there was likely no human alive in the world who was better suited to answer this fateful question than her.

 **How long do dragons live?**

"What?"

 **How long will I live?**

She said nothing for a long time.

"I do not know. How long dragons can live was not something anyone ever cared about learning before. Cloudjumper was an adult twenty years ago, and he does not seem to be slowing at all. Did you ever talk with Toothless about this?"

 **He did not know**

 **Guess what though**

 **We were the same age before**

Then he rolled his eyes.

 **Still are actually**

"Really? That is quite a happy accident. Not knowing how long you can expect to live though, I cannot imagine what that is like."

He thought for a moment and then hummed with acceptance.

 **Only one way to find out**

"Just do not get caught out there and have those years cut short."

He gave her his best incredulous and amused look.

 **Are you serious?**

 **They would not know what to do with all this**

She nervously chuckled. Her faint frown though indicated that she did have a very good idea what they would do under those circumstances.

* * *

The coast finally came into view on the horizon. It was more or less where he had left off when he returned to the ice nest the last time. The trees were finally starting to show the onset of autumn and there was far more of chill on the winds.

 _Where did this year go?_

His course took him inland and then tracing north with the coastline visible on the horizon until a mountain range began to grow along the coast. He flew and searched for several days until he was well and truly in the wild. There were indeed fewer and fewer settlements the farther north he went. The forests became thicker with more pines, and there were absolutely no roads. Neither were there any signs of dragons.

 _This is really stupid actually. What are the odds that I will just happen to find him out here?_

 _Maybe if he was out flying at the same time, then I would probably see him._

Sigh.

His flight eventually carried him back toward the west and toward the coast. As Valka had mentioned to him though there were almost no villages at all to stop at and try to get information from. He flew on up the range of mountains before the coast as the sun set far out over the western horizon. Then, exhausted from the better part of an afternoon of flying, he glided down the far side of the mountains.

Even in the gathering dark, he was still able to see the flowing and grassy plains, the thick pine forest, and a large number of deer and elk. It looked like a slice of the north completely untouched by people. It even had what looked like coves or depressions in the forest, not unlike another good place he fondly remembered. A stream far below caught his attention, and he dove to refresh himself in its clear water.

 _Where to now? It is getting closer to winter, and I do not want to be stuck out here for that. Back to the King's nest, I guess._

He flew out to the coastline after he drank his fill and began flying back along the shore. The cliffs dropped off straight down onto crashing waves and sharp rocks in some places. The full moon was bright in the sky with no other lingering radiance from the sun.

He glanced back at the large peninsula and took in the view illuminated in the moonlight as he peacefully flew. The towering mountains in the background, the thick forest, and the deep bay had a wild beauty.

And then a sound echoed out through the night.

A sound that he had not heard from anyone else in years.

A sound that almost made him fall from the sky in shock.

The unmistakable roar of a Night Fury.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note – I thought I would be kind and let you know that there are no tricks or surprises. The separate arcs are over and the following chapter has the reunion we have all been waiting for.**_


	43. II - The Winds Of Life

_**Author's Note - Your long patience has been rewarded. I feel quite confident that you will love this lengthy chapter.  
**_

* * *

" _Friendship ... is born at the moment when one man says to another 'What! You too? I thought that no one but myself ...'" - C.S. Lewis - The Four Loves_

* * *

The Winds Of Life

* * *

Was-Grounded lay on the ledge and stared up at the sky, savoring a brief moment of peace and escape from the den and overactive Dawn-Singer when something caught his eye. An absence of something. A moving black void in the sky where the stars did not shine.

 _That is very big and fast for a bird…_

He followed it closely while wondering if it might be a wild kin even though he had not seen any in all his suns at this good range. His breath caught and tail froze when the dark shape passed in front of the moon.

Not only was it indeed a kin, but there was no mistaking what kind of kin. The shape and beat of its wings, the length of its tail, and the speed of its flight were intimately familiar.

He hopped to his feet with many thoughts swirling in his mind at once. He had found another wild Night Fury, something that he had long thought would never happen, completely without trying.

 _It cannot be!_

He did not hesitate and roared aloud to announce himself. The shadow in the sky immediately paused and hovered in place for a moment before whirling about in his direction. The strange Night Fury dove for his ledge, threw out its wings, and smoothly landed a respectful distance from him.

They both froze as they beheld the other.

It was definitely a male, that much was certain from its head-frills, and it was also slightly smaller than him. They were at crosswinds and had none of their scents carried to the other.

His last encounter with a wild male Night Fury was foremost in his thoughts and he tensed, ready for possible conflict but also hopeful that this would be different.

This one did nothing aggressive. It was not coiled for an attack. Further, something about it gave him the bug-crawling feeling all over his scales.

The strange male Night Fury, its wide eyes reflecting the night light, stared at him in silence and took a nervous step toward him. Then it broke the silence with one word. One hopeful and trembling word.

"Toothless?"

His jaw dropped as that word crashed over him. His old name. The name that he had shed like old scales. The name that only one other kin in all the ranges of the world could possibly know.

More than the name though was the voice. It was a voice that he knew in his liver, having taught this Night Fury all his words himself on many cold-season and new-life-season suns.

"Hiccup?" he gasped.

"TOOTHLESS!" "HICCUP!"

They both roared aloud in joy, dashed together, threw themselves at each other, and tumbled over each other. Then they wildly stumbled to their feet and danced around each other while yelling incoherently.

"It is you!" "It is you!"

"You are alive!" "Look at you!"

"Where have you been!" "What happened!"

"What are you doing here!" "How did you find me!"

"I found you!" "What are you doing here!"

Hiccup hopped over to him and nuzzled his neck with a very happy thrum. And just as had happened all those season-cycles ago when they had first broken their shared egg together, he did not have the liver to tell him to stop.

"You were looking for me," he whispered.

Hiccup eventually stepped back, but then he hung his head and shook with his entire body trembling. Even his tail was stilled and forgotten.

He bent down and rested his nose against Hiccup's in comfort.

"Hiccup, why are you sad?"

"Not sad... I am warm and... very happy..." Hiccup gasped.

"Why do you sound sad?"

"I do not know... I feel much now..."

"As do I."

He then stepped back to look at his egg-mate brother properly. It was rather impressive that Hiccup had grown well, though not fully as big as himself of course, and had reached a very decent size and length. Hiccup had all his fins, soft back ridges, and head-frills. They were both mature adults with only a few more seasons before they would both be as large as they would get in life.

"Look at you, Hiccup! You are big and strong!"

"Not as big as you, Toothless," Hiccup hummed.

"No, I have always been bigger. And faster," he laughed.

"Faster? Grr... I do not know about that now."

Then Hiccup paused and obviously considered something with a wary hum.

"I am not Hiccup now."

"What?" he grumbled in confusion.

"I shed that twisted name like old scales. Hiccup was a bad, silly name for a Night Fury."

"And Toothless was not a bad, twisted name?" he play-snarled.

Hiccup gave him a guilty, half-smile with his head slightly tilted.

"Grr… What new name do you have now?"

"Shadowwing," Hiccup proudly announced while holding his shoulders tall.

He thought about it and decided that he liked it. There was nothing two-leg twisted-name about that name.

"Shadowwing is a good name. I have a new name also."

"What is it?" Shadowwing eagerly bounded on his feet.

"Was-Grounded."

Shadowwing purred happily after a moment of thought.

"That is a good name also. It is very you. It flies with your life-story."

Shadowwing then seemed to stiffen and his ears drooped slightly as he continued in a softer voice.

"Do you want to talk about… what happened to you?"

He stepped back and nodded, knowing that there was much that was better said sooner rather than later.

"Do you know what happened to me? A bad black-fur-she-Alpha took me as a thrall from home-nest-island."

The completely drooping ears, downcast eyes that avoided his own, and stilled tail all but confirmed his suspicions.

"It was him. My… my sire..."

He flew to his feet and angrily paced at the confirmation. It was not a surprise, but he had thought and hoped that he might have been mistaken.

"Why! I thought he was a good two-leg. He let us nest together in his den. Why?" he growled.

"The she-Alpha was false. She said to him that she could make me a two-leg again by taking your life."

The thought was horrifying and confusing and very chilling.

"What? I do not understand."

"He wanted to make me a two-leg again for many seasons. He thought that if he... hits your head and makes you fall into sleep, she would take your life, and then she could make me a two-leg again with a power like life-will-power. But she was false and took you thrall to give to another two-leg for shiny-rocks."

Was-Grounded tossed his head and growled again while flexing his claws.

"But he hurt me! He listened to the false-tongue, rot-liver, waste-pile, thrall-making, bad two-leg Monster!"

He angrily paced with his tail thrashing. He imagined what violence he would do if he ever met the rotten-two-leg again, the false sire. There were many different ways that he could imagine that two-leg meeting its deserved end under his own claws or teeth or glowing fire or...

Then he glanced at Shadowwing and paused. His brother looked like the most liver-chilled, life-grounded, and mournful kin he had ever seen. His head and eyes were downcast, tail was stilled, and shoulders were slumped. He was also whimpering sadly with an obviously chilled liver.

Seeing and hearing all that helped to cool his own wrath. Shadowwing had been deeply hurt too by learning how false his sire was in the liver. It may even have been a deeper hurt to him since the false sire was his own immediate nest-kin.

He exhaled as his anger subsided. Then he walked over, lay down before his brother, and gave him a soothing hum. Shadowwing visibly relaxed somewhat after a few breaths.

"The bad female-Alpha took me over the ocean and brought me to a two-leg nest. She gave me to a new male-Alpha who kept me in a trap and made me fight other kin and two-legs. The two-legs around that place watched the fights to see who won the fights. The kin were mostly easy to fight."

He paused for a moment before continuing.

"I had to kill two-leg fighters."

Shadowwing briefly glanced away but took a breath and returned his attention to him.

"You needed to kill them to keep safe your own life."

"I did. I was... good at those fights. Different two-legs came and took me from the Alpha-male thrall-maker. They were taking me to the ocean, but I escaped. I could not fly for many suns."

"Why not?"

"I had a broken wing."

Shadowwing recoiled and stared at him, mouth agape in horror.

"No..." he gasped.

"Yes, a fighting kin broke one of my wings in a fight."

He unfurled his wing and pointed out the place where the bone had healed but still left a noticeable bend and old scars. Shadowwing fearfully approached and shivered as he nudged at the wing bones that had clearly snapped and the thin membrane that had healed.

"You were grounded... again..."

"Yes, but I can fly again now. That is why my new name. That and another old grounding that was also made not."

He dashed for the ledge and quickly flew a tight loop with a spin and a joyful bellow before landing back at his brother's side.

"My wing healed strong again. I ran with the ocean while I was still grounded for many suns after I escaped, and I found this place here where there are good hunting, hot-bubbling water, and several cave-dens. This is my range now."

"It is a good place, Toothless... Was-Grounded. You have been here waiting until your wing got strong again?"

"No, I left here two hot-seasons ago."

Shadowwing seemed genuinely surprised at that.

"You went another place? Where did you go?"

"Far away toward where the sun breaks its shell at dawn."

"Why?"

"I was... being called there to find what I wanted. I did and I came back here because this is a good range. Much better than the one I was at last cold-season and new-life-season."

Then a strange light seemed to gleam in Was-Grounded's eyes alongside a very happy hum.

"Help me hunt. I want to show you something that warms my liver much."

"Yes, I am better at hunting now."

They went aloft together. Shadowwing followed his brother's lead as they covered the forest far below.

 _Wow, he has grown a lot since leaving Berk. In fact, he is probably now as big as he was when we first met years ago. Maybe even a little bigger._

Was-Grounded spied something below through the darkness and dove toward a plain. A single bright bolt of fire traced a path through the darkness into a herd of fleeing shapes, one of which fell with a cry. They both alighted around the downed elk, which Was-Grounded put out of its pain and fear by snapping its neck.

He then started carving away the fur and sank his teeth into the body. Once he got down several mouthfuls, he stepped away and gestured at the kill. Shadowwing stepped forward and ate as well without hesitation, which Was-Grounded was pleased to see. He spoke up once Shadowwing got down a few juicy mouthfuls of fresh meat.

"You never ate a fresh kill on home-nest-island."

Shadowwing licked away the life-water on his lips.

"We did not need to. I did need to hunt and catch four-leg prey out here though."

"Did you?"

"Yes, more than I can count on one paw."

Was-Grounded hummed and growled openly.

"That is very good. Spoken and hunted like a true Night Fury."

Shadowwing seemed to acknowledge his words with a half-grin but also squirmed a bit as he looked back down at the remains.

"The taste of life-water was... twisting at first though. Meat tastes much better with life-water now. That is not always true for two-legs when they eat meat."

"Are you a two-leg now?"

Shadowwing thought for a moment and then stood up on his hind legs while using his tail for balance. Then he took several awkward steps.

"Yes, I am still a two-leg now."

Shadowwing then dropped down to the ground. They stared at each other as a feeling began to creep on them both. Slowly it built until neither of them could resist it.

They collapsed to the ground in roaring hysterics and laughed until their tails thumped against the ground. It was the deepest, most abandon filled laughter either of them had felt in living memory.

Was-Grounded was the first to partly recover himself.

"I need... take the rest... of the prey-four-leg... to my cave-den now."

"You are... very hungry..." Shadowwing managed to gasp.

Was-Grounded slowly shook his head to escape the remaining hilarity dancing in his head and liver.

"It is not for me."

"Not for you?" Shadowwing rumbled his confusion.

Was-Grounded leaned forward with a very happy hum.

"I have a mate."

Shadowwing stepped back, certain that he had not heard that correctly. Then his eyes went very, very wide, and he could not control his tail in his excitement.

"A mate! You found another Night Fury!"

Was-Grounded smiled and hummed happily.

"Her name is Green-Wings."

"You found another of us?" Shadowwing whispered in astonishment.

"Yes, I found her far away toward the sun's hatching. I nested with her in her den over the last cold-season. She flew here to my range with me because the old range did not have enough food for us. Or for our hatchling," he added with a very toothy grin.

Shadowwing blinked in amazement, and his jaw fell open.

"You have a hatchling... you are a sire..."

"His name is Dawn-Singer. He is not a moon-cycle from his egg."

Shadowwing stared for several moments before he eventually found his voice again.

"Brother, I am very happy for you."

"I know. You always forget about your tail."

"What?" he stilled the traitorous tail.

Was-Grounded laughed and turned his attention back to the remaining meat.

"Help me carry this back to my den. I want you to meet them."

They both picked up the remaining parts of the kill and took to the skies. Shadowwing fell in behind him and followed his lead as they flew with the remains of the catch in hand and mouth until they arrived at the mountains. There were several caves or deep crevices visible at their base. Was-Grounded angled himself for the largest cave and smoothly touched down outside its entrance.

"Let me go first to tell her about you," he whispered.

"I will wait," Shadowwing settled down, barely able to contain his excitement.

Was-Grounded bounded into his den and ran up to Green-Wings. She lifted a tailfin and peeked out at his return.

"You caught prey."

"Yes," he rumbled after dropping his part of the catch.

But she noticed that something was strange from how excited he seemed and how he almost bounced on his feet even while standing still.

"What is it? What did you do now?" she asked.

He knelt down before her.

"I found someone."

"You found someone?"

"My nestmate, my egg-mate."

She blinked in surprise and amazement.

"Your nestmate? Another of our kin?"

"Yes, I want him to meet you and our little one here in our den. I want us to name him one of our nest," he hummed.

"But he is another male..." she nervously said.

He rolled his eyes and groaned while gently nudging her shoulder with a paw.

"And I know him. He is my kin, and I hold him in my liver. Shadowwing, come here!" he called.

They both watched their den's mouth as the new entrant walked in with a haunch of meat in his maw. He cautiously walked into the den, froze mid-step when he saw them both, and slowly continued up to them. His nervous gaze never left her as he took several slow steps.

And then Shadowwing tripped over his own feet on a small outcropping of rock and stumbled with a muted bellow.

Was-Grounded snorted in amusement.

 _Yes, and there is the Hiccup that I know._

Shadowwing recovered himself and sat down across from them after grumbling at his own clumsiness. He dropped the haunch of meat and stared at her.

"Green-Wings..." he whispered.

.

.

.

.

She turned to her mate and whispered loudly.

"Does he have a small head and only have few words?"

Was-Grounded glanced at Shadowwing with a very amused grin.

"No, he knows many words and even makes new words. He is only twisted inside about meeting you. You are the only other dark wing he has ever seen other than me."

She turned back to the visitor in her den.

"Shadowwing?" she rumbled.

"Great sky-breath, winds and stars... she is talking to me... the Night Fury is talking to me..." he mumbled excitedly.

"The 'Night Fury?' What is 'Night Fury'?" she turned again to her mate.

"That is the name that the two-legs use for our type of dark wing kin."

"Why make a new name? Why would he use a two-leg name?"

"I like Night Fury more. More fear-making and strong sounding," Was-Grounded answered her.

She hummed in thought and then turned back to Shadowwing.

"You are my mate's egg-mate."

"Yes, I am. We were hatchlings and nestlings together," he answered.

"Let me smell you."

It seemed a strange request at first before he remembered how much could be learned from smell alone. He nervously approached and stopped what he thought was a respectful few paces from her. Even from a few paces away, he could clearly distinguish her scent, a very foreign one which smelled of the wild and her obvious connection to her mate. And there was another, softer one which almost reminded him of Toothless but was slightly different.

"You do not smell like my mate," she eventually mumbled.

"We are nestmates though. We hatched together from one egg and lived in one nest."

"That is very twisted. I have never heard of two hatchlings from one egg and did not believe it when he told me."

Then she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Are you and my mate going to fight now for me as a mate?"

"No!" he exclaimed as his eyes went wide in alarm.

"No? You do not want to mate with me?"

"I... what!" his eyes bugged.

"You do not think I am worth fighting for?" she hissed.

"No, not that... I mean... you... you are mates... I am not going to... what, what is this?" he fumbled in dismay.

Was-Grounded and Green-Wings shared a look of clear amusement and then stared back at him together before he realized what they were doing.

"You...you, you are silly kin! You are twisting my liver..."

"Yes," she toothily grinned, "my mate told me much about you and how warming it is to foul your flight."

He turned to his brother and glared with a toothy smile.

"To foul my flight?"

"He said it is not hard to do. He told me things that made laughter dance much in my liver," she added.

"What did he say about me?" Shadowwing nervously asked.

"I said that you are so twisted in your head and liver that you sometimes think you are a two-leg," Was-Grounded answered.

Green-Wings laughed heartily at that while the brothers shared an amused look before resuming their glaring.

"And he also told me about when you had a twisted sleep-vision of having a two-leg female in your arms."

"What! No, I did not... not with a two-leg!"

"And another time when you ate a bad-wrong-snake-fish," she continued.

"Ugh! Why did you remind me?" he groaned.

"And he also told me how you fouled your own flight much with twisted thinking when you were trying to fledge. When you were fighting your own wings."

"It was a too much thinking problem..." he groaned.

He sighed and collapsed where he stood.

"What else?" he groaned again.

"Those are the twisted things that I remember now."

Shadowwing's glare directed at his brother vanished as he turned back to Green-Wings with a happy hum and a devious look in his eyes.

"Since he told you so many twisted things about me, how about I tell you twisted things about him?"

"You have no liver-chilling or twisted stories of me that you can tell her," Was-Grounded confidently announced with his shoulders high.

"Tell me," she eagerly hissed.

Shadowwing and Was-Grounded briefly shared a glance.

"He once danced around a valley while trying to catch a shine of light that a two-leg was making on the ground."

He glanced back at his brother and saw that his jaws were hanging open in shock.

"What? That was y... What!" he growled.

Green-Wings's eyes sparkled with amusement.

"And he once had his thinking so high in the clouds while walking, he was probably thinking about fish, that he stepped in waste and got some on his tail without knowing about it."

She laughed openly.

"He smelled like waste all the sun-cycle!"

And then Shadowwing gave his deepest rumble yet.

"And there is one even better..."

Was-Grounded watched in complete dismay as Shadowwing bent down to her ear and whispered something. Several life-organ beats passed before Green-Wings's ears went up and she turned to stare at him.

"What did he say?"

She only grinned a toothless grin at him.

"What did you say!" he turned on his brother.

Shadowwing only grinned a toothless grin at him.

And then Green-Wings's wing seemed to lift from below. A faint warble echoed in the den as Dawn-Singer awoke at all the noise, poked his little head out from under the wing, and looked around. All the adults' friendly banter ceased as the hatchling immediately noticed the stranger and slowly crept out from under the wing. The little one tilted his head and gave a curious hum as he approached.

Shadowwing stared in awe and felt his heart warm as he looked down at the hatchling. Dawn-Singer's head still looked a bit too large for the rest of his body. His belly was also quite stuffed from a prior meal.

"A Night Fury hatchling... He is... small and seeing him makes me happy... makes my liver very warm..." Shadowwing whispered.

Green-Wings hummed in ready agreement.

"Why his name?"

Both of his parents groaned softly and shared a glance.

"He likes waking early and singing at the sun's hatching, at dawn," she answered.

Shadowwing slowly bent down to greet Dawn-Singer and was welcomed by a soft growl and tiny jaws that pinched his nose.

"No, little one," Green-Wings grumbled.

She tried to grab her hatchling, but he darted away from her with surprising speed and jumped behind Shadowwing. Shadowwing froze in surprise and then lifted the end of his tail only moments later. Dawn-Singer had his jaws clamped over the tail, and the hatchling was lifted off his feet into the air to dangle from the tail.

Green-Wings and Was-Grounded took one glance at the strange sight and burst out laughing together.

"What should I do?" Shadowwing mumbled.

Green-Wings got up and retrieved her hatchling by stroking the little one under the chin. The hatchling quickly became drowsy and released the tail.

 _Amazing, they know that trick. Actually, of course they would know about that. Maybe that is why it worked on him long ago._

"Do you feed him enough? I think he wants to eat me."

They all laughed again as Dawn-Singer yawned widely and curled up to return to sleep at Green-Wings's side.

Was-Grounded snuggled up to her side, crossed tails with her, and rubbed his neck against hers, a gesture which she returned with a deep thrum. Shadowwing was quite pierced by how tender the two were with each other.

"So, you know about us and our nest. What about you? What have you been doing? Tell us both," Was-Grounded eagerly asked.

Shadowwing sighed and lay his head on the ground after grabbing the haunch again and setting it aside.

"How much have you told her about us?" he asked.

They shared a knowing look as they carefully considered their words.

"She knows that we lived once in a two-leg nest that is good to kin, but I was taken as a thrall from there by bad two-legs. She also knows that I was the bad two-legs' thrall and that I escaped before my life-flight took me to her," Was-Grounded answered.

Shadowwing nodded and continued with his account.

"I learned what happened to you. Astrid helped me learn the truth."

"What is a Astrid?" she asked.

"She is a good two-leg who is a bond two-leg with a spine-tail-kin. The two-leg is a fighter with warmth in her liver for all kin," Was-Grounded answered.

She blinked and seemed quite confused for a moment before Shadowwing continued.

"I left our home-nest-island and tried to follow the water-walker that took you, but I did not find it until you were gone from it for many suns. I became named a kin of a two-leg nest a flight away from where you were being kept thrall. I went into that big nest, but you were taken out of there by thrall-makers who took you toward the ocean. You escaped the trap, and I followed you on the ground."

Was-Grounded solemnly nodded.

"I could not fly then. My wing was still broken."

Green-Wings again nuzzled his side at hearing that reminder.

"I lost your trail and did not know where to go. Then I felt a... silent song," Shadowwing continued.

"A silent song?" Was-Grounded mumbled in confusion.

"Yes, it is a... great-tusk-Alpha."

Was-Grounded still seemed confused.

"What is that kin? I have never seen one."

"It is a very big kin. Bigger than the fire-nest-island Monster."

Was-Grounded hissed when he heard that detail.

"Monster. Big kin are bad Monsters."

"Not this one. He is a good Alpha to his kin. He protects the nest and gives food to his kin."

Was-Grounded still did not seem convinced.

"And it does not try to make you think bad thoughts?"

"No, he does not. There is no rot in his liver or in the nest."

Then an amused look appeared in Shadowwing's eyes.

"And there is something else good about the nest. There is a good two-leg female in it."

"What?" Green-Wings exclaimed in clear disbelief.

"Yes, she lives as a kin to the nest. A kin with clever fingers on her paws. She helps kin be free from two-leg traps and water-walkers. She also helps hurts heal and be not, hurts like broken wings."

"I did not know that there were any good two-legs not on home-nest-island or the other nests that are good to kin," Was-Grounded eventually said.

"I lived in that good ice nest for almost one season-cycle. I helped protect kin by breaking traps and I flew from that nest to look for you. Some of the two-leg nests named me their kin or were good to me. And now I am here."

A brief moment of silence passed.

"You flew all those winds only to find me?" Was-Grounded whispered.

"Yes, you are my egg-mate and best friend."

.

"And my brother," Shadowwing added.

The two of them said nothing as they shared a look between themselves. No words were necessary to convey the warmth burning inside them both.

"What does that word mean?" she asked.

"It means... a male from the same life-nest who you hold very close to the liver and who flies the winds of life within call of you," Was-Grounded tried to explain.

Green-Wings then turned to regard Shadowwing with a peaceful hum which broke the ensuing silence.

"I have seen enough. You are very close kin to my mate. He holds you in his liver. You are my kin also and you may sleep in our den with us."

He felt very warm inside at her declaration of trust in him. It was likely no small thing that she would be willing to let him, an otherwise strange male, into her own home with her family.

He could manage no answer except to incline his head to her.

Green-Wings gave Was-Grounded a glance and an amused rumble.

"He is not as liver-twisting as you said."

"Wait for it. You will agree that he is the most liver-twisted and silly kin that ever hatched under the sky-lights. And what did he say about me?"

Green-Wings snuggled up against him and rubbed her head against his neck.

"Do not be chilled, my mate. I know that you have teeth now," she hummed.

"Yes, I have teeth, why would I not have..." he whipped his head around and glared as all his ears went back.

Shadowwing only smiled.

"I will foul your flight one sun for this..."

"But you will be there, and that makes me warm in my liver," Shadowwing answered.

A series of contagious yawns followed and convinced them that it was time to return to rest. Was-Grounded and Green-Wings entwined their tails again and were quickly asleep. Shadowwing looked at them both, fully content in each other's presence and comfort, and curled up across from them. He remained watching them long after they had fallen asleep as he was still too excited to easily rest.

As happy as he was for them both, he still felt slightly wistful that his brother had grown up so much while he himself had not really seemed to change in that time. His brother seemed more purposeful in all he did. His hunting was deliberate, and he did not waste time in lazy flying. Every moment was spent doing something and with a clear goal. It was clear what that goal now was for him.

And that was without even considering the two years apart for them both. Two long years of life and good experiences that they should have had to share but had been stolen away.

 _He may never have known her if all this did not happen to him. Maybe those two years were like the tailfin was. Something painful to lose, but losing it lets something good be._

 _And she named me one of her nest, so I guess that makes me part of the family to her also._

Sigh.

 _What are we? He has his own family now. Yes, they said that I am part of the family also, but it will not be the same as it was._

He closed his eyes and vanished under a wing.

 _He is very happy, and I am happy for him. He can tell me so much about what has happened to him, and I have a few secrets also to share._

He was lulled to sleep by the resting hums of two other Night Furies who both declared him part of their family.

It was the most peaceful rest of his life.

* * *

The entire den awoke at the same time, mostly due to Dawn-Singer living up to his namesake.

Shadowwing got up and stretched, marveling once again that he was actually here after finding both Tooth... Was-Grounded and his family. He followed Was-Grounded and Green-Wings outside with Dawn-Singer securely tucked away in her toothless maw.

 _That is strange but also sweet in a way. Although, he does seem to be getting a bit big for that treatment and might not be able to be carried that way soon. We sure grow quickly in those first few months._

They all flew down to the stream first and drank. Shadowwing narrowly dodged another tail munching attack from a playful Dawn-Singer, much to everyone's amusement. Then Was-Grounded and Green-Wings shared a few words before she picked up their hatchling and flew back toward the den.

"Follow me. I want to show you a good place."

He followed his brother on a brief flight down through the crisp morning air. They arrived at a hot springs, whereupon Was-Grounded wasted no time and jumped right in.

"You are a silly kin!" Shadowwing teased.

"Jump in the hot-bubble-water. Your wings and scales will like it."

His brother looked quite silly floating on his back in the hot water with all his limbs splayed out. But it also looked very enjoyable and relaxing, so he jumped in as well. Not only did the warmth seep into his scales and skin and ease his weary muscles, but it also helped more practically just as a bath.

A warm, quiet, and relaxing bath that could easily eat up the entire day if he was not careful.

He reluctantly climbed out after several minutes and shook himself dry. Then, knowing that this was likely one of their few chances to speak freely, he decided to broach the remaining details and questions that he had withheld the prior night.

"Can we talk?" he asked.

Was-Grounded hauled himself out of the hot spring and walked over to him.

"I think so. We are talking now."

Shadowwing rolled his eyes and snorted.

Was-Grounded stepped back in amusement and then froze with narrowed eyes.

"Wait, what is this?" Was-Grounded nosed closer, finally able to see the hurt-mark on his brother's chest above where his life-organ beat.

"A bad two-leg hit me with a flying thin-tooth-stick. I had to dig it out with a claw."

Was-Grounded then growled and nudged his shoulder.

"You were strong and lived. You have a hurt-mark to show that you are strong. That is good. What is biting at your tail, other than my hatchling?"

Shadowwing chuckled at the reminder before answering.

"A few things are gnawing at me. First, and answer me with liver-truth, would you have ever flown back to home-nest-island if you thought I was still there?"

They evenly stared at each other for several moments. Then Was-Grounded looked down at his paws. He struggled to say anything and eventually looked away.

"I was warm always in my long flight to find my mate. And my liver was warm when I was with her in the cold-season and into the new-life-season."

"Yes, you should be," Shadowwing whispered.

"But I always felt a... twisting in my liver. It is... I do not know what to think about it."

Was-Grounded got up and started nervously pacing with his tail twitching in agitation. He opened his mouth to speak, but then he paused and reconsidered his words.

"I know that nestmates should grow and fly the nest. That is good even if their life-flights lead to different winds, but it... it was not... I did not feel..."

He stopped, looked up at the sky as his tail lay stilled, and gave a sigh.

"I was thinking about making that flight. Not now when Dawn-Singer is only a hatchling, but in a future sun when we can all fly the flight. I... I... wanted..."

"You wanted your life-flight to be... within call of mine," Shadowwing softly hummed.

"Yes."

Then Was-Grounded hung his head with a weak sob. It was completely unexpected and took even him by surprise. And then he felt a wing over his back along with a peaceful hum not a moment later.

"This... is very twisted... I was always the one... to shelter you with my wings..." Was-Grounded mumbled.

"Let me do it this time. Brother?"

"Always," Was-Grounded whispered.

A peaceful moment passed in which there was no sound but their peaceful thrums and the occasional calls of a wild animal.

"Next question, do I have a life-will-power like what changed us?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Do not fear, I only want to know if I do have it. It would help me... learn something. On my liver-truth, I would not try to waste it to make myself a two-leg even if that can be done. I do not think I would want to be a two-leg now even I could."

Somewhat reassured by the words, Was-Grounded gave it thought.

"I do not know if you would have a life-will-power because you were a two-leg. I never saw two-legs use any life-will-power in the old fights. Do you feel a fire that is not fire burning in your liver always?"

"No, only a burning in my belly if I have not eaten anything in many suns."

"Did you ever feel a warmth inside when you feared for your life or another's life?"

"No, only chill of fear."

"Do you know how to make fire?"

Shadowwing snorted at that.

"I know how to drip fire-air from my mouth. It is never fire though."

"Then I do not think you have that life-will-power like I did. You never had a Night Fury sire or dam to sit your egg and sing to you and would not have the same life-will-power in your liver. Does that hurt or chill you?"

"No, I did not have a life-will-power when I was a two-leg either. I cannot even put the idea in my head."

"It is very twisting to think about. That power is also something that I did not truly know until I needed it. I know that I do not have one now. That different warmth in my liver is not there now. What was the other thing you wanted to ask?"

Shadowwing faintly grinned and noticeably calmed at that question.

"Do you remember that good two-leg I told you two about? The one in the good nest."

"Yes."

"She is... my two-leg dam."

Was-Grounded recoiled and looked at him in obvious surprise.

"Your dam? You said she was killed by a kin."

"No. She was carried into the sky by a kin. My sire and all the rest of the nest always thought the kin killed her."

"You are sure?"

"Yes, we already picture-talked much. She is much like I was as a two-leg, not like my sire..."

Was-Grounded hummed in thought at this news.

"The two-leg who lay your egg must be a good two-leg."

"We already talked about this. Two-legs do not lay eggs," Shadowwing groaned.

"I almost wish that I knew that two-leg," Was-Grounded added.

"And about that, I need to talk to you and Green-Wings together."

They both took to the air and returned to the nest where Green-Wings was busy talking to her hatchling. The lesson, whatever it was, was interrupted though at their return. Both adults turned to him for the news, Was-Grounded with Dawn-Singer curled up on his head.

"You should both know what is happening out in the ranges over the ocean."

"What is happening?" Was-Grounded asked.

"There are many bad two-legs on water-walkers. They hunt and catch kin."

"There are none here. Our range is safe," Green-Wings spoke up.

"For now, yes. But it may not be safe next season. The most safe place of all places is in that ice nest with the great-tusk-Alpha. I saw him... destroy water-walkers. Any threat to his kin gives him fire in his liver. He protects all in the nest."

"What are you saying?" Was-Grounded asked.

"Come to the ice nest with me. You will all be safe there. No two-legs will be able to hurt you, and the great-tusk-Alpha always has fish for the kin who need it in his nest."

"We like our den here. It is good and safe with much hunting," she said after a moment of thought.

"But," Was-Grounded added, "I have seen two-leg water-walkers on the waters. None ever come here, but they are swimming in these waters."

A moment of consideration passed.

"How many kin are in the ice nest?" she asked.

"More than were on home-nest-island," he answered to his brother, knowing that he would understand the comparison.

Was-Grounded considered all that he had heard and then bent down to nuzzle his mate's forehead. Dawn-Singer hopped onto her back and curled up there.

"I think we should fly this flight. There is more safety in a nest, especially if there is a good great-tusk-Alpha to protect all kin."

"How far is the flight?" she wondered.

"We could be there before the night after the next," Shadowwing answered.

The pair briefly conferred further until they made their decision. Was-Grounded turned to him with a solemn and determined expression.

"We will fly this flight with you."

* * *

The three of them landed on a small, empty island to rest after the first sun of flight. Green-Wings immediately curled up with Dawn-Singer protectively enclosed in her wings. The two brothers hopped down to the sandy beach and frolicked in the waves until they were both quite exhausted.

Then they collapsed next to each other on the beach.

"You have changed much, brother," Shadowwing hummed.

Was-Grounded hummed softly and rolled his shoulders. He briefly glanced over at Green-Wings.

"Maybe I did grow. But I had some help in flying that flight and those winds that blew. And for all that did change, other things did not."

"Tell me more about your life-flight. I want to hear more of it," Shadowwing hummed.

"You know all that you need to know about my being a fighting-thrall. The moon-cycles after I got out of the thrall-nest were... very bad. I was hungry, grounded, had burning anger in my liver, and... no, I will not talk about that. I will start with the walk and flight to the sun's hatching."

"That does sound good," Shadowwing hummed.

"That was about one season-cycle after I was taken. I was in that good range and in the same den when I started having sleep-visions."

"Sleep-visions?"

"Yes, I was being called to find a very twisted kin toward the dawn."

"What? A twisted kin? Green-Wings is not twisted."

"Not her. It was a very, very old kin that I have never seen before. She could also talk in a strange way. She told me that I would find my mate if I flew far toward the dawn."

"Wait. How would she know that?" Shadowwing grumbled.

"She had sleep-visions of what might be."

 _Strange..._

"I was still grounded when I got there to that strange kin, but I worked my wings and they healed. I listened to what she said, and I flew the flight over an ocean and over a very long range where there was only grass, no water or prey."

Was-Grounded groaned at this memory.

"That was a hurting flight, but I lived. I found a far range of mountains where there was little prey. And I found her there."

Here Was-Grounded turned with a deep hum and looked up the beach toward the dozing black and green mass.

"Her name is very true, brother. The sky-breath smiled on you that you found her," Shadowwing hummed.

"I know. We hunted and had catches. We filled our bellies before the cold-season, and we... met a two-leg nest."

"What!" Shadowwing exclaimed.

"Yes, we had to hunt, and they had four-legs we could take. She grabbed a two-leg to eat."

Shadowwing started and his eyes went wide with fear.

"No..."

"I gave her my four-leg and flew the two-leg down into its nest. I think that she has warmed enough to two-legs to not think of them as prey."

"I hope so," Shadowwing mumbled.

"We slept in the cold-season and shared body-warmth," Was-Grounded happily hummed.

"That does sound warming."

"Then we lived into the new-life-season. There was much hunting but not much catching because there was little prey. And then we fought a male kin like a Night Fury."

"What! There was another of us?"

"No, it looked like a Night Fury in body, but it was rotted in its liver," he growled.

"Rotted? What?" Shadowwing mumbled in confusion.

"It had no words, and it was going to force-mate Green-Wings. We killed it together," Was-Grounded bared his teeth with a snarl.

"It had rot in its head and liver... why? What happened to it?"

"Maybe its dam did not sing to it, maybe it was alone for too many season-cycles. I do not know or care. It is dead. We became mates after we killed it."

Was-Grounded closed his eyes, clearly lost in good memories.

"I will always remember those mountains where I found her. We hunted all through the hot-season, but the hunting was very bad. That range did not have enough prey for both of us. We flew from that range three moon-cycles ago."

He paused and took a breath.

"That flight with the sun's flight almost grounded us, but we lived. The clouds answered my thought-hope and gave us rain to drink from on my wings. We flew to the range where you found me, and we made it our range. And it was good. It had much hunting, long-tooth-grass, and it was safe. And then we were sitting Dawn-Singer's egg until he hatched for us. All was safe and warm then. He hatched not a moon-cycle ago, and you found us."

Shadowwing hummed deeply.

"You flew on many winds, brother. You did more than most kin ever do. I am very warmed that you and Green-Wings flew to your range where I found you."

"I am also. I am very warmed that she did not want to fly the other way," Was-Grounded groaned.

Neither of them said anything further in response to that comment.

"What about you, brother? What winds did you fly on?" Was-Grounded eagerly asked with lifted ears.

Shadowwing considered it.

 _Definitely leaving out the finer details about Ironfist clan. He would not care about that at all. And everything about Mimir, none of that stuff matters anymore._

 _He would be interested in everything about the ice nest and my hunting though._

"Astrid learned about what happened to you, that you were made a thrall. She showed me, and I knew that I had to find you and help you if I could. I had to learn how to hunt outside of nests. That is how I got this," he tipped his throat up to reveal a tiny old scar.

"What?"

"My first four-leg hunt. The prey almost grounded me with its horn."

"The prey almost grounded you?" Was-Grounded rolled his eyes.

"Yes..."

"Useless kin..." Was-Grounded mumbled.

They spoke long about their adventures and misadventures. Was-Grounded was especially interested in everything about the ice nest, the rescuing of kin from traps, and Hiccup's dam, who apparently went by the name Kin-liver.

They eventually decided to get some rest before making the rest of the flight. Was-Grounded snuggled up next to Green-Wings as he always did while Shadowwing curled up across from them both. They were all humming softly in contentment on that otherwise empty island.

* * *

The ice nest came into view on the horizon. There were still a few dragons flying about outside, but most would be slowing down for the coming winter at this point. Both Was-Grounded and Green-Wings were clearly awestruck at the size of the nest as they approached.

Shadowwing led the small flight up the side of the nest until he found the appropriate entrance. They flew down the narrow tunnel and landed together. Green-Wings deposited the hatchling on the ground, having held him tucked against her chest or carefully perched low to her back the entire time aloft.

"Wait until you see more of the inside..." Shadowwing hummed.

They continued on until they arrived at Valka's little hut. Both Was-Grounded and Green-Wings sniffed carefully at the hut and various supplies.

"The two-leg smells like many kin," Green-Wings exclaimed in amazement.

"Yes," he happily answered, "she is one of the nest with all the kin."

They walked out onto the ledge and saw the interior of the nest. Both Was-Grounded's and Green-Wings's jaws dropped in amazement at the swirling mass of life within. Then they both noticed the massive white great-tusk-Alpha peacefully resting in the watery center of the nest.

Was-Grounded looked intently for any sign of nest-rot, for any indication that these kin were thralls or afraid of the great-tusk-Alpha, and saw none. There was no bad-whispering of peace and darkness. There was a very faint song though that sang of food, nesting, and safety, all of which were evident liver-truth from what he could see before him. This was a healthy nest with a good, deserving Alpha there to provide for and protect those who need it.

Shadowwing seemed to see something that warmed him greatly.

"Wait here."

Then he pitched over the ledge and vanished. Was-Grounded took the opportunity to attend to his mate.

"What do you think?"

She looked around the nest while keeping a close eye on their nearby hatchling.

"I wish that we did not need to leave our den, but this does feel like a safe nest. I never thought that there could be so many kin nesting together. We should get our own roost," she added.

"Yes, we will. We are at the top of the nest-order after the Alpha."

Then they were interrupted by a pair of arriving wings. Shadowwing, they knew. And then a large kin with four wings landed on the ledge, but they were more interested by the figure on the kin's back. The two-leg swung down to the ground using a hooked-long-stick and slowly approached them at Shadowwing's side.

Green-Wings hissed to her hatchling, who then ran over and crouched under her legs for protection.

Was-Grounded stepped forward to meet the female two-leg first. She had bright green eyes and a face that seemed kind, to the extent that he was a judge of two-legs. Further, she smelled heavily of the four-wing split-wing but also of many other types of kin.

The two-leg stopped and spoke to his brother, who answered the question with a nod. She set the long-stick aside and then spoke one word which he would always recognize.

"Toothless?"

He nodded back and was amazed that she knelt before him and held out a paw toward his head. He remembered another time when a two-leg had done something similar.

 _She did the same thing as he did..._

That made the decision very easy, and he rested his nose on her paw while calmly regarding her. She lifted the other paw to his head as well and smiled very widely. Very strangely though her eyes started to drip eye-water. Then he stepped back from her in mild confusion.

"Why is she dropping eye-water?"

Shadowwing chuckled at his confusion.

"Because she is warm in her liver. She is very warmed to see you."

"I thought it meant two-legs are sad or liver-chilled instead of warmed."

"It can be both."

 _Two-legs... just when I think they can be understood... there is always something else twisted..._

Their attention turned to Green-Wings. She was still crouched nervously although she also looked completely incredulous at what she had just seen.

"She is a good two-leg," Shadowwing said.

Was-Grounded fully agreed and decided to emphasize the point. He stepped closer to the two-leg again and licked her across the face. She sputtered and wiped away the mouth-water from her face while meekly protesting the treatment.

Then Green-Wings worked up the liver-fire to slowly approach, keeping her gaze on the two-leg the whole time. It did not so much as move a muscle. It did say something to her though.

"She says that seeing you makes her liver very warm. And that your wings are beautiful like the new grasses and trees," Shadowwing translated.

"You know what it says?" she was amazed.

"What she says... And yes, I do know her words."

She looked back at the female two-leg not a step away from her. Right within her range to strike and doing nothing to protect itself. The tiny two-leg paw held out before her was harmless, but she could do it harm if she had wanted to.

The two-leg was trusting her.

This two-leg that had a liver filled with fire and lift for kin.

A kin-liver.

Something twisted. A pair of jaws that had always been fastened in her insides felt to be coming looser. She slowly nosed closer to the paw, smelling all the scents of other kin on her, hesitated for a moment, and cautiously put her nose to the paw.

A wing-beat of time passed.

And then another.

No disaster befell her from touching the two-leg paw. Her liver's fire roused even further, she stepped closer to the two-leg and licked its face just as her mate had done. The mouth-water dripped from its face onto its furs but it... she did not seem to care except to make her own hum of liver-warmth.

And then her hatchling was fearlessly dancing around the two-leg's legs in open excitement. That was still a bit much for her to allow and she bent down, snatched up her hatchling, who again protested being handled, and dropped him on her back. Dawn-Singer settled his tiny head on her shoulder and stared down at the strange creature while giving a curious chirp.

"We will find a roost," Was-Grounded announced.

They both walked to the ledge and went aloft to investigate the visibly promising places to roost.

Valka and Shadowwing sat together and watched the other two soaring Furies as they flew around the nest looking for a place to make their own. They eventually found one of the nicer unoccupied ledges down around the midsection of the nest and claimed it as theirs.

Neither of them bothered to say anything for a long time. No words seemed sufficient. Then she lifted a hand to her slime covered face and tried to wipe some of the slobber away.

"Ugh, I can tell that this does not wash out..."

He laughed openly at her words.

 **He used to do that to me too**

 **Occupational hazard of being around Night Furies**

"Yes, we should call it that. I will take the trade any day. You have to tell me everything."

He nodded in agreement.

 **I will**

"And their baby? Their little hatchling?" Valka's eyes were alive with wonder.

 **He is Dawn-Singer**

 **She is Green-Wings**

"Wow, just wow. Three more Night Furies," she giddily whispered as she stared at the three newest entrants to her world.

* * *

Was-Grounded glided down to Shadowwing's den-ledge once his mate and little one had settled down in their new den-ledge. This was one two-leg that he felt an odd warmth toward in his liver and wanted to learn more about. He waited until Shadowwing and Valka returned and approached his brother.

"Will you talk with picture-words for me?" he asked.

"Yes. First, show her that you know your name."

"I only know the old one..."

"Start with that then."

They both stepped over to the soil writing box.

 **I am Toothless**

"You know how to write!" she exclaimed.

Shadowwing took over for a moment.

 **He knows his name but was a slow learner otherwise**

 **I can translate for you both**

She sat down before Was-Grounded and faced him, giving him her full attention as he did the same to her.

"He told what happened between you two. All of it. That he cut you free and that you did not kill him. Thank you for sparing my son."

 **He had and has a good heart**

 **Not like many other humans**

"He was very much like me. I knew that dragons were not the monsters everyone thought; dangerous, yes, but not bad creatures. There had to be a reason why they did what they did. Now I know what that reason was."

 **Why did you not hate dragons?**

"I... found one in a trap in the woods. I could not, would not kill it. I let it go because it looked as afraid as I was. It was not hurt and flew away after I released it, and I realized that we did not need to kill them. I did not know why they attacked us though."

She briefly paused.

"Hiccup said that you changed him into a dragon. That you changed both of you to save your lives."

Was-Grounded visibly shuffled at that statement and couldn't quite look up at either of them.

 **I did not know he would become a dragon like me**

 **I did not mean for that to happen**

"You saved him, that is all that matters to me."

They talked in this way until evening fell, at which point Was-Grounded put his nose to Valka's forehead with a deep croon and then stepped back.

"I want to meet the Alpha."

They both dashed for the inner ledge after saying farewell to Valka and winged down to the ground near where the King was resting in his deep pool. The King noticed their flight, and his great eyes followed them down to the ground.

Was-Grounded nervously glanced up from the ground and looked at the Alpha's great, powerful eyes.

Several wing-beats passed.

"Do you see his liver now? Do you hear his voice?"

He strained himself to listen for anything from the Alpha. There was maybe a distant whisper, that very faint song that he could hear before. but even that was weak.

Shadowwing watched as the King and Was-Grounded evenly considered each other. Then the King closed his eyes and almost mournfully exhaled another cloud of fine freezing mist before he turned away and returned to his deep pool.

Shadowwing walked over to his brother's side, and they stared together at the King.

"What do you think?"

"I could not hear much of the Alpha's voice. I do see that he is warm, and there is no rot in his liver."

"He is a very good Alpha to the nest."

Was-Grounded hummed happily and then yawned widely.

"I need sleep."

Then he turned away and flew off to his ledge.

Shadowwing, exhausted from all the translating and introductions flew back up to Valka's ledge and walked down the passageway to the small ledge about halfway up the outside of the nest. Then he collapsed on the ground with a great and happy sigh of almost complete contentment.

"I did it."

His brother and new family as well were safe and a part of his life, never to be lost again.

He himself had been reunited with his own long lost mother.

All the struggles, angst, and deprivation of the last couple years had led to this wondrously good result in the end.

Almost all of his family was now here with him.

The world was almost perfect in that moment.

His thoughts gradually turned to the southwest, toward an island that he had not been on in years. He continued to stare out over the ocean as the chill wind whistled all around him, but the wind and the coming winter were powerless to chill the warmth burning in his heart.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note - Did that strike the right chord for the reunion?**_


	44. II - Those Country Lanes

_**Author's Note – This one starts out quite fun with a fair bit of sweetness, some more trash talking, and bittersweet memories. Bonus points to whoever spots the obvious Skyrim and Star Wars references. Finally, this plot will start truly moving toward what you know is coming.**_

* * *

" _Found my heart and broke it here... Made friends and lost them through the years... And I've not seen the roaring fields in so long... I know, I've grown... But I can't wait to go home." - Ed Sheeran – Castle on the Hill_

* * *

Those Country Lanes

* * *

The snow and wind swirled around the ice nest while a battle brewed inside.

Two pairs of green eyes fiercely stared into the other without blinking. The tense moments stretched out as a pair of faint snarls echoed in the air. Both participants flinched their heads toward the other and flashed their teeth.

Then a tiny burst of fire shot down to the ground between them and exploded in a bright, harmless flash.

Valka blinked, and Was-Grounded bellowed in triumph.

"Hey! Not fair!" Valka exclaimed.

Was-Grounded laughed and pranced wildly while sticking out his tongue at her.

"Oh, no you don't!"

She was chasing after a joyously laughing Night Fury who then dropped to the ground with his tail swaying. They both dropped down into a pouncing posture as they stared at the other. His forelimbs pawed at the ground as he considered her.

"Oh, come on you little Night Fury, you wouldn't hurt a..."

She then fell as she was gently tackled onto her back. Then the Night Fury stood over his victim to celebrate the triumph when a finger found his chin and started scratching.

 _Two-leg paw... that feels... oh stop..._

He started feeling a bit drowsy.

Valka realized her mistake immediately after her otherwise successful and desperate retaliation.

"Oh, oops."

And then Was-Grounded fully lay his head down on Valka's chest while blinking furiously to fight off the drowsiness that threatened him.

Valka was trapped and looked up at the two other adults for help.

"Well, don't just stand there..."

Green-Wings got up with a grumble and walked over to her. She paused over the trapped human as all her ears went up. A smug grin appeared on the Night Fury's face just as Valka's own expression fell in impending doom.

"Great..."

And she was dripping in slobber again.

"You know that does not wash out!"

Green-Wings laughed in her face just as Was-Grounded recovered himself and gave his victim another furious licking. Even Dawn-Singer hopped over and all around his parents while chortling wildly.

Shadowwing could only hum in pure happiness as he watched the joyous revelry from nearby.

Then they finally had enough of the play, and it came time for the real reason why they had come up here. Was-Grounded snatched up Dawn-Singer to let Green-Wings walk over to the writing box. She and Valka sat down across from the other while Shadowwing stood next to the box.

Several silent moments passed as he waited to translate for them.

"Are you going to ask anything?" Shadowwing hummed.

"I do not know what to say to a two-leg," she rumbled back.

"Anything you want to say. Remember that she is a kin in her liver."

Green-Wings hummed for a moment before speaking in what he thought was a rather sarcastic or teasing voice. It was one he had some experience with at least.

 **Why are you not a monster?**

"I saw a dragon up close when I was much younger. It was not a bad creature, and I realized that my whole tribe's way was wrong."

 **So humans do not always have dragon hate?**

Valka sighed.

"I wondered about that for many years. I thought that it was only how they were taught that mattered. I am not so sure about that now. Maybe some special persons are different, but it is hard for me to believe that people as a whole will ever truly change."

She paused and glanced at Shadowwing.

"Even if I hear otherwise," she muttered even as he rolled his eyes at her words.

Then he paused and sighed before he wrote the next thing Green-Wings had asked about.

 _I know where this is going to go._

 **Why are you alone here?**

"I thought that no one else was like me and that only I could help the dragons."

 **But you have no mate and little ones**

Valka stared at the words and shared another glance at Shadowwing.

"No, I do not now," she almost winced.

He took even longer to write the next short line.

 **Did you?**

"Yes," she warily whispered.

Green-Wings clearly picked up on something and would not let the sleeping matter lie.

 **Was he bad to you?**

"I... no. He... was not bad. He was strong, brave, proud, and a leader. He even had a soft, kind side back when I knew him," she added in a whisper.

He had to be prodded to continue with the next question.

 **Do you want him now?**

Valka stared at the words and turned away in obvious dismay.

"I... I am sorry, I do not want to talk about it."

Green-Wings finally seemed to realize that there was something painful about the subject.

"Why is she so chilled by losing that mate?" she asked.

"Green-Wings, two-legs are different in how they take mates. They do not take mates for a season-cycle. They try to be life-mates always."

Green-Wings then glanced back Valka while giving a sad croon.

"She lost her life-mate?"

"True, she has not seen her life-mate in over twenty season-cycles."

"I did not know that two-legs took life-mates."

"They do. They are not very different from us except in body shape."

Shadowwing then had to translate again.

 **I think you were hatched in the wrong body**

 **You should have been a dragon**

"Hah, how would I have been able to help this nest then?" Valka laughed.

Then Green-Wings made a chuckling, off-wing remark that immediately made both Was-Grounded and Shadowwing softly gasp. He also took a while before translating.

 **Maybe you can be a dragon**

To her credit, Valka managed a laugh at that remark, though both she and Shadowwing shared a solemn glance.

He lay alone on his ledge later after the gathering broke up.

 _Well, that could have been less awkward. She meant well but..._

 _I am quite sure that what happened to me was an exception._

 _Would she though? Would my mom want to be a dragon for real?_

It was not hard to figure out after a brief moment of thought.

 _Yeah, she probably would as long as she knew the nest would be fine. She basically named herself one and tries to look like one. That cannot be good for her to want to be something that she is not. It would be like trying to fly into two diff..._

Then he sighed heavily and slumped down on the ledge as he realized the painful truth he was speaking. They were in exactly the same position, except that they were on opposite sides of the issue. One felt in a way trapped as a human and the other as a dragon.

A faint growl directed at himself followed.

 _Why can I not let this go? I know that I cannot go back._

Sigh.

 _What is wrong with me?_

* * *

"I think it is great idea. Definitely a tradition that we should start."

 **The menu will be rather limited to fish**

 **Haddock, salmon, and mostly cod**

"What do you think I have been eating for the last twenty years?"

They both laughed.

"Though some ale would be nice."

His eye-ridges lifted in amusement.

 **Really mom, I never figured you for a drinker**

Her eyes betrayed her mirth.

"For someone with my frame, I could put them away back in the day. I still remember the Great Hall at the first Blott shortly after your father and I were married. He drank far more of course, we lost count around eight for him, but I got down four tankards for the first time. He was so proud of me. We danced the night away, at least I think it looked like dancing."

Then she looked away and stared at the wall.

"That was back before being Chief was too much for him. Before the worst of the raids. Back when he still laughed and smiled."

"Good memories," she whispered.

A moment of solemn silence passed between them both.

 **I will go tell them about the plan**

He left a moment later, feeling quite like being alone for a moment. Valka watched him go and then turned aside to wipe away the tear from her cheek.

* * *

The six of them were gathered together down on the ground level where a fire had been lit. Shadowwing stood guard over the growing pile of fish that Was-Grounded, Green-Wings, and Valka brought. Cloudjumper also stood nearby while warily watching the growing pile of fish and waiting for a moment to strike. Dawn-Singer was blissfully asleep in Valka's arms.

"This must be the best idea two-legs ever had," Green-Wings hummed.

"You should have seen the food-eating ceremonies that our old nest had," Was-Grounded answered her.

"What were they like?" she asked.

"Think about every type of four-leg prey that you have ever had. Think about all of them together in one large den, but they are fat because the two-legs were feeding them much. And then you get to eat all you want while a hot fire warms your scales."

The three Fury adults glanced around at the cold ice and rocks, the pile of fish, and the small fire.

"This is not as big as those food-eating ceremonies, but it is our ceremony. We should be warmed by it," Shadowwing declared.

Valka, wearing her heavy winter coat, speared a couple of the fish for herself and began to roast them over the fire. Then she was seized with a clever thought as she watched Dawn-Singer toothlessly gnawing on a fish that was far too large for him.

"Who would think of naming a great and mighty Night Fury something as silly as Toothless?"

Shadowwing somehow managed to look amused, embarrassed, and annoyed with one expression.

 **Really mom?**

She laughed.

"Must be the peace loving part of you. You got that from me."

 **What about the brains?**

"I am not sure about that part. Certainly neither of us."

 **How about the looks and the strength?**

"In the past, I would have said me from what you said about yourself, but now... I think you can beat anyone in an arm wrestling competition."

He laughed at that.

"What are you laughing about, you silly kin?" Was-Grounded interrupted.

"We were fouling the other's flights."

"What about?"

"About how twisted a two-leg we both knew was in the past. And whether that two-leg took more after his sire or his dam."

Was-Grounded hummed in thought, clearly understanding what was unsaid.

"The dam, I think."

Then his ears lifted.

"Brother, you can ask an important question for us."

"A question?"

"Yes, it is much important. Green-Wings and I cannot get the idea in our heads."

"What is the question?"

"Is it true that two-leg females do not lay eggs? If so, what happens? When does a two-leg female sing to her young?"

Shadowwing groaned and glanced over at Valka. She was eagerly awaiting insight into whatever was happening in the discussion.

 _The gods hate me... this is going to be a long talk..._

* * *

With everyone gathered together inside the nest and sharing warmth, food, and stories, the winter passed very quickly inside the nest. There were almost no incidents at all involving trappers during the entire winter.

* * *

Spring arrived quite quickly.

The grass started pushing up through the melting snow as the trees started blooming. The nest gradually came alive with more activity. Dragons began flying forth from the nest again. Pairs with hatchlings started roaming on the ground with their little ones. The King was busier than ever with hunting for the massive schools of fish that sustained the nest.

Throughout the winter, both Was-Grounded and Green-Wings had quickly found and asserted their place in the nest's hierarchy, immediately below the King alongside Shadowwing, Valka, and Cloudjumper. Both of them had also taken fondly to talking to Valka with Shadowwing translating as usual. Was-Grounded in particular learned more of her spoken words, this being the first time that he was spoken to by a human for many consecutive suns with the help of someone who could translate.

Dawn-Singer had grown impressively over the winter and could frequently be seen stretching his wings or even perched on a ledge while looking up at the flying dragons in clear longing. More amazingly though was that he was not at all afraid of Valka and let her hold and stroke him. He took to the grooming very quickly and especially loved being petted and tickled, occasionally even falling asleep at her side or on her lap. Neither of his parents worried at all about him while he was with her.

Shadowwing seemed to be the only one who was at all disturbed in any way. Nowhere was this more evident to him than on his solitary sojourns out among the nearby islands to find and destroy the trapper's snares. He found himself thinking far more of Berk, of the deep forest, of the special and peaceful cove, of Mount Thor, and of the village and almost everyone in it. And every time he thought of home he could not help but especially think about Astrid.

Far up on a high ledge where he frequently came to think on his own, he gave a sigh.

 _I have not seen her or any of them in years._ _I do not know if I can face my father though._

Where before he had felt anger, now he felt nothing at the thought of that fateful meeting. It was as though time had left him somewhat numb to all the feeling.

 _I suspect that finally meeting him in person will be far more... provoking than just thinking about meeting him._

* * *

They sat together on the outermost ledge and stared out over the ocean and surrounding islands on a crisp spring morning. A happy hum of apparent contentment filled the short space between them as they watched the flying shapes all around in the sky.

"What do you think about this nest... Toothless?" Shadowwing grinned.

"Toothless? Who is that name-twisted kin?" Was-Grounded answered with a very toothy smile.

"Brother, even if you change your name to Waste-Pile you will always be Toothless in my liver."

Was-Grounded rolled his eyes in an acquired expression.

"I bend my wings to your new name great Night Fury with wings of shadow, and you should do the same for mine. Except on very special winds..." he groaned.

Shadowwing dipped his head in acknowledgment and humor.

"This is a good nest with a good Alpha. I never thought that a big kin could have good in its liver. But I have seen his eyes and his life-fire. We could nest here for many season-cycles," Was-Grounded continued.

"I like that. I could live here for many season-cycles also. How is Dawn-Singer learning his words?"

"He is still learning. It will be into the hot-season before a little one gets their words. The talking is more only growling now."

"And his flying?" Shadowwing happily hummed.

That question got both their tails eagerly swaying.

"He will be ready for his first flight on his own wings soon. Do you know how that happens for a Night Fury on their first flight?" Was-Grounded excitedly asked.

"No," Shadowwing answered.

"The sire and dam take their hatchling high into the sky."

"Hmm, that sounds good."

Was-Grounded nodded.

"Then they drop the hatchling."

"What! What if the little one does not know how to fly?" Shadowwing exclaimed in horror.

"One of the pair can catch their hatchling if they need to. That does not happen though. The hatchling's wings always know how to catch the wind."

Shadowwing's ears then lifted as he chuckled to himself.

 _Gobber would approve. Talk about learning on the job..._

"Better than my first flying?"

"He will be much better than you were. He will not foul his own flight with twisted thinking."

Shadowwing hummed in thought.

"He is a true Night Fury in his liver. Flying is more in his liver than it was for me."

Was-Grounded turned to face him with a curious and amused expression.

"I am not so sure about that... Hiccup."

It was Shadowwing's turn to roll his eyes and grumble before he answered.

"I have gotten much better at flying in the last two season-cycles. I think I am faster than you now."

"What!" Was-Grounded flew to his feet.

Shadowwing ruffled his wings as well and got up while grinning widely.

"Yes, you are bigger, but I cut through the sky faster."

"No, I am faster!" Was-Grounded bellowed.

"You are not!"

"Yes, I am!"

"No, I am!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"No?"

"Yes?"

"Yes?"

"Wait, what?" Was-Grounded bellowed in confusion.

Then he snarled and looked out over the ocean toward the nearest island.

"That mountain-top. Tag it and then land here on this island! The slower of us, you, will bring a fish every sun for a moon-cycle!"

"Yes, you will," Shadowwing grinned.

They both spread their wings and crouched on the cliff. They glared at the other, stuck out their tongues, leapt, and flew with all haste. They beat their wings furiously and became nothing more than a pair of black specks shooting across the waters.

And when they finally flew back in a sprint and crashed down breathless on the shore neither could tell who had arrived back first.

So they both claimed victory.

"I won!" "I won!"

Then they glared at each other and grumbled.

"We both won," Shadowwing eventually relented.

"I would have easily won if you were not flying in my wing-wind shadow until the end!" Was-Grounded grumbled.

"And I would have easily won if my wings were as big as yours!" Shadowwing retorted.

"You might have grown as big as me if you had eaten more fish when you were a hatchling!"

"Talk for yourself, you big belly kin," Shadowwing laughed as he turned and flew toward the ice nest.

"You can shove your tail..." Was-Grounded's defiant voice was lost in the wind.

* * *

Was-Grounded bounded over to his mate and nipped at her neck to get her attention. She turned to him with an amused hum.

"We should fly him now."

"Are you sure? Is he ready?" she hummed her worry.

He had spent the last pawful of suns with Dawn-Singer down in some of the smaller tide-pools instructing him in the use of his wings. It was the safest way for him to stretch and work his wing's muscles without the threat of falling.

"No, how could we know that his wings are ready to hold him? But he will fledge in time, and it is better to be there for him if he does fall," he answered.

They hummed their agreement, and he grabbed Dawn-Singer. They left the ice nest behind and went into the sky together. The little one did not know what to make of being grabbed and carried aloft and warbled his confusion while eagerly looking around.

 _We should do this more. One of the twisting parts of having hatchlings is that they eat up much time. We can get Shadowwing to watch him more for us._

They leveled off into a smooth glide into the wind. The little one clutched against his breast thrummed happily as he looked out at the clouds and felt the rushing wind.

"Dawn-Singer, fly now!"

He glanced down to make sure that Green-Wings was in position gliding below and attentively watching just in case. Then he let go of his little one.

Dawn-Singer screamed in alarm at first and tumbled uncontrollably with his wings and tail flailing about uselessly.

 _Come on, you can do it, little one!_

Dawn-Singer righted himself, threw out his wings, and started to glide wildly. It was not an easy or practiced motion as he cautiously beat his wings and swayed from side to side. But he had arrested his fall and was now apparently surprised with himself. Several more successful beats followed, and he gained height in the sky.

Was-Grounded roared aloud his delight from above his free flying fledgling. Dawn-Singer echoed the call with his much smaller voice and his youthful joy, his life-fire burning all the hotter for his first flight in the sky on his own wings. Green-Wings also ascended from below her little one and let her tongue hang from her mouth in pleasure.

He closed his eyes as the three of them flew in peace with Dawn-Singer singing his flight-joy.

 _This is how it should be for a first free flight. Not what I had to do, my little one. Your life-winds will be much warmer than mine were._

 _That is what every sire and dam wishes for their little ones, but you will have it._

They eventually turned back for the ice nest all together and landed on their den-ledge. Dawn-Singer's landing was a bit rough as it was his first such landing, but he had so much youthful life-fire that he hopped back up and started dashing around the den-ledge. He was not at all tired yet.

Was-Grounded hopped around their den-ledge with Dawn-Singer eagerly chasing after his tail. His own dashing was just fast enough that his fledgling could not catch his tail but slow enough that his little one did not get his liver chilled by failure. And then, just when Dawn-Singer's strength started to dim, he intentionally slowed down and let his fledgling catch the tail. Dawn-Singer pounced and growled his victory past the tail in his mouth as he toothlessly gnawed.

Green-Wings sat there watching as he tended to their nestling, now their fledgling. To her first fledgling. Their little one still slept safe at her side under her wing every night and would do so for at least another season-cycle, but he was spending more of his waking time with his sire. She knew that it was normal for a nestling, especially for a male, to eagerly want to learn hunting, flight, and rougher play from its sire. The little one learned far more words from her though, both now and starting back when he was still in his egg. He was already chirping his first clumsy attempts at words.

Watching them at play and how firm but gentle her mate was with their fledgling filled her liver with burning warmth. He was an excellent sire. The seasons since she had been frightened by finding a strange male in her old den were the best seasons in her memory. She ate better, did not have to listen to the rain and wind alone, and learned strange things about another's life-story. He did many twisted things, certainly because of his time among the liver-twisting two-legs. But despite all his twistedness, he was strong, brave, clever, knew how to provide both food and learning, and had a hot life-fire. A life-fire that burned for their little one and for her.

She closed her eyes and hummed as she settled on her life-choice without any shadow of twisting doubt. There would be no other for her.

She got up and approached them with a call to their fledgling. Dawn-Singer dropped the tail from his mouth and eagerly ran up to her.

"Ddaamm!" he hummed.

"Sleep now, my little one."

While he was somewhat tired from his long play and flight, he did not seem interested at the prospect of resting, so she grabbed him despite his protests and gently stroked under his chin. Dawn-Singer's protesting growls subsided as he suddenly became very drowsy. She carried him a short distance and lay him down to rest where the three of them slept together.

Then she spun away from her prone fledgling and strode over to her mate.

"He has so much life-fire, he would not..." he began.

He froze as she stepped out of the shade. Her eyes were narrowed at him in a way he had only seen once before despite the many nights they had spent together. She had a hungry look in her eyes, and to his eyes her wings seemed to sparkle with green fire.

No words were necessary beyond that moment.

She growled and launched herself over him into the air, making her way out of the nest and up toward the clouds. He raced after her as fast as his wings would carry him and caught up to her after they both reached the nearest flying clouds. They spun into a tight circle as they hungrily stared at each other. Then he roared aloud, hurled himself toward her as she did the same, and caught her.

They fell from the heights, joined in bliss as they tumbled through the clouds.

* * *

Shadowwing had noticed that they both flew from the nest very quickly without bringing Dawn-Singer with them.

 _That is odd of them._

He roused himself from his ruminating about what to do with his life, hopped to the outer ledge, and looked around for them.

 _What is going on? You never leave him alone._

A couple minutes passed as he alternatively looked for them and thought about the home that he had left behind. There was little else that occupied his thoughts at the moment.

He saw a black and green mass tumbling from the sky high above the ice nest. He was terrified for one instant that something horrible had happened to them both.

Then he realized what was actually happening and turned away with his eyes very wide in shock.

 _Oh... Yes..._

 _I just saw that... great..._

He closed his eyes and shook his head.

 _I could have gone a whole life not seeing that... I am never going to not see that now..._

Groan.

 _I guess I did not actually see much from down here since they are... quite together..._

 _There is that at least..._

Sigh.

 _Might as well look out for Dawn-Singer while they are... busy..._

He dashed down the passageway and winged down to their ledge. He crawled up alongside the dozing fledgling, lay down next to him, and draped a wing over him. That familiar warmth that he always felt when holding or sheltering Dawn-Singer at his side returned as usual as he gave the little one a contented hum.

 _I guess this means they are married now. At least, I think that is what it means. Not really like they had any other choices though. That is good for them._

He did not need to wait very long before they both returned to the ledge.

 _Do not think about it... it is normal..._

"There you are," he called to them.

"What are you doing here, Shadowwing?" Green-Wings hummed.

"I saw him sleeping here alone and thought I should put a wing over him. We never know if a Monster or rotted-liver-kin might come here."

"In this nest? Not until a two-leg grows wings will I be chilled by that thought," Was-Grounded answered.

 _About that... oh, nevermind..._

He got up from his place with Dawn-Singer and stepped away while they both took their regular place and started nuzzling each other somewhat more tenderly than usual. It was perfectly understandable under the circumstances. Despite himself, his heart was especially touched by how they had both wrapped their tails around the other and how his brother was resting his head on her neck.

"You will be warmed to learn this, brother, but Green-Wings and I are life-mates now," Was-Grounded proudly announced in his excitement.

"Life-mates, that means you and her only as mates now?"

"Yes, we fell from the sky together," she hummed.

"I saw you both up there," Shadowwing groaned.

"You did? Good, now you know to stop trying to impress me away from him," she teased.

"But... I... I did not... I would not do... that..." he stumbled.

They both laughed at his discomfort until he joined in after remembering how they liked teasing him. Then he had an idea of something he could do for them even if dragons did not seem to have such a tradition. It felt right to do.

"I will fly back to you both soon."

Then he glided down to the inner shore and waited for the King's arrival. The other dragons parted around him and let him take the position at the head of the gathering. The King arrived after a short delay and deposited a harvest of fish. He snagged the biggest, fattest one he could find before winging back up to where the other Furies were gathered.

"That is a big fish..." Was-Grounded observed upon his return.

He nodded, bit it in half, and gave one half to each of them.

"What?" she wondered.

"It is a fish-gift," he explained.

"Why?" she was confused.

"Is this a two-leg thing to do, to give a gift to new life-mates?" Was-Grounded interjected.

"Yes, it is," Shadowwing happily answered.

"But we are not two-legs," Green-Wings spoke up.

"No! What let you learn that? Our wings, tails, claws, scales, or teeth?" Shadowwing teased.

They all laughed again until even Dawn-Singer woke up and started chuckling along with them without knowing why. Then he started hiccuping in his excitement.

Was-Grounded turned to Shadowwing with a devious look in his eyes.

"Should we change his name to little-cougher, to hiccup?"

"No, that would be a twisted, much bad name. Who would do that to one of their own nest?" Green-Wings vehemently objected.

Shadowwing and Was-Grounded stared each other down for a moment before breaking out in another fit of chuckling.

"What is funny?" she demanded.

They both shook their heads and refused to say anything.

"Egg-mates..." she sighed.

"So, you two do not want the fish?" Shadowwing eventually asked.

Both halves of the fish vanished an instant later.

"I thought so. True kin..." Shadowwing mumbled as he turned tail and took flight with much amusement in his heart.

* * *

They stood together on the small island and stared at the obvious trap with its poised jaws. Was-Grounded snarled at it with his teeth bared.

"Do you remember what to do?" Shadowwing asked.

"I think so. I want to flame it though."

"Try to kill it how I showed you."

Was-Grounded crept closer to the trap while snarling and looked at the long chain. And he looked at the many weaving pieces of metal and all the small teeth. Then he glanced at his own paws and his short digits.

 _This is so twisted. I have no idea how to take its bones apart. This takes too much time._

Then his ears went up with a clever idea.

 _Yes! I know what to do._

He spun away from the trap and quickly found what he was looking for, specifically a rock smaller than his own head. He grabbed the rock, heavily beat his flight back to the trap, and then dropped the rock when he was in position.

Then he dove down next to Shadowwing, and they both stared at the result.

"Brother, you might have the liver and head of a two-leg," Shadowwing hummed.

"What! Grr... Why do you say that liver-twisting thing?"

They both glanced down at the flattened trap under the rock.

"You see a problem. You hit the problem. Problem gone. Two-leg thinking."

Was-Grounded rolled his eyes and groaned.

"The trap is dead and will not bite any kin now."

Then he turned tail and took to the sky to return to the ice nest.

Shadowwing took one more glance at the trap and chuckled to himself in amusement.

 _You would. I guess that it is mission accomplished. Still gotta learn how to use those claws though._ _Useless dragon..._

* * *

Try as he might, Shadowwing could not stop thinking about Berk even as the spring slowly began to warm toward summer. With no mission to find his brother and no pressing need to go out among the human tribes, he was gradually starting to feel lost here in the ice nest despite the good that he could do here by foiling the trappers. Further, with his brother now able to help contribute to that cause there was less for him to do. And that left more time for thinking, which gradually led to an inevitable realization.

It had been a long time coming, but he was now sure of it and approached Valka to tell her as much.

 **Remember how you asked if we should see Berk?**

"Yes," she whispered.

 **I think we should go**

"Really?"

 **I miss many of them**

 **I want to see it again**

She slowly got up and walked over to all of her old and worn equipment.

"Over twenty years... I never once went back there. Are you sure that you are... ready?"

His paw hovered over the dirt as he considered his answer.

 **As ready as I can be**

"Ok then, I will get my things together."

 **I will let them know that we will be gone for a while**

He turned for the ledge and scanned the nest for the other Furies. Then he spied them down by the water, patiently awaiting the King's bounty of fish. He dove, landed, and was immediately attacked by Dawn-Singer. He collapsed to the ground as the now fledgling pounced on his back, ran up his neck, and clamped down on his ears. At least, the fledgling knew to only gnaw and not bite in his wild play.

"You have too much life-fire..." he grumbled.

"Little one, do not eat your kin," Green-Wings admonished her fledgling.

Dawn-Singer obediently let go and did something that made all adults hum. He hopped down to the ground, snuggled up against Shadowwing's chest, and yawned widely while purring.

"He thinks you are part of his nest," Green-Wings hummed.

"I am in a way. I fly in his life-winds."

He bent down and breathed on Dawn-Singer's head, gently ruffling his little frills.

"Go on, Dawn-Singer, go to your dam."

She received her little one and bent down to nuzzle Dawn-Singer again.

Shadowwing then bounded over to Was-Grounded, who had stood patiently observing the whole exchange while humming happily.

"I will fly now with Kin-liver and Cloud-Jumper to our home-nest-island. Do you want to fly with us?"

"No, my place is here with Green-Wings and Dawn-Singer."

Shadowwing inclined his head in respect. He had figured that this would be his brother's answer.

"I understand. You have your own kin, your own family now. It is good for you to be with them."

"How many suns will you be away?"

"The flight is maybe two suns, but we do not know how long we will stay there. It might be a moon-cycle or more."

"You will come back here though..."

"Yes, this is her home-nest in her liver, and she knows that she does good for the kin here. And my own nest-kin are here."

Was-Grounded stepped forward and briefly nuzzled his neck in a rare display of such affection.

"Winds guide you."

Shadowwing then took to the sky and flew slow circles over the nest until Cloudjumper emerged. Valka had clothed herself again in her wild riding suit fashioned from hundreds of shed scales. They set their course for the south-west.

He took a deep breath as he settled into the routine of flight.

* * *

 _I know this place. We are almost there._

It was one of the same islands he had flown over in his charting of the northern islands on a fateful week years ago.

Cloudjumper was getting very exhausted, and Valka urged him to the ground to rest on the beach as dusk approached.

 **We will be there tomorrow**

She nodded, set aside her flying suit, and climbed under Cloudjumper's wing.

Shadowwing curled up himself on the ground when he felt a huff of fishy breath on his head.

 _What is it?_

Cloudjumper glanced from him to the other wing held slightly aloft to make room for him.

 _Really? How sweet of you. I notice that you didn't give me the same side as her though. Jealous dragon._

He was not going to pass up the added warmth on what would still be a somewhat chill night. As the great Stormcutter's breathing echoed next to him, he looked out over the cloudless sky toward the horizon.

Toward Berk.

Toward what had been home.

He was not sure if he was more excited or nervous about what the next day would bring.

* * *

Mount Thor came into relief on the horizon. And then the great and familiar sea-stacks and cliffs followed as seabirds flew all around.

They both flew up and through the same arch that he remembered flying with Toothless on their very first flight when he had thrown away his cheat sheet and trusted instinct to guide him.

They rose up above the cliff and continued on over the forest. It was all familiar and dear to him.

Looking out from on Toothless's back. Feeling that freedom and liberation of flight.

He glanced over his shoulder at Valka and saw that she was completely engrossed in the view before her.

But something seemed strange about it to him. It took a moment before he figured out what was wrong.

 _Where are the dragons? There should be at least some of them in the air._

They flew past the mountain and looked down the slope toward Berk proper. He pulled up mid-air and hovered in place, completely frozen in shock and horror.

.

Berk was gone.

.

Cloudjumper pulled up next to him, and Valka looked over at him with a mix of horror and confusion.

Shadowwing growled and sprinted for the village with haste. Or rather, toward what was left of it.

Burned beams and walls were all that remained of many homes. All the homes and stables, if not leveled, looked like they had been broken into and ransacked. Like a knife to his heart, he saw that the Great Hall, in which there had been so many good memories and festivals through the years, had been reduced to ash long since blown away on the wind.

Cloudjumper winged past him and landed at what had been the head of the village. Valka dismounted and stared up the slight ridge. Shadowwing landed next to her and joined her in staring at it with his heart twisted into knots.

The house.

Their house.

It was quite surprisingly untouched on the outside. They both found themselves walking to it, almost as if in a dream as they ascended the faint slope and entered through the broken door. He just barely fit through the entrance.

The furs that had hung on the wall were missing or slashed apart, the chairs were in pieces, and the windows were all broken. The elements had also done a lot of damage. He dashed down the hall and squeezed into his room. Whoever had been here had left the room mostly untouched, probably because they didn't see anything in it worth taking.

And he saw it in a corner of the room. Tightly bound in leather and clearly roughly handled but still in one piece. His paw shook as he carefully picked up the old journal and clutched it against his breast.

Then he backed out of his room and followed Valka outside. They both sat down on the ridge and looked out over the desolation in silence.

Trees and bushes were growing in the middle of what had been the village square.

Nothing was moving.

The only sounds were the whistling of the wind and their own breaths.

Nature was reclaiming Berk.

"What happened here?" her voice trembled as she eventually spoke.

 _I have no idea._

He only shook his head.

"There are no bodies at least. I don't think that anyone died here, whatever happened," she added.

He tapped her shoulder to get her attention and had her stow the journal in her pack. Then he fanned his wings and glanced to the forest. He led her and Cloudjumper on a short flight over the treetops until he saw the place. The one place that still seemed likely to hold comfort on this apparently empty island.

They dove and landed in the cove.

It was all so immediately present to him again. Properly meeting Toothless, learning to fly twice under very different circumstances, talking with Astrid for hours, and being comforted by Astrid.

"I remember this place," Valka whispered.

He turned on her in amazement despite the situation.

"I used to play here when I was a girl. It was so peaceful and a little paradise away from the boys and village."

 **I got to know Toothless here**

 **I learned to fly here twice**

 **Read the journal**

She took it out of the pack and slowly started reading. He curled up around her and followed along with her, clearly making out the fine strokes that he had once made with a different hand.

She finished the last page and leaned on his shoulder, trying and failing to stifle tears before replacing the journal in her pack.

"Now what? Whatever it was happened long ago, probably last year. I think that everyone here probably left."

 **Where to?**

She just shook her head, clearly having no idea. But he had at least a grasping idea of where to start.

 **There are other dragon friendly tribes**

 **The Vaina, Volsung, and Outcasts**

"Even the Outcasts?" she exclaimed in disbelief.

 **Yes, Alvin was very reasonable eventually**

"Alvin... Alvin... wait, not Alvin here from Berk?"

 **Long story but yes, he was Outcast long ago**

 **I think we should go to the other tribes**

 **See if they know what happened**

 **They had an alliance with Berk**

"Four dragon friendly tribes. I would never had imagined it. You are right that we need to find out what happened here."

Cloudjumper winged back into the cove with a large, partially charred deer in his mouth. Valka pulled out her knife and got to work on it. She and Shadowwing ate their fill after Cloudjumper helped cook her portion.

 **The Vaina are closest**

 **We should go now**

"I agree. It hurts too much to see Berk like this."

She mounted Cloudjumper, and they were off again with Shadowwing taking the lead. He took one backward glance at the island that had been his home and felt a pain in his heart that so much had been destroyed.

So much that had been built up through the years was gone with no attempt to rebuild. That was perhaps the most disturbing of all. Nords were stubborn and certainly would have tried to rebuild for no reason other than to shake their fist at fate.

And he had no idea what could have done this.

* * *

The peaceful Vainian village, with its numerous fishing sloops, large feeding stations, and simple but comfortable pens, was completely abandoned.

* * *

The Volsung village had been reduced to ash just like Berk had been.

* * *

Outcast Island, once a buzzing, wretched hive of scum and villainy, was silent and still.

* * *

They stood on the shore of Outcast Island and stared out to the sea, lost in their melancholy thoughts at finding all the other tribes vanished.

 **What could have done this?**

"It only seems to have attacked the tribes with dragons. There is only one power I know of that could do this. The Dragon Master," she snarled.

 _Dragon master, where have I heard that before?_

 **Tell me about it**

"There is not much to tell. He wants to control all the dragons in the world. He is the reason why the trappers catch dragons, to build himself a dragon army."

 **Does he not understand what dragons are?**

"I do not think that what dragons really are matters to people like him."

He thought it over and found that the explanation did not sit well. There had to be more to it than that. There was always a reason and motivation behind what someone did.

"We tried to find them. I think we should go back home. We have already been away from the nest for far too long now."

He glumly nodded, knowing that they were going to be back a couple weeks later than he had planned. They all turned back for Berk and for the ice nest far beyond.

* * *

He spotted a flash of color around Dragon Island as they passed. A single red dragon was lazily floating on the currents over the ruined nest.

 _Wait, I did not think any of them lived here anymore._

The Nightmare spotted them and winged toward them. The reason why became readily apparent. There was a rider on the dragon's back.

His heart leapt with hope at the sight, and they both followed the Nightmare back to the shores of Dragon Island. They all landed, and the foreigner climbed off its dragon's back.

"Which tribe do you hail from?" the lad called out to Valka.

Then Shadowwing stepped closer, and the young man stared in recognition.

"The Night Fury... I thought I recognized you. You are from Berk!"

Shadowwing nodded back at him, vaguely recognizing the lad from before but not knowing his name.

"Which tribe is this? Where is your Chief?" Valka asked.

"We are the Vaina. Wait here. We will bring her," he answered before retreating to his dragon. The pair flew off and vanished among the rocks and slopes.

"That is the first other dragon rider I have ever seen. I never thought it would actually happen," Valka whispered.

 **It was not easy but they changed**

 **I told you**

"That you did..."

The two of them shared a glance as they patiently awaited news. Then a small flight of wings appeared over the rocks and spiraled down for a landing on the shore. One Nightmare in particular landed before the other dragons, and a large woman climbed off its back. The Chief took once look in their direction and confidently strode toward them.

"It is you! Hiccup!" Svana shouted.

Valka briefly shifted at hearing the declaration.

"And who are you with the Stormcutter?"

"I am... Dragonheart."

"Dragonheart, lovely title. I am Svana, Chief of the Vaina."

Valka nodded respectfully.

"What happened to the tribes?"

Svana's forced cheerful expression fell.

"How do you not know? Everyone knows."

"We have been away from these lands for a long time," Valka mumbled.

"I see... all the tribes with dragons have gone into hiding. We had to go into hiding because of the Blood-Fist and his army."

Shadowwing recoiled slightly as he recalled where he had heard that name before. That was whoever had taken all the dragons from the fighting arena in Rorikfeld.

 _Could the Blood-Fist and the Dragon master be the same person? How could his influence go so far?_

"His army?" Valka asked, wanting confirmation of what she suspected.

"A dragon army. Hundreds of armored beasts. And there were also a few dozen ships filled with mercenaries and slaves. None of the tribes could resist against that many even if we were to fight together, so we did what we had to do. We left our homes, and we keep a lookout for the army."

"So the other tribes are alive?"

"As far as I know, yes. We contact each other every couple weeks in secret. Only the Chiefs and the messengers know where all the tribes are."

Valka sighed heavily at hearing this comforting news.

"Where are they?"

"I will not say. It is too dangerous to let that secret out even if you are a fellow rider. The Chiefs all swore a blood oath to each other on this," Svana answered.

"I understand," Valka granted.

"Why did you come here?" Svana asked.

"We were looking for the tribes. And..."

Valka paused and glanced at Shadowwing. He could see a strangely familiar glint in her eyes. She clearly had a crazy idea.

"And... I have an idea for you. There is something that you could do to help keep your people safe."

"What is it? Anything would be welcome."

"We," she indicated herself and the two dragons at her side, "live in a very big nest of dragons far north and east of Berk, or of what is left of Berk... There is a... Titan dragon who is the King of the nest. You cannot imagine how big he is. His tusks alone are bigger than boats. He protects the nest and provides for the dragons who cannot hunt."

"That sounds... terrifying and amazing," Svana granted.

"If you are good to your dragons, as I see you are, the King would let you live on that island or nearby under his protection. No dragon army could ever fight against him. He would not let them."

"Where is this place?"

Valka thought for a moment.

"From Berk you would sail northwest toward Odin's Shield in the stars. Sailing might take a week or more, but it is only a couple days from Berk by air."

"That is far to go," Svana seemed skeptical.

"True, but that is the safest place in all the northern waters."

Svana nodded, clearly deep in thought.

"I will think about it, and I will send a messenger to the other tribes to let them know. I think they will want that protection though after all that they have been through."

Then she turned her attention to Shadowwing.

"You will vouch for that Titan King?"

Yes, he nodded.

"I see. You have grown a lot," she grinned while he chuckled.

 **It has been over two years**

Svana then glanced over at Valka.

"I still remember when he came here with the Dragon Whisperer from Berk. Never in all my wildest dreams did I think that a dragon could be as smart as us."

"Dragon Whisperer?"

"Astrid. That is what the tribes call her. She has a way with the creatures."

Shadowwing hummed in approval.

 _That makes for a couple of women I know who have a way with dragons._

* * *

Shadowwing and Valka rested on the beach with Cloudjumper fast asleep beside them. Neither of them said anything as they considered what they had learned. On the one hand, it was hopeful since all the tribes had apparently survived and were united in a common purpose. But it was also horrible that the peace was being threatened by a senseless threat from beyond.

Then he found his thoughts being tugged at by something. There was a fateful place on the other side of the island. It was a place that he had thought he would never return to.

And there was something he wanted to do with Valka, something that it felt right for her to see.

He walked over and stood next to her. Then he crouched down beside her as he had done a few times before.

"What?"

He glanced at his back again.

"Ok..."

She cautiously climbed on his back and wrapped her arms around his neck. And they were off, gently gliding around the peak of Dragon Island until they arrived at the sandy beach on the other side of the island. She audibly gasped and squeezed his neck tightly when she saw what he was bringing them both to see.

The bleached, monstrous skeleton in all its shattered glory.

He landed by a particular portion of the beach and let her dismount.

"That is it. The Monster that caused all the raids..."

Yes, he nodded as he bent to the sandy part of the beach.

 **Toothless and I killed it**

 **We made it crash**

He paused and gave a wary hum.

 **I wanted you to see where I became a dragon**

She gasped and nervously nodded. They walked up the beach together, her hand on his shoulder the whole way. Her awestruck gaze never left the titanic bones that still towered over the beach. Many of the smaller bones though had apparently been buried under the sands or lost to the waves.

Then they arrived at the fateful place.

They both looked down together at the crater where the rock had melted and formed small crystal veins. She knelt down and ran her fingers over the smooth surface without saying anything for a long time. Then she stood up and leaned against his side.

"It is almost beautiful in a way. Haunting but also beautiful."

He nodded in agreement while he thought over the words he had heard in the far north about what Toothless had done here. He also mulled over the question of why he himself never felt any shred of the life-will-power, of magic.

 _I guess that I do not have that life-will-power, that special type of life saving magic. I never did because I was changed from something else and because I never had a Night Fury father or mother. I think I would know if I had something like that magic._

 _I kind of wish that I had fire at least, strange as it is. He did say though that they are different, and that I should be able to flame eventually even without magic._

They eventually turned away and returned to the sandy beach. A more practical question had been on his mind ever since he heard Svana's explanation of what happened.

 **Why do you think the Blood Fist**

 **Dragon Master did this?**

 **What does he want?**

"Why does it matter? He destroyed so much good in the world and would try to destroy more if we let him."

He gave her no reply as he thought about all the villages he had peacefully interacted with and all the hearts and minds that had already been changed for the better. Peace was possible even if it took a lot of work to bring about.

 **All this fighting and hiding**

 **I wish there was another way**

She sat down beside him and joined him in looking out over the peaceful ocean.

"Yes, but sometimes violence is certain and not fighting would be worse. Peace is not all that matters. All you can do is protect your own, those you immediately care about. That is what the Chiefs did by hiding their tribes instead of being stubborn."

He softly hummed in thought. He knew that it was on these very shores that an entire stubborn tribe of Nords had begun to change their world. A people that boasted of being set in its ways and unwilling to change had changed. Several such tribes had done exactly that.

They remained there on the shore of Dragon Island as they watched the sunset over the horizon.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note - Those who want to see a scene covering the Berkians departure from Berk should check out chapter 3 of 'To Fly The Winds Of Life.'**_


	45. II - Between Two Worlds

_**Author's Note – Since you like reunions so much, enjoy what is forthcoming. There are a couple scenes in here which might make you wonder where the onions are. Also, I wonder what you think of the last scene since it is from the perspective of a special someone for the first time. That someone is not named, but you will know exactly who it is. There is also a clear contrast that I am setting up. I wonder if anyone will correctly identify that contrast.**_

* * *

" _Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists." - Franklin D. Roosevelt (attributed to)_

* * *

Between Two Worlds

* * *

They arrived back at the nest after several days of rapid flying with the wind and breathed a sigh of relief that everything looked normal. Shadowwing flew in the main entrance and went straight for the other Furies' ledge. He quickly spotted his brother down on a lower ledge and flew to him.

"You were gone many suns. Over a moon-cycle," Was-Grounded greeted him with a hum and gentle head bump.

"Yes, much happened that you should hear about. Where are Green-Wings and Dawn-Singer?"

"Getting fish."

He glanced down at the pool where he could clearly see one large and one small dark shape waiting for the King's arrival while the other dragons kept their distance. They had all learned that to approach the little one was only desirable if they wanted to get flamed in the face.

"How is his flying now?"

"He is very good at it already for one his size. He is hatched to fly and is learning his flying much faster than I learned long ago," Was-Grounded groaned.

"What is the problem? It is good for him to fly."

"Think about how hard it will be to watch out for him now when he starts flying the whole nest."

 _Ah, look at you being a concerned daddy..._

Then Was-Grounded hummed happily.

"You will like to hear this. He can talk now."

"He can talk now!"

"He only knew a few words at first: fish, fly, no, dam... sire."

"That is good. I am happy for you all. His dam has done well with him," Shadowwing hummed happily.

"What? What about me?" Was-Grounded seemed shocked and dismayed.

"Do not fear, brother, you taught him... something I am sure."

And that comment earned him a smack in the head.

 _Totally worth it though..._

"He will start learning far more words and much faster now," Was-Grounded continued as if nothing had happened.

Then his eyes gleamed with humor.

"What do you think I should teach him for your name? Little-cougher, Hiccup, or Shadowwing?"

They stared at each other for a moment and then broke down in laughter, thrashing their tails against the rock in their joyful abandon.

"I will teach him your old name if you teach him my old name," Shadowwing waggled a single claw in warning.

That earned him a toothy play snarl and a tail swipe which he managed to dodge.

The King arrived on schedule and provided a bounty of fish which they both winged down to enjoy. It had been a long flight back to the ice nest after all. He briefly greeted Green-Wings and glanced at Dawn-Singer, who was currently struggling with a fish just a bit too large for him, before pouncing at the flopping fish himself. Four large fish vanished into his belly before he beckoned his brother away so they could talk freely.

"You should hear what happened out there."

"What happened?"

"Our old nest on home-nest-island... is gone, burned to dust."

Was-Grounded spun around and stared with eyes that narrowed in alarm. He was almost certain that he had misheard.

"Gone? What?"

"Most nest-dens were burned. The great, tall den where we ate much in the cold-season was burned down to the dirt."

"What happened there?" Was-Grounded's eyes were now wide with concern.

"The bond two-legs and kin all flew the nest, and then the empty nest was burned."

"Burned?"

"Yes, but there is more. All the other nests of two-legs that are warm to kin also flew their nests to hide. Something is hunting them."

"What could hunt so many kin and two-legs?"

"A very big flight of kin. Kin-liver told the two-leg Alphas of the other nests that they could bring their nests here."

"Here to the ice nest?" Was-Grounded exclaimed in evident alarm.

"Or to this island if not in the ice nest. This is the most safe place for kin and all two-legs who are good to kin."

Was-Grounded paced at hearing that news.

"Even if there was a big flight of kin, why would they drive another kin nest out and then burn the empty nest? There is no reason. Driving kin out a nest or a den and then claiming it is a flight that has some lift, but not this."

"I hope that we do not need to see," Shadowwing mumbled.

Was-Grounded spun around and looked over at his mate as she attentively watched over Dawn-Singer.

"I will tell her that strange two-legs might come here. I do not think she will like it. Your dam she knows, but others..."

Then a thought bit at his tail.

"When you say that the other nests might come here, does that mean our old nest also?"

"Yes."

"Astrid?"

"Yes."

"Your sire?"

Shadowwing looked at his paws for a moment. A long moment.

"Yes, he would also... What do you think about that?"

Was-Grounded lay down with his tail anxiously twitching as he thought about his response.

"I... hated his liver. I wanted to claw him to death and spill his life-water. But I would not have found Green-Wings if he had not done what he did. What he did to me was bad but much good hatched from it. He is out of my life-flight. I do not think about him now."

Shadowwing considered what his brother said and grumbled softly as he looked out through the ice nest.

"I still do," he mumbled.

* * *

Several weeks passed during which everything in the nest continued as normal. Some of the dragons still fought with each other for territory or status as was normal but most had settled down.

Valka returned to trapper-handling duties with Shadowwing eagerly assisting. Dawn-Singer began to learn words at an alarming rate, started to express himself in more words, and started to show actual personality instead of only needing and wanting. He also took great pleasure in his every opportunity to play with or be held by Valka, much to Was-Grounded's and Green-Wings's continued amusement. They were also grateful for that because it let them have more time alone on the winds or simply playing together whenever Shadowwing was not there to watch over the fledgling.

And then the island and nest was sent into a frenzy late in the summer. Shadowwing followed Valka and Cloudjumper outside to investigate the source of the disturbance.

Dozens of dragons were either already on shore or were flying in. Riders were clearly visible on the dragons' backs or were already on the ground beginning to make camps with the few supplies they had brought. Shadowwing noticed one Timberjack among them and had a very good guess at who they were.

 _The Vaina did come after all._

He dove to land among them as Cloudjumper followed behind him. Chief Svana extricated herself from the assembly and strode over to meet them.

"There you are. I never thought I would see so many dragons. This is... amazing," she whispered in awe as she stared at the massive wall of ice deeper inland.

"Chief Svana," Valka announced herself from behind her mask.

"Dragonheart, this is an incredible place. Where do you think we can make camp?"

"I would build further away from the nest and over towards the trees. The tides can be fierce here, as can wary dragons."

"Ok, we will. The ships are on their way as well and should be here in a few days. All the other tribes agreed to seek shelter here too."

"All of them?" Valka exclaimed.

"Yes, us, Berk, the Volsung, and even the Outcasts, they all saw the need for protection together."

"How many are there coming here?"

Chief Svana put her hands on her hips in thought.

"I would guess five hundred dragons and a couple thousand people."

Valka gasped at hearing how great a number there were coming.

"How are we going to support all of them? Even the King cannot catch enough fish for all of them."

"The King, right, where is it?"

"I will go get him. Stay here," Valka answered before running back to Cloudjumper.

Shadowwing and Svana watched as the Stormcutter flew off into the frozen nest.

 **How was the journey?**

"Long. It took a bit of searching but we got here in the end. Not everyone wanted to come with but all with dragons did."

 **Do you know why you are being hunted?**

"Why never occurred to me, and I do not care why. We only had a day of warning from our scouts. We are not true fighters, so we fled and sent word to our allies. All the Chiefs gathered and agreed to hide the tribes. You know the rest."

They were interrupted by Cloudjumper's return.

"He is coming," Valka answered after vaulting down from his back.

"Where is it?" Svana asked while looking around the beach.

Valka pointed to the deep bay. They both watched for several moments as nothing happened. Then the water began to roll and pitch. A massive head and pair of curved tusks burst from the water.

A collective gasp went through everyone gathered on the shore as the white Bewilderbeast emerged in all its massive glory in the bay and turned its attention on the coast.

The ground seemed to tremble with every one of the King's steps. His piercing blue eyes were narrowed on all the tiny humans on the shore. The dragons on the ground went still and inclined their heads toward the great creature.

Shadowwing marveled at the King anew, this being the first time that he had ever seen the King fully on land. He had barnacles on his legs and belly. His tail was long and had rows of spines running down its length, clearly a creature meant for being in the water.

The King stopped moving and growled softly. For a moment Shadowwing was afraid that something terrible was about to happen. That the King did not know friend from enemy.

But then something unexpected happened. The dragons, which had been submissive toward the King, stood up and bellowed at him.

The King pulled back slightly, and his great head swept from side to side as he looked across the beach and saw the same all along the shore. He gave a rumble of confusion and looked over toward where Valka, Svana, and Shadowwing stood together. Jorm, Svana's Nightmare, hopped over close to the Vainian Chief and stared up at the King as well.

The King's eyes stared directly into Shadowwing's as a brief buzzing flared in his head.

 _Confusion..._

 _Enemies..._

 _Not enemies..._

 _Kin with rot in their livers?_

 _Not-threat two-legs?_

He stared back into the great eyes and willed the King to hear him, if such a thing was possible.

 _No, they are not bad humans._

 _They are good to dragons and need your protection._

The King's eyes gradually softened. The King then sighed deeply, gave a low moan that shuddered bones, and turned away from the shore to make his way back into the deep water. Everyone watched as the great creature sank into the deep and vanished with a great splash of its tail.

Svana slowly turned back to them both with a look of fear and amazement, a look which was echoed all down the shore.

"That is the King. Do you think he can protect us now?" Valka said with a grin.

Svana said nothing in her stupor but did manage to nod.

* * *

Shadowwing nervously watched the horizon in anticipation at every free moment. The other two tribes had arrived at various points over the last few weeks. Those who had arrived built a makeshift village from salvaging some ships, driftwood, and felled lumber from the small forest.

Meeting the Chiefs of the Volsung and Outcasts, Edgaras and Alvin, again was a strange ordeal for him. Both of the proud leaders clearly remembered him, but they both seemed far less sure of themselves. They seemed weaker, as though their confidence was shaken. He was also much bigger than them now and towered over them, despite their both being massive men in their own right.

He flew out over the assembled fleet and tried to count the number of ships. There were easily over fifty including the fishing sloops, which were busily at work to provide for all now living on the island.

 _I have never seen so many humans and dragons gathered together before._

Again seeing nothing on the horizon, he flew back into the nest and sought out his family. And he saw something wonderful and amazing despite having seen it many times already. Dawn-Singer was again aloft on his own, spiraling a short flight near the Furies' ledge while his parents attentively watched.

 _Wow, you are growing up fast._

He landed on their ledge and hopped up to them.

"He is a strong flier!"

"Yes, he is strong like his sire," Green-Wings answered while rubbing Was-Grounded's neck.

Shadowwing lay down across from them and watched the little one as he soared freely while bellowing his joy.

"There are many two-legs here now."

"We have seen them," Was-Grounded answered.

"And what do you think?"

"They should stay away. I have no anger for them if they stay out of the nest and away from Dawn-Singer," Green-Wings growled back.

"Why? They are not bad two-legs. You know one already."

"She does not have a two-leg liver. She has the liver of a kin," she answered.

"And those out of the nest do not?"

"What she means is that we do not know them. We have no reason to trust them," Was-Grounded explained.

"How can you learn to trust them if you will not meet them?"

They were still pondering their response when Dawn-Singer winged back in with a happy roar. He hopped over and was nuzzled by his mother.

"I fly much!"

"Yes, you fly well, Dawn-Singer," Shadowwing happily said.

"Not-sire Shadowwing!"

Dawn-Singer got up, ran over to him, and hopped on his back.

"What are you doing?" he hummed up at the little one.

"I will sleep here!" Dawn-Singer cried out while collapsing on his back.

 _Oh, that is... wait... sleep here?_

"No, I have to go and..." he began.

The little Fury was already splayed out on the middle of his back and thoroughly asleep.

 _What just happened... Great... just great..._

Was-Grounded turned to Green-Wings and whispered something in her ear. She rumbled in approval and amusement moments later.

"We are going to fly to warm our livers and see the two-legs again from the sky. Watch him for us!" Was-Grounded teased.

They both took wing before he could object. He grumbled softly as he watched them fly from the nest.

 _I just got volunteered to do some hatchling-sitting. Totally love it..._

 _Actually no, he would not be a hatchling anymore since he can fly._

 _He is a fledgling now._

He blinked.

 _Wait, I really am an uncle... gods that feels strange._

He craned his neck around to look at the sleeping Dawn-Singer again.

 _He trusts me. They all do._

Watching the little Fury's chest rise and fall as he slept off his flight induced exhaustion greatly warmed his heart, and he gave the little one a soft hum of happiness.

 _Hmm, almost like he is my own. I wonder if I..._

Sigh.

He stayed there and rested himself for a long time during which Dawn-Singer thankfully did not wake once.

Then both Was-Grounded and Green-Wings returned to the ledge. She gently grabbed her little one from his back without waking the fledgling. It was questionable how much longer she would be able to do that with how much he was growing.

"How was the flying?"

"We did not fall," Was-Grounded answered.

Shadowwing noticed though that his brother had an odd and somewhat nervous look and feel.

"What is biting your tail?" he asked.

"They are here. The flight you have been waiting for."

Shadowwing stepped back at hearing that. He nodded at his brother and jumped from the ledge to make his way outside.

Sure enough, there was another flight of recently arrived dragons down on the shore. People had already dismounted to meet with others and begin unpacking supplies.

He saw the flag that they were flying. A nondescript dragon in flight with a rider on its back, all set against a red background.

His heart clenched as he flew down toward them and landed in the clearing.

 _This is Berk._

He could already see several familiar faces out there looking toward him. Hands tapped shoulders and pointed his direction.

His gaze immediately wandered to the blue and green Nadder resting near the front of the assembly. Several smaller Nadder fledglings were playing close to the adult. And right among them stood a woman with blond hair, a cape of blue Nadder scales, and a clear presence of authority.

Had it really been three years since he had seen her?

His steps toward her were hesitant and fearful. He had no idea what to expect of this fateful meeting.

She was wearing lightweight leather armor. The hilt of a sword showed on her right hip and a dagger hung from her belt. A sash of blue wove across her chest and up to her shoulder while a blue, scale cape draped down her back.

Her forearms were far more muscular than he remembered. Her face spoke volumes though. She had new carelines on her brow, and her hair was somewhat unkempt. Her eyes, her piercing eyes, seemed tired beyond her years but also awed as she also strode forward to meet him.

He stopped walking a couple paces from her and looked down at her. Even trying to be relaxed, he still stood far taller than her. The last time they had seen each other he had only stood a few hands above her. That was not the case now.

A complete silence ensued.

He had no idea what to say, where to begin, or what to do.

* * *

Her gaze never left the Night Fury as it flew down to the ground. The most wondrous and special dragon in the world. It landed and looked around the gathering of people and dragons on the beach without showing any fear.

Then it saw her and stared in what could only be recognition.

She stared right back and forgot to breathe.

It could only mean one thing.

All her nightmares of a Night Fury being caught, starving to death, or being skinned alive had been wrong. The whispers she had heard from the messengers from the Vaina had been the truth.

Hiccup was alive.

She caught her breath and found herself walking toward him in a daze. What had happened to him in all these years? Did he know anything about what was happening? Did he know about what had happened to her and Berk?

He was much bigger, no doubt fully grown for a Night Fury if what she remembered of Toothless was a fair guide. But his wide green eyes still had the same look of innocent surprise that she remembered from years ago.

They stopped and regarded each other from a couple feet away. She wanted to scream out his name and punch him for not coming back sooner.

But that behavior would not befit her position as a Chief or look at all appropriate regardless.

She slowly cupped her hands and held them out to him. They were toughened hands with calluses earned by hard labor and much training with weapons.

He closed his eyes and rested his head in her hands with a soft moan that no one else could possibly hear.

For all that she tried to be tough and unemotional, she sobbed anyway though she shed no tears.

"Hic… Hiccup…" she gasped.

* * *

She closed the curtain of her Chief's tent, leaving just enough room for both of them inside the tent. He carefully lay down on the furs on the ground. He had a pencil in paw and paper laid out before him. She also sat down cross-legged and faced him in a long moment of silence.

Where to even begin?

"Well, Hiccup, it is good to see you again."

 **Same here, Astrid**

 **Strange to hear my old name**

"What? Why?"

 **I have been called Shadowwing for years now**

"Shadowwing, it seems appropriate. Why the new name though?"

 **Bad memories with the old one**

 **And I am not exactly a youth now**

 **I am an adult in a way**

She nodded solemnly.

"I think I understand. You didn't get to go through the ceremony with us formally after all. You had a far more... real way of having to grow up. I want you to know that he is with us."

 **Who?**

"Your… father."

He tried and failed to stifle the growl that involuntarily rose at that mention. Being here among his old tribe, though he had not yet had a chance to freely mingle, and hearing about that man better brought out the anger that had been bubbling deep within. The anger that he was not sure had been there. And that was without even meeting him directly.

"You should hear what happened with him," she continued.

 _I really do not care._

He shook his head with an angry hiss.

"But he…"

He stamped on the ground.

"No!" he growled.

She held up her hands to placate him.

"Ok, ok, fine, fine. You should go see Gobber at least. He will be very happy to see you."

He nodded and relaxed, glad that she changed the subject to something more pleasant.

 _It would be nice to see Gobber again._

"He has gotten a bit slower and is starting to show some more of his age. He really needs to get another apprentice, but he kind of had a run of bad luck with those... He never stopped believing that you would make it out here, there, or wherever you went."

 _Yep, that sounds like him._

Then he remembered that there was a piece of very good news that she definitely needed to hear about.

 **I found Toothless**

Her eyes went wide with amazement and relief.

"You really found him! Where is he?"

 **In the nest here**

 **With his mate and son**

She blinked.

"Toothless has a family!" she exclaimed.

 **He goes by Was-Grounded now**

 **She is Green-Wings and his son is Dawn-Singer**

"Wow. A Night Fury family. Did he have them before Berk or..."

 **No, he found her after Berk**

"Well, I am very happy that you found them. I hope that I can meet them."

 _That should be easy enough to arrange. They will like you, he already does._

"And who is she, the woman with the Stormcutter?"

He groaned.

 _Great, just when I thought this couldn't get stranger for her._

 **Her name is Valka**

"Valka… why is that name familiar?"

 **She is my mother**

Astrid stared at the words in evident confusion.

"Your mother? But your mother died when you were only a baby. Everyone knows that."

He slowly shook his head.

 **She was carried away**

 **We thought she was dead**

Amazement and comprehension lit in her eyes.

"They just thought she was dead. It made sense to think that back then."

He rolled his shoulders in a shrug.

 **The dragon was a Stormcutter**

 **It brought her here**

"Any idea why?"

No.

 **She has been here since then**

 **Helping dragons out of traps**

 **Fixing broken wings and the like**

"Your mother was out here all the time! That is amazing! You found her! Your mother is some kind of crazy, feral, vigilante, dragon lady."

 **That about sums it up**

"Hey, at least she is not boring. I will have to meet her now."

Then she paused for a moment.

"What about your parents? Don't you think they should meet?" she nervously asked.

 **I already told her what he did**

"What did she say?"

 **She was sad**

 **If she wants to meet him**

 **That is her decision**

 **I do not want to now**

 **Tell me about Berk**

 **What has happened?**

"What has not happened..." she sighed.

"In case you cannot tell, I became the Chief."

He nodded, remembering that amazing detail that Svana had shared.

 **I never thought that we could do that**

 **Have a woman be the Chief**

"Yeah, it's true. Your father... was no longer fit to be the Chief after what happened. I challenged Thorvald in the Hall after you left. He gave his 'I'm next in line' and 'right by blood' argument. I reminded everyone what I had done by going to the other tribes, building and leading the Academy, and killing the Skrill. It was going to become a death duel, but Sifa actually helped calm him down and convinced him to let it go. So I became Berk's first woman to be a Chief. No one else seemed to want to challenge me for it."

Then she grinned.

"Oh, you will like this. Thorvald and Sifa have a son, Ysmir."

 _Really? Snotlout and Ruffnut have a son now. Wow._

"I know, right. Amazing how that changes people, having actual responsibility to someone else they love. They actually have another baby on the way right now. Skald and Vistra also have a daughter, little Faen."

He hummed in amazement.

 _They are all so grown up._

 **What else happened at home?**

Her smile gradually faded as she continued.

"Everything was good for a year. People came from the other tribes to learn and share knowledge. Skald took over the Academy and teaching. He had a real knack for it, so much information up in that head of his. And then we heard things from the other tribes. We heard about an army of dragons."

 _So it is true... why would they attack people who had never hurt them?_

"I learned who was behind it, a man called Drago Bludvist or Blood-Fist or something like that. We sent scouts out to find the army and realized that it was coming for our islands. The army was too large to fight, so we all went into hiding."

 **What does he want?**

"It doesn't matter what he wants. What matters is what he was going to do to us."

 **But if we learn what he wants**

 **Then maybe we can talk to him**

"Talk to Drago? Do you know what he did to Berk or the other tribes?" she nervously laughed.

He solemnly nodded.

 **He must have a reason for what he is doing**

 **Did anyone try to talk to him first?**

"When someone sends their army at you first with no attempt to negotiate... you do not stop and try to talk nice with them. No, you raise your ax and your shield and you protect your own. And no one wanted to volunteer for a suicide mission."

 **I have met many people out in the world**

 **They all learned that I am not a monster**

"How are you so sure that is the problem with him. Maybe he knows what dragons can be and simply does not care."

He could give her no answer to that point.

"There are some people who are too set in their ways to change. And some people are just plain bad. They want something that they know hurts people and they do not care. Some people want to see others burn."

 _He does sound a bit crazy from what I've heard, but still at least try for peace before admitting that fighting is necessary._

Sigh.

"But what about you, Hiccup? Tell me about some of your adventures. Surely you have gotten up to some kind of trouble since you left."

He chuckled heartily.

 **You have no idea**

 **We might need more paper...**

* * *

Shadowwing came back to the village the next morning and quickly found a pair of familiar faces.

Fishlegs and Snotlout, now Skald and Thorvald, he recognized despite them being far taller, stronger, and, in one of their cases, leaner than before. Skald had grown a very impressive mustache, whereas Thorvald had grown a thin beard. The former ran over to him with a giddy grin quite reminiscent of the younger boy he remembered.

"Uh, do you remember me?"

Yes, he nodded.

Skald's eyes went wide with glee.

Shadowwing looked around at the ground for a surface he could write on.

 **Skald**

"You are him. Chief Astrid told me, told everyone about what happened."

He almost flinched.

 **What did she say?**

"She told us what Stoick did. He sold your brother to those bad people. You flew away to find Toothless. A lot of us were very sad and angry at Stoick when we learned that. No one thought that the Chief would do that to one of his own dragons."

He relaxed slightly. She had not lied, but she had kept his secret this whole time.

"Dear, aren't you going to introduce us?" a young woman stepped forward.

The young woman had a baby in a sling about her chest.

 **Hello Vistra**

"Hello Hiccup, we are all happy to see you again," Vistra said.

 **And the little one?**

She turned so that he could see her baby, sound asleep in comfort and sucking on her thumb. He could not help but hum at the sight.

 _Wow, she is so cute..._

"Her name is Faen," Skald proudly spoke up.

"Well, well. That is mighty brave of you two," Astrid spoke up as she approached.

Her blue raiment was quite radiant as it flowed behind her back in the full sunlight.

"What? Showing our baby to a creature known as unholy and the offspring of lightning and death itself? What could possibly go wrong?" Skald teased.

All four of them laughed freely.

"Hiccup, come on. I want to show you something," Astrid said.

He got up and followed her back to her tent. There was someone waiting for him in the tent. Someone who stood on a peg-leg and was heavily hunched over.

 _Gobber!_

He jumped forward and embraced his former teacher while Gobber patted him on the back.

"There he is. My favorite dragon in the world. Look at you, all grown up. I knew that you would be just fine out here. I did say that, didn't I say that Astrid?" he pointed his remaining hand at her.

"That you did, Gobber. Many times."

 **Good to see you**

Then Shadowwing realized something obvious that had slipped his mind before. Those arrived from Berk had not brought any ships of their own.

 **How did you get here?**

"Oh, I got a dragon of my own now. We actually found the Boneknapper last year."

He slowly turned to Astrid in complete astonishment. She sighed and put up her hands in amused exasperation.

"Yeah, he was right about part of it all along."

"So what if it doesn't actually wear bones? Its cave was still full of them. That's impressive enough. I had all kinds of bones showing up at the forge, at least until we had to leave of course," Gobber chuckled while he clarified his situation.

Gobber then stepped over and patted him on the shoulder again.

"I'm afraid I need to get back to work building a forge for us here. The one that the Vaina built is not good enough at all. Thank you for checking up on me, Hiccup."

 **Any time**

He watched as Gobber limped away with what looked like a bit more spring in his step.

"I didn't tell him about Valka. I figure that she will come down when she is ready," Astrid whispered.

He nodded. Then he had an idea. She had not yet had a chance to actually meet Valka or the other Furies.

 _Why haven't mom or any of them come down to visit?_

 **Let me fly you into the nest**

She stared at the words, clearly disbelieving that he would even suggest such a thing.

"Fly me? You mean... on you?"

Yes, he rolled his eyes.

"No, that is not right... I could not..."

 **Why not?**

"I... no, I would not..."

 **You said would not that time**

"But you are Hiccup!"

 **No way!**

"You know what I mean..." she groaned.

 **I promise no spinning**

She stared for a while and then did something very surprising. She bent over with laughter, her hands clutched to her sides.

"Sorry, I never thought that... Fine, fine, if you really want me to..."

Yes, he hummed.

They stepped outside together, and he braced himself as she climbed on his back. She lay flat and held onto the base of his wings. It felt oddly intimate, similar but also different to carrying Valka. They were both close to his heart for very different reasons.

"Ready?" he rumbled.

"Yeah, I guess so," she answered.

He took a couple hops and threw out his wings. Several great beats followed and they were gliding over the village, gradually ascending toward the ice nest. They could both see scores of people and dragons freely coming and going without any apparent fear. A living rainbow of life, color, and noise. It was all very good.

They arrived at the passageway and landed. Astrid gracefully hopped off his back and walked at his side into the nest.

"Thanks for that. Have you ever done that with anyone else?"

Yes, he nodded with a nod at Valka's hut.

Astrid stared in amazement as soon as they arrived at the inner chamber.

"Is that... the King?" she stared down at the massive white figure resting in the central pool.

Yes.

"He is even bigger than the monster on Dragon Island was. That must be the biggest dragon ever. And the others, there are so many of them."

He got her attention and gestured her over to the writing box.

 **Valka was the only other one**

 **This is very different from Dragon Island**

"I see that. This is where Valka lives, right?" she gestured to the hut and supplies.

Yes.

"Where are they now?"

 **Probably a short flight away**

A brief glide together was all it took and they arrived on the ledge where they could clearly see two other adult Night Furies and one solitary woman. They all got to their feet when Astrid dismounted and stood up.

Was-Grounded moved first, taking several bounds her direction and approaching her without any hesitation.

"Toothless."

He hummed openly in happiness and nuzzled her cheek in greeting. She stroked his neck and twisted at his ears until he gave her an amused grumble.

"Yeah, I missed you too."

Valka then approached her.

"You must be Valka."

She stopped and leaned on her staff.

"He told you, didn't he," Valka whispered.

"Everything," Astrid answered.

"And you must be Astrid Hofferdottir."

"And the Dragon Whisperer."

"Lovely title."

"And Chief of Berk."

"That... hurts to hear, I will be honest," Valka muttered.

"Your... husband was no longer fit to be Chief. I took over because of my experience with dragons and other tribes and my skill as a shieldmaiden," Astrid explained.

"So all Berk is here now."

"Yes."

"And Stoick, is he here too?"

Astrid nodded very slowly.

"You haven't told him, have you?" Valka stammered.

"No, I will leave that up to you if you want it. Why are you staying in here instead of joining us?"

"I... do not belong with them. My place has always been here."

"And now we are here also. The tribe out there is not the same tribe you were taken from many years ago. We all changed. Please consider it."

Then Astrid turned her attention to the one remaining Night Fury that had hung back the entire time and had not moved toward her.

"Green-Wings..." she whispered.

She unhooked her sword and dagger and visibly set them aside. Then she slowly, cautiously, approached the nervous female. Her body was slightly smaller and leaner than either of the males and her facial features were slightly different, slightly more rounded and with fewer frills on her head. But she was still beyond any doubt a Night Fury.

"Hello..."

She waited as the greeting was translated for her. Then she held out an empty hand for the wild Fury's nose. Green-Wings stared intently at the hand and smelled her without moving for several moments.

"You are a beautiful dragon..."

Then the dragon looked up at her in apparent astonishment as the words were translated. Then she very slowly stretched out her neck and cautiously touched the hand with her nose while giving a very faint hum.

Astrid choked back her tears and stepped back a moment later.

"Thank you. You have a baby?"

Green-Wings paused a moment and then lifted a wing. Astrid's heart almost melted when she saw the young Fury, his head on his arms, cozily sleeping against his mother's side.

She bowed to Green-Wings, who seemed very surprised by the gesture and then slightly inclined her own head. Astrid then returned to Toothless's side and gave him a sly nudge on the shoulder. He rumbled his confusion at her.

"Look at you, Toothless. A daddy. I am happy for you."

He heard her words and, understanding enough of them, licked her on the cheek.

"Ugh, Toothless, why would you do that?" she exclaimed as she wiped off the drool.

He laughed at her and hopped over to snuggle against Green-Wings's side.

"Great, I hope this washes out," Astrid groaned.

"It doesn't," Valka chuckled.

Astrid turned back and looked with mirth at the three resting Furies.

"I have met a family of Night Furies," she whispered almost in disbelief.

"Dawn-Singer can fly freely on his own already, and he can talk. And there will be another before too long. Green-Wings is carrying another egg now," Valka added.

"Wow. I am glad I got to see this. Hmph, unholy offspring of lightning and death indeed..."

* * *

She looked out over the growing evening darkness and listened. Everyone could hear them. A mix of human voices and the distant calls of dragons far above. All was peaceful. There was no conflict or strife. Everything was good.

A few moments passed while she watched Stormfly and her brood slowly flying on the nearby winds.

"Chief." "Chief."

She nodded at the passers-by and returned to her tent. She took off her cape, blue sash, weapons, and all Chiefly attire. She then put on her resting gown. Flying light and on short notice certainly had drawbacks as far as the variety in the wardrobe is concerned. She fell down onto her furs and sighed. The only light inside her tent came from a very small, smoldering fire in a makeshift fireplace.

"What a day... why should this one be different? Not a moment of peace."

Her eyes closed as she tried to find sleep. After moment though she started feeling like something was wrong. Almost like she was being watched.

She glanced over at the front of her tent and saw a head poking inside. The large and rounded eyes reflected the light.

"Hiccup..." she exclaimed in surprise.

She rolled to a sitting position and faced him. If it were anyone else there would be some very harsh words being used at the intrusion.

"What is it?"

He brushed inside, sat down before her, and pretended to write.

"You want to talk?"

No, he shook his head before pointing to her and nodding.

"You want me to talk?"

Yes.

"Ok then, I'll bite at that. I still cannot believe that all this happened. Almost a week of flying and now we are here. All the dragon riding tribes are together and united. And I found family that I thought might be lost. I really don't know what to think yet."

She yawned.

"Mostly, I am just exhausted. It has been a long day, week, year actually."

He glanced at her fur bedroll on the ground and had an idea, although he did feel a bit awkward about it. A moment of hesitation passed before he made up his mind, shuffled over a few steps, and lay down by the bedroll with a wing extended. Then he expectantly glanced up at her.

She did not move or speak for several moments.

"Hiccup, what is this?" she whispered.

He looked for a free patch of ground within reach.

 **Sleep**

"That is... you must know how strange this is."

He slowly nodded with a sad hum.

 **I miss you**

 **A lot**

She hesitated a further moment before she approached and lay down on her furs while facing him. He slowly lowered the wing over her.

"Remember the last time we talked about this?" she whispered.

Yes, he hummed and nodded.

"Have you learned anything about how to be changed back?"

He very slowly and solemnly shook his head.

"Anything about dragon magic?"

He nodded and started to write on the nearest dirt.

 **I do not have any**

"Well, that is good, I guess. Wouldn't want you changing me into a Night Fury now would we?"

He seemed to huff in amusement and then gained an obviously thoughtful look.

 **Would you be one?**

She stared at the words for a long time in thought.

"I imagine that it is something that every dragon rider has thought about at some point. What is it like to actually be one of them? A crazy thought to escape from real life."

Sigh.

"I guess if it was the difference between living or dying, like it was for you, then sure, yeah, I would rather be alive than dead."

"Being a dragon would also be an escape from being Chief, I suppose. Thank the Fates that you did not have to be Chief. Always on call, never free of duty, always having to make choices that matter and ones that do not matter, and never thinking of yourself or doing what would make you happy. It tears you up inside, knowing how important you are to the people and how little you know even as you are supposed to lead them."

Then she groaned.

"Hiccup, why are you... why are we talking about this? There is no reason to want something that cannot be."

 **I know**

"Do you? Why are we really talking about it?"

He froze before answering and replaced one word in what he had previously written.

 **You know**

She sighed and continued while staring up at the top of the tent.

"One thing I know for sure is that I will not be one to settle down, take a husband, and dutifully pop out some kids. I think I have always known that somehow. I spent so long training to be a shieldmaiden that I cannot do what is normal to most people now."

She looked away from him up to the top of the tent for a long time before continuing.

"Am I a good Chief?"

His confused expression said enough.

"Think about it though. I am Chief for only a year, and we lose Berk and have to go into hiding. I do not know if I did something wrong and should have prepared better or differently. I guess that no one knows what it is really like to be Chief in advance though. To have all that responsibility and be expected to have all the answers. All one can do is try and learn on the job."

He nodded once to her and turned away to yawn. She also stifled a yawn.

"I think I am about done. And thanks for... this, whatever this is."

She closed her eyes on her small pillow and fell asleep in the shelter of his wing. He watched her and listened to her breaths as she slept in peace and warmth.

Not once did he feel any stirring or excitement with her at his side. Warmth, trust, and a protectiveness owed to one considered to be family certainly, but nothing more.

And he gave a soft, sad sigh.

 _Astrid... I wish... that things could have been different... for us._

* * *

She watched him from the shadows. Silently flirting between tents and watching his progress as confusion boiled in her heart. Over twenty years it had been since she saw him, and the things that Hiccup had told her about him were...

Was there anything left of the good man she knew so long ago? He certainly had changed after losing Hiccup. He had allowed Berk to change for the better and gave Astrid the backing and support needed to make real a world that she herself had thought impossible. He fought battles and won wars for his people and then...

Turned on one of his own.

She saw him approach a small, simple tent. Then she saw something that made her hands shake in disbelief.

There was a Rumblehorn resting near that tent, and he was patting the dragon. The dragon had a saddle at its side and clearly knew him. He was being gentle to a creature he would have once killed without a second thought.

"What happened to you, my darling dear?" she whispered.

He eventually turned from the dragon and retired inside his tent.

It would be easy to turn away, walk back outside the camp, and return to the ice nest. To the world that she knew and called home. To the place where even now, hidden deep in one special chest, there was a ring of gold carefully stowed away.

She made up her mind and walked straight over to the tent to confront the past, now become the present. Her staff was left on the ground outside the tent as she opened the curtain, stepped inside, and let the curtain close behind her. There was enough light from the small fireplace to let her see his face.

"Who is there?" Stoick asked.

His voice was different now, something was broken in it. Far weaker or more humble than she remembered.

He rolled over on his bedroll and looked up at her as she stood there in her complete mask of attire. Then he stood up before her.

"The Dragonheart, I have heard about you."

She said nothing.

"They say you have lived here your whole life and that you know the Night Fury from Berk."

She nodded while he groaned.

"Then you know my story. You know what I did."

Another nod.

"Do you know why? No, it does not matter why. What matters is that I did it. I cannot change that."

Sigh.

"I wish that I could have it all back. I failed him. I failed her."

She almost gasped.

"I made my wife a promise after she was taken. That I would look after our boy. I failed him so many times and I... I even turned on my own... There is probably no greater crime that you can think of."

A silent, solemn moment passed.

"I know that she is looking down at me now. What must she think of me? She must hate me."

He turned away from her and looked down at his bedroll in silence.

She was not sure why it was happening, but her hands moved up to her helmet and took it off. She gingerly held it in her fingers and then unceremoniously dropped it. There was a soft thud and then nothing else. Pure silence followed except for the crackle of the fire and the occasional distant call from beyond.

"No, I do not," Valka whispered.

Neither of them moved for several moments until he slowly turned around and stared at her. At her green eyes and thin cheeks illuminated by the firelight.

He took one slow step toward her. Then another. And another until he was close enough to touch her. His eyes were filled with disbelief, awe, fear, and tears.

She could not remember him ever openly weeping before.

And he fell to his knees before her and stared up at her.

"Oh, Stoick..." she barely whispered.

"Val..."

Words then failed him as he wept openly.

A long silence followed broken only by his choked sobs.

"I... know... who... the Night Fury is," she eventually whispered.

"And... you do not... hate me?" he slowly gasped.

"I hate what you did. Not the one who did it."

He blinked and slowly shook his head.

"You were always too forgiving," he whispered.

"And you were always too stoic."

He stifled a pained chuckle.

"You were right about them all along. Your son saved us all," Stoick then whispered.

"My son?"

"I do not deserve to be called his father."

She went down on her own knees until they knelt roughly at the same level. She slowly reached up with her trembling hands and placed them on his cheeks.

"Val?"

"Where is the man I knew?"

"He... died on Berk," Stoick groaned.

"I do not believe that," Valka whispered back.

"What?"

"Sing to me, sing me our song," she implored him.

He took her hands and held them ever so gently as he kept his eyes closed. His voice was soft, ever so soft, when he began.

"I'll swim and sail on savage seas... with naer a fear of drowning... and gladly ride the waves of life... if you will marry me... no scorching sun nor freezing cold... will stop me on my journey... if you will promise me your heart... and love me for eternity..."

She sang almost in a whisper.

"My dearest one my darling dear... your mighty words astound me... but I've no need of mighty deeds... when I feel your arms around me."

He continued.

"But I would bring you rings of gold... I'd even sing you poetry... and I would keep you from all harm... if you would stay beside me."

She answered.

"I have no use for rings of gold... I care not for your poetry... I only want your hand to hold... I only want you with me."

Their voices remained solemn as they mixed.

"To love, to kiss, to sweetly hold... for the dancing and the dreaming... through all life's sorrows and delights... I'll keep your love beside me... I'll swim and sail on savage seas... with naer a fear of drowning... and gladly ride the waves of life... if you will marry me."

Silence followed save for the crackle of the fire.

"Do you think... we can ever... be a family again? Will he ever forgive me?" he warily asked.

"How about we start with us now?" she answered.

"Us?"

"Will you sweetly hold me?"

She put a finger on his lips to silence his reply.

"Just hold me."

He nodded and waited as she removed her remaining riding attire, leaving only her poor and ragged garments that she wore underneath. Then she lay down at his side.

And he held her gently. Only when she was sure that he was asleep did her own tears come forth, though they fell silently.

* * *

He listened to the world around him from deep under the ocean's surface. Down here where it should be restful and where the large numbers of fish could be found and hunted.

But the long peace and quiet was now changed. There was another voice far out under the distant waters. A voice he remembered from long ago. Another great one like him but one who did not understand why the kin wanted to flock around him but not around it. One who did not think it just or fair that he should have more than it. One who was jealous of another's abundance. One who did not know sacrifice or accept duty. One who would swim with and join power with two-legs to get power and kin of its own through twisted force instead of right example.

He let his great growl escape from his vastness and race through the water. The echo from the ocean's ground bounced, strengthening his call. The water shuddered and trembled with his power as fish floated lifelessly.

He waited and silently listened for a reply, for an acknowledgment of any kind.

There was no answering call.

Words whispered to him long ago now remembered again, having been brought to the currents of his thoughts when the first dark wing appeared in his nest. Chill his liver the words did.

But having his role in the nest was not for his own sake. That great calling was not for the gorging of his own belly or the flaming of his own liver. It was always for others.

For he was the last in the nest.


	46. II - Peacemaker

_**Author's Note - There were plenty of hints that this was coming. Consider this your warning that there will be much drama from here on through the end of this volume, as though that was not already certain.**_

* * *

" _Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche - Beyond Good and Evil_

* * *

Peacemaker

* * *

"Thank you Gustav, send for the other Chiefs immediately."

"Yes, my Chief."

She watched as the young man ran off. Only when he was gone did she turn and re-enter her tent. She closed the front blinds, sat down, and held her head in her hands. She found it hard to breathe and her limbs shook.

"Breathe... in and out... just breathe..."

She reached for her blade as her hand trembled. The weapon was a special commission given to her by Gobber himself as a gift after she had assumed the Chiefly mantle. Everything about it was customized to her; the shape of the handle, the Nadder scale embedded in the pommel, the weight and balance of the blade, all of it was perfect. It was far less unwieldy to carry around with her than her old axe would have been, much as she did miss the old cleaver.

She flipped the sword and perfectly balanced it on a finger at its center of weight. She stared at the familiar weapon and felt her breaths slow. Then she flipped the blade up in the air and grabbed it fully by the pommel.

But it still felt like the whole world that she knew was now balanced on such a tipping point with no way of knowing which direction it would fall.

With her courage and strength restored by holding the blade in her hand, she took a deep breath and put on her Chiefly attire. The sash of blue went over her head and the scale cape went over her back. She put her sword in its sheath and stowed away her family dagger hidden at her hip.

When she stepped back outside in her full raiment, she also wore her Chiefly mask.

Calm. Confident. Impassive. Stoic. Commanding respect.

She walked behind the tent to briefly attend to Stormfly and the little ones, this being Stormfly's second litter. The three young Nadders were a real pain at times since they had all the youthful energy of two year old dragons, but there were also sweet moments when they all rested together. Just as they were thankfully doing now.

"Hey girl, how are you?"

Stormfly gave her the grumble and hum that she always understood as contentment while she rubbed her dragon's cheeks.

"That is good. I'll be back later, girl. I am glad that you don't know what is going to happen."

Stormfly chittered at her for a moment and then lay back down.

Astrid strode forth to the meeting place where all the Chiefs had been summoned.

She held her shoulders proudly as she passed through her tribe, never once betraying any of her inner fear.

 _Well, at least we had a couple days of peace._

* * *

They all sat around a table in the largest tent. Astrid, Svana, Edgaras, and Alvin. The Chiefs of the four united dragon riding tribes. Plus, in the corner of the room stood one attentively listening Night Fury and a wild woman who only went by the name Dragonheart.

Astrid stood at the head of the table and looked around.

"He is on his way here with his army," Astrid calmly announced to the assembly.

"How long do we have?" Edgaras calmly asked.

"Maybe a day," she grimly answered.

"How did we not know this sooner?" Alvin almost shouted.

"I do not know. A couple of our scouts have not returned."

"He must have had us followed," Svana exclaimed.

"Yeah, it does not matter who he followed or how he found us. What matters is what we are going to do now," Astrid answered.

All those at the table nodded in agreement.

"How many does he have?" Edgaras asked.

"We counted about twenty ships but hundreds of dragons."

"Hundreds? Why would they fly for him?" Svana exclaimed in dismay.

"I do not know. Do you know, Dragonheart?" Astrid asked.

"I'm sorry, who is this crazy woman again?" Alvin objected.

They all glanced at the masked woman who had to this point been silent.

"She has lived here with the dragons for many years and knows these waters and lands. She might seem a little crazy but she stays," Astrid declared.

Valka stepped forward and nervously removed her helmet. None of the other Chiefs appeared to recognize her appearance. Though, the only one who could have reasonably done so was Alvin.

"I do not know why dragons would fly for the dragon master. Maybe he tortured them and broke their wills. Maybe he raised some of them from hatchlings. I do not know. What matters is that the dragons will not be a problem for us."

"No, why not?" Svana wondered.

"The King."

A shudder went through most of those at the table.

"You have all seen him. He keeps the peace in the nest and around this island. He will not let the wild dragons not of his nest attack us."

"How can it do that?" Alvin wondered.

"It is hard to explain, but he can calm them just by being around them. All that we will need to deal with is the men Bludvist brings and that is if they can even get to the island."

"Well, in that case this should be easy. We will outnumber him four to one with men only," Alvin relaxed.

"But why would he come here knowing that he is outnumbered? It does not make sense," Svana countered.

"Maybe he does not know how many we are. Maybe his balls have grown too big," Alvin and Edgaras laughed.

Shadowwing got up and approached the table where there were paper and a pencil already laid out for him.

 **Do we know what he wants?**

Everyone looked around at each other in momentary confusion.

"What he wants? To destroy us, that is what he wants. It is as simple as that!" Alvin answered to nods of agreement around the table.

 **Has anyone tried to talk to him?**

"Talk to Bludvist?" Edgaras chuckled.

 **For peace or a treaty?**

The other three Chiefs laughed and slapped their sides at the mere suggestion.

"Very funny!" "Best joke ever!" "Good one!"

He looked around at them in slight dismay.

 _They really do not want to even try to negotiate..._

 **I am not joking**

"Impossible," Alvin exclaimed.

"We will have peace when he is dead!" Edgaras growled.

He almost growled aloud in frustration.

 **I know four Chiefs who changed**

 **They are all here at this table**

No one said anything for a while.

"This one is not like us. He cannot be reasoned with. All we can do is fight and destroy him and his army! It will be a glorious slaughter!" Edgaras declared with a fist on the table.

Shadowwing looked over with a pleading glance to Astrid. She calmly and sadly looked back at him and slowly shook her head. He then glanced over to Valka and saw that even she had her free hand on a dagger at her side. Her eyes were steeled in a way that bespoke acceptance and determination.

He slowly stepped back from the table with an obvious expression of dismay, hung his head for a moment, and dashed outside the tent. The curtain whipped around him and then settled down after his tail vanished.

"What is with him?" Alvin teased.

"You know how he is. He was hurt by seeing the Berserker's attack on Berk and does not want to see any more fighting," Astrid sighed.

"I swear though that there is something with that dragon. Don't get me wrong, I like him, but he does not understand people. He is going to get himself or someone he cares for killed some day," Alvin continued.

"Weren't you the one who tried to kill him once before?" Svana exclaimed.

None of them noticed that Valka twitched and almost drew her dagger.

"As I said before, I never actually intended to hurt him. I just needed leverage over old Stoick. And that reminds me, how is he by the way?" Alvin turned to Astrid.

Astrid froze and resisted the temptation to glance over at Valka.

"Better. He has been trying to redeem himself over the last few years by doing the small things and messy work that others do not want to do. Nothing too small..." she added in a whisper.

"I still cannot believe that he would do something so... treacherous to one of his own dragons. I... would once have been impressed by him," Alvin muttered.

Astrid closed her eyes and thought about that fateful and terrible set of events long ago. How differently might things have been if were not for Stoick's stubborn pride.

"Desperation makes people do stupid things when they think their dream is in danger," she said after a momentary pause.

They all nodded in agreement without further questioning her words as she got up and walked over to the map of the island.

"We still need to prepare for the arrival. Here is what I propose..." she began.

* * *

Shadowwing aimlessly walked through the crowd while ignoring everyone's calls around him. Everything that he had heard at the council chamber echoed in his memory.

He gave a faint growl of frustration at their perfect Nord stubbornness. None of them seriously considered even the possibility of finding a peaceful resolution. And he was certain that none of them had even bothered to send a messenger at all.

Though, from what he had heard of this Bludvist or Blood-Fist person, he did not sound like a normal Chief at all. A normal Chief, even if making war on another tribe, would probably not burn the entire captured village to the ground. But on the other hand, it was an empty village that was burned and part of his army was dragons, so things could easily have gotten out of hand.

And he gave a snort as he thought about the dragon master's apparent title.

 _Probably just an intimidating name for this Dargo... whoever. It sounds like something a desperate Chief would want to have just to sound scarier._

 _And his dragons and men probably lost control for some reason. If he only understood that dragons are not the monsters he has to think they are. And if he knew that there is another way, that he does not have to use them as weapons, then maybe..._

He stepped around a tent and froze. His heart clenched as he recognized someone despite their vastly changed appearance.

The man now had short cropped hair, and his beard was far shorter than it had been in the distant past. The man had also lost a lot of weight, but there was no mistaking him even now.

His own father.

Stoick was going about the completely normal, menial task of hauling fish in from the latest catch and delivering a portion to various people and their dragons.

This was his chance.

His chance to growl, scream, and shout at the betrayal.

His chance to put a paw on his father's shoulder, forgive him, and try to move on.

But he was frozen and could not move.

Stoick eventually looked up and saw him standing there. His father's expression was completely unreadable and impassive as the man put aside the basket of fish and slowly strode over to him.

They met just to the side of the tent, somewhat cut off from everyone around them. His father looked like he had aged well over a decade in the last few years and had clearly lost a lot of weight and strength.

"I...do not know... where to start..."

A soft growl was the only response he got.

"I was a fool and a traitor..."

 _Oh really, you think!_

"I wanted us... to be a family again..."

 _But we were..._

"I was too proud, did not listen, and did not trust others..."

Snarl.

 _That you were..._

"I am not asking for it right now. I do not deserve it. But I only want to know, can… can you forgive me, for… for everything, again?"

Stoick reached out with a trembling hand. Shadowwing looked at him, turned away, and stared at the ground.

 _Can I forgive you after all that you did? All that Toothless suffered? All that I had to do?_

 _I do not know..._

He reluctantly glanced back at Stoick's pained but hopeful face and put a single claw to the dirt.

 **Maybe**

 **Try to earn it**

Stoick looked down at the painstakingly written words and sighed.

"I will."

Shadowwing spun away, ran out from between the tents, and flew off without a backward glance. He dashed up to an isolated ledge away from everyone, vanished under his wings, and wept without shedding any tears.

* * *

"Brother!"

"Shadowwing, what is it?"

Shadowwing landed and bounded up to his resting brother.

"There is a bad two-leg nest coming here to fight!"

Was-Grounded yawned widely and barely stirred.

"Why are you not afraid?" Shadowwing exclaimed.

Was-Grounded laughed openly.

"Let the bad two-legs come here. What can they do? Ground the great-tusk-Alpha? Let them try."

"The bad two-leg nest has a big flight of kin flying for it."

Was-Grounded flew to his feet, clearly now alarmed.

"A big flight of kin? Is that the flight that burned our old nest-island?"

"Yes, our two-leg nest-Alphas say that the other bad two-leg Alpha wants to fight this nest."

Was-Grounded grumbled in confusion.

"How can the two-leg nest have kin flying for it?"

"I do not know."

"Grr, if they have thralls or kin flying for them, I am staying here in the ice nest with Green-Wings and Dawn-Singer. I will shelter them with my wings and teeth."

Then death entered his eyes.

"I will kill any kin or two-leg that tries to hurt them," he growled.

Shadowwing nodded and then continued.

"I want to talk to the bad two-leg Alpha. I can get him to make the fighting not happen."

Was-Grounded blinked and shook his head. He knew that his brother did not care for fighting and spilling of life-water. Hiccup had always preferred kin and two-legs living together and the flight of shared nest peace. On the one paw, he could not be wholly upset about that since that dislike of fighting and killing was part of the reason that he himself was spared many season-cycles ago.

On the other paw though, it meant that Shadowwing was reluctant to do things when they needed to be done. His brother also thought that too many two-legs had only lift in their livers toward kin or could be made to have that same lift only by having warm experiences with kin. As though learning and knowing more could burn out every rot that grew in two-leg livers.

"Why do you think that all two-legs will listen to you?"

"Because I have always changed them. Making peace is what I know how to do. That is my life-flight."

Was-Grounded thought for a moment about how to better make his point.

"But why do you think that you will always be able to make that peace be? Do you know what is in the liver of every two-leg?"

Shadowwing turned aside with a weak moan.

"What question is that? You also do not trust me?"

He stepped forward and whipped his brother's tail with his own.

"Do not be word and liver-twisted. I always trust you. This bad-Alpha two-leg drove kin and two-legs from their nests with a thrall kin flight, true?"

Shadowwing reluctantly nodded.

"He will not want to listen or hear your words."

Shadowwing thought for a long time before he answered.

"Did I ever tell you what the two-legs on home-nest-island said about all kin before the peace that we helped make? Do you know what the life-rule was that all two-legs were told?"

"What?"

"Kin are very dangerous, kill them when you see them. No listening, no talking, no giving fish, no peace. I cannot let that be. My old nest did not listen to me after I met you and they did change. They became warm to kin. I want this to work. I can fly this flight."

Was-Grounded interrupted.

"Yes, most of them changed. But do you remember why? We almost died before they listened to any of your words. We did die in a way. They had to see kin fighting for them, and they had to see why the kin ever fought them at all. Your sire did not listen to you after I protected you in the place of death-fighting. It was not your words that changed their livers."

Shadowwing said nothing as his thoughts turned to the distant past. His disowning and effective outcasting from the tribe. The despair that took him afterwards, which was itself only broken by Astrid's talking some sense of purpose into him. The aimlessness that settled into his new life until he found a new purpose. The mission of peace and co-existence. A purpose that he was able to contribute to even while searching for his lost brother.

The same purpose that even now made it possible for humans and dragons to share this island in peace and trust even if in preparation for war.

"None of the two-legs down on the sands listened to me now. They do not know what I have done; how many two-legs I have changed. They do not trust me," Shadowwing muttered.

"No, I think that those words of yours are twisted, brother..." Was-Grounded objected.

"All want peace. Even this Alpha two-leg. He does not know it yet. I only need to show him. I can save them."

Shadowwing rose to his feet, turned for the ledge, and prepared to jump.

"Be careful with your flight. You do not know how the winds will blow," Was-Grounded pleaded.

Shadowwing sighed heavily without looking back.

"It is not myself that I am thinking about," he whispered back before taking wing.

Was-Grounded watched as his brother flew up to his ledge, likely to rest and think.

Then he himself returned to his sleeping mate's side and put a wing over her and Dawn-Singer. Both she and Dawn-Singer had spent much of the sun on a dam-fledgling flying lesson on the thermals and were both exhausted. It happened more easily for her now since she was getting later in carrying the new egg.

 _The great-tusk-Alpha_ _will protect us all. He will ground the bad two-legs and hold away any thrall-kin._

But it felt faintly like there were jaws of ice circling around his liver as he pondered his brother's liver-clenching on this idea that all two-legs could be changed. That none had rot in their livers but were instead only flying the wrong flight because they did not know better.

It felt like a kin that is too small to carry away a catch and keeps trying to haul away the catch instead of eating it. Or, it was like a kin who never thought to look at what it was eating and missed seeing that there were bad-wrong-snake-fish among the true, good fish.

 _You should think more about yourself, brother, or you will get yourself grounded._

* * *

Shadowwing tossed and turned in his sleep as confusing dreams swarmed around him.

He stood in the same cove again and stared up at the familiar Night Fury with its rounded eyes and toothless maw.

 _Who..._

In one hand he held a sharp knife dripping with blood and in the other he held a fat and juicy fish.

 _...are..._

A Night Fury skull hung over the fireplace, and a living, laughing Night Fury licked his face.

 _...you..._

Swarms of dragons flew against each other with fires and claws flashing, and swarms of dragons soared the skies with joyful cries.

 _...dark..._

Boats burned with dragon fire, and boats hauled in dozens of fish herded by dragon fire.

 _...wing?_

Weapons were raised at his approach, and weapons were lowered at his words.

His special mission to be a bringer of peace.

And he weakly whimpered while tossing in his restless sleep.

* * *

Dawn slowly approached what he knew would be a fateful day.

He was wide awake despite having barely slept well at all. The morning chill in the air mirrored the coldness in his limbs as he stood on the ledge that overlooked the beach. His tail twitched as he looked down on the preparations for war. The activities had continued all throughout the night.

People from all four tribes were sharpening swords, fashioning shields, or fitting their dragons with armor if they had any available. Fishing boats were moved around the island away from where the fighting would happen. Scouts kept watch overhead.

He growled openly to himself.

 _I have changed people no one thought could be saved before. People like Alvin!_

Too many people thought that dragons were nothing but dumb beasts, incapable of kindness, affection, or friendship. That was why he was able to convince so many of them of the truth. He only had to write in the ground to show them that he was a person. Even if the other dragons were not quite the same as himself or the other Night Furies and could not talk, it was still normally enough that the person who had just seen the light would look at and treat the other dragons differently also. Everyone was better off.

But this was going to end in war, bloodshed, screaming, and death. People were going to see the violent and dangerous side of dragons all over again.

 _For them to think that people cannot change when the evidence that they can is right on the island in front of them. When they are the proof!_

Growl.

 _To not even try once to talk to him? Why will they not trust me?_

He hung his head and sighed deeply. It was only a matter of time now before it would happen. There was nothing visible on the horizon yet, but that would change soon.

It was now or never as he weighed the options one last time. Stay here and join in the fighting as well as he was able, or leave and keep the peace the way he knew that he could.

Become a monster and embrace a violent side or be the savior who protects and does what others cannot or will not do.

He took a deep breath and flew from the nest, his course set for the southern open ocean. He flew steadily until the ice nest island was gone from the horizon before he saw the approaching armada.

Just over thirty ships were sailing straight for the ice nest and would be there by midday. And above them all, sparkling like a living rainbow, flew a cloud of dragons. Dragons of every size and shape, some of which were wearing armor. There were even some types that he had never seen before and which had no name he knew of.

 _I've never seen so many before._

It quickly became evident which ship was his goal. The largest ship of them all sailed at the head of the fleet and was directly under the swarming cloud up above. The ship had large black sails and massive links of chains hanging from the deck down into the water.

 _This is the dragon master's ship._

He slowly flew in circles high above the ship as he appraised the situation. There were not too many men on it. There was however a solitary figure standing at the ship's bow and facing toward the island.

 _That has to be him!_

He dove swiftly toward the vessel. The middle of the deck was open enough that he could safely land.

 _Just don't start shooting at me._

He alighted on the deck with a creaking of wood underneath him. Several of the sailors and soldiers started yelling. He made a point of sitting down in plain view of everyone and refused to react even when several of the men reached for their bows and spears. But he also made sure that he had room to leap to safety if necessary.

"Stop!"

It was a deep and powerful voice that bespoke years of authority. Of having orders followed without question. All the soldiers and sailors immediately obeyed.

The black robed figure slowly walked toward him, and he was finally able to meet the man he had heard so much about.

 _Dargo Blood-Fist or Bludvist or something like that._

The dragon master.

The man had very dark skin, possibly heavily tanned by years in the sun. He held a massive, hooked staff in his right arm while his left arm was hidden under his cloak. His hair, both from his head and his beard, was braided, and his face had a long scar running down its entire length. His eyes were sunken and gave him an almost permanently tired look. Despite all this, he was clearly a man of formidable presence and physical strength.

Drago stopped walking several paces away and stared intently back at him.

"Shall we get nets, my lord?" one of the soldiers asked.

"Nets, no. No nets."

Drago took a few more steps in his direction and looked troubled by something.

He held himself completely still as Drago came near enough to touch him. Drago stood perfectly still as well, staring almost eye to eye with the black dragon that had peacefully landed on the ship and was doing nothing vicious.

The entire crew waited with baited breath for something to happen. The tension on deck was almost palpable.

Then Drago turned around and began walking back toward the bow of the ship.

 _What is he doing?_

As Drago walked back and the cloak swished around him, Shadowwing was able to see the material that the man was wearing. He realized with a shock of horror that it was not just made of black leather. It was also made of black dragon scale, and there were only so many dragons that had black hides and those particular scales.

The dragon master had robed himself in a Night Fury's hide and scales.

He stifled the growl of shock and anger. Whatever the man had done or been in the past, he could still change now.

"Wait! Stop this!" he called out despite knowing full well that Drago could not understand.

But Drago did pause at the massive anchor-chains and looked back at him. For a brief moment, the man looked confused and thoughtful. It was as if he was not sure about something.

 _I really did not think this through. Should have brought something to write on..._

"Why are you doing this?"

Another moment of consideration passed as the man wavered.

Shadowwing slowly held out a paw toward him in what he hoped looked like a peaceful gesture.

"What do you want?"

Then Drago's eyes hardened, and he turned back to the giant anchor-chains at the ship's bow. He raised the staff and started beating on the chains that extended down below his flagship.

Shadowwing winced as the ringing sound echoed through his head, the air, and through the deck beneath his feet.

 _What is he doing? Is he crazy?_

The clanging sound stopped almost as soon as it began. But the metallic clang which died out only bled into another, more menacing sound. It was a very low rumbling that seemed to build from below-decks. All the men started shying away from the deck where Drago stood. Then the boat began to pitch as if it had been hit by a rogue wave.

He stumbled and struggled to right himself as the ship settled.

When he looked back up, he saw that Drago had turned back to face him and had pointed his staff-spear directly at him. Far more shocking though was the massive grey head that now stuck out of the water behind Drago. The giant tusks, ringed with metal chains and filed to a sharp point, were easily as long as the ship's great mast.

Drago had his own Bewilderbeast.

He understood perfectly in that one timeless moment how Drago had managed to assemble his dragon army. He did so through this one Bewilderbeast. All the rest were unwilling slaves.

Every instinct screamed to close his eyes, turn, and fly away.

But he did not want to.

The piercing blue eye stared back at him in a way the white King never had.

All he wanted was to look into that peaceful blue eye and let the deep rumbling and loud, unheard whispering that he had not noticed until that moment fill his thoughts.

The promise of peace and bliss.

No fighting and death.

All the shapes of boats, flying dragons above, and people on deck turned to wispy smoke.

The sun's radiant light was smothered.

The eye was strong.

 _ **Who…**_

' _Monsters can..._

He wanted peace.

The eye was strong.

 _ **...are…**_

 _...make you…_

It wanted peace.

The eye was strong.

 _ **...you...**_

 _...think bad…_

They both wanted peace.

The eye was strong.

 _ **...dark...**_

 _...things…'_

Peace was good.

The eye was strong.

 _ **...wing?**_

 _Peace was his dream._

 _His dream..._

 _His dream..._

 _Strip away..._

 _Twist and take..._

 _Fill and break..._

 _An empty shell..._

 _Empty shell.._

 _Empty shell..._

 _His dream..._

 _His dream..._

 _Dream.._.

 _Dream..._

.

.

 _Peace._

 _._

 _._

* * *

A dull thud was all that followed when the Night Fury collapsed to the ship's deck. Its screams and growls of protest had been silenced and now it lay like a dead thing except for its slow breaths.

He walked over to it and silently considered it with a smirk of triumph.

For just a moment, he had wavered, thinking that there was something especially strange about this one and the way it had looked at him as it growled and held out a paw.

Then he had remembered many years ago when he had howled in pain himself after watching the rest of his family be taken at night. When he lost an entire arm. When the little boy who had looked up with wonder and hope at the dragons had died inside and been replaced by the person driven by true purpose. The purpose of conquering dragons and subjecting them while also making himself more powerful.

"I needed one of these. Gotta keep this one for later," he growled.

Then he woke it up with a kick to the neck.

It bellowed and stumbled to its feet. Its eyes were mere slits and all of its sharp teeth were fully bared in his face. Then it obediently stepped back with a whimper and groveled at his feet.

He pointed up at the sky, and the Night Fury rose with a roar to join the other dragons in the peaceful spiral of the Alpha's living, sparkling crown.

He smiled to himself as he took his place back at the ship's bow. He had something special planned for this Night Fury in the upcoming battle and afterwards. The irony was too perfect that it was going to end this way.

"Whisperer indeed... let me put that to the test," he chuckled.

He turned back to the Alpha, and a great eye rolled to gaze directly at him. They understood each other perfectly without needing any words. In some way that no others could possibly fathom, they were like mirrors of the other. When they looked into the other's eyes, they saw a reflection of themselves.

Both great among their kinds and respecting of the other's greatness of will. Both having great power and will over their own kinds. Both driven by a great purpose and desire. Both having suffered and prepared for so long to assure their triumph. Both knowing that their time had finally come.


	47. II - Dueling Fates

_**Long Author's Note – TheWhisperingWarrior brought up a very good point about my portrayal of Drago and the Bewilderbeast as not being master-slave. That idea of the master-slave relationship has been used many times and was hinted at in Drago's language in film II ('He who controls the Alpha...') but made no sense to me. Is it reasonable that such a massive creature as the Alpha is truly afraid of and terrorized by a tiny human? For one, how could humans ever catch such a thing and restrain it? Finding it and raising it from a baby makes no sense because it would take many decades if not centuries to reach such a size. The Bewilderbeast never gave any indication of being truly terrorized by the sight of Drago. It made more sense to me to portray them as working together. The Bewilderbeast gets humans to provide more dragons for its flock and Drago gets to wield the power of a dragon army. Plus, them working in concert is a twisted homage to Hiccup's words that he saw himself when he looked at Toothless in their first meeting. Drago/Alpha and Hiccup/Toothless are portrayed in the film as being opposites of the other. The Alpha wants to conquer and fight for itself and to forcibly control other dragons. Toothless wants to defend and fight for others and accepts being made Alpha through acclaim instead of twisted force. Drago wants to take revenge for past offenses (loss of family) that dragons wrought on him when he was a boy and wants to secure a type of peace through subjugation. Hiccup does not seek revenge against the past (loss of family when he was a boy) and wants to live in peace through mutual trust.**_ _ **They are perfect foils to the other.**_

* * *

" _I came into a place void of all light... which bellows like the sea in tempest... when it is combated by warring winds." - Dante Alighieri – Inferno – Canto V_

* * *

Dueling Fates

* * *

Astrid walked from family to family, clasping arms with warriors and embracing wives and mothers.

All the preparations had been made as well as they could on such short notice. This was one time when she was quite thankful of how warlike the Volsung still were, as they traveled with extra supplies that were distributed to the other tribes. The Outcasts, true to how they always had been, still struggled to keep many dragons of their own, but they had an impressive number of ships to compensate for that lacking. Many of those ships were recognizable from the battle with the Berserkers several years ago. The Vaina, true to how they had been almost from the start, had far more dragons than the other two new tribes, but they were also not true warriors at heart.

Confidence spread everywhere she went among the tribes. They all knew her blue cape, slowly woven together from Stormfly's shed scales. People prepared all along the beach, putting on armor and sharpening their weapons. The men were laughing and clapping each other on the shoulder without a care in the world.

She turned away from them all, walked down to the beach, and stared out toward the horizon. There were still no ships or dragons on the horizon. But it was a red sky.

 _Red sky in morning, Nord take warning._

"I have a bad feeling about all this... Something doesn't seem right."

She turned from the beach and walked until she found Thorvald attending to Hookedfang.

"Chief," Thorvald mumbled.

"Come on, Lout, there is no need for that. How are the preparations?"

"They're going well. It is amazing to have all the tribes here working together."

"It is indeed. Do you think we are ready for all this?"

"As ready as we can be. Though from what Dragonheart says, it should not be that bad."

She slowly nodded even though she was not sure herself.

"I will lead the aerial attack if it happens. I want you to lead the riders here near the beach. Sweep the transports with fire. I trust your judgment."

"Will do," he answered.

She turned to leave and paused.

"Have you seen any of the Night Furies today?"

"No, I haven't. We sure could use them in this fight though."

She nodded and left him.

 _Where is he? He left after the council yesterday and hasn't come back. Maybe he can get Toothless to fight for us if he will not himself._

There was one other place she thought to look short of flying into the ice nest itself with Stormfly.

Unsurprisingly, Stoick was awake and busy working to sharpen spears on an improvised grindstone. He stood to attention as she approached.

"Chief..."

"Stoick, did you see... Hiccup?"

Stoick's grim expression immediately became unreadable.

"Yes, I saw him yesterday."

She quickly hid her surprise.

"Did you talk?"

"Yes."

"And what did he say?"

"I asked him to forgive me, and he said... I would need to earn it."

"That sounds fair to me," she said.

A pained expression seemed to come over him. He clearly struggled with himself for several moments.

"I need to tell you something," he whispered.

"What?"

"It is why I did what I did to them back then."

She said nothing and waited with baited breath, knowing full well what he was going to say and being surprised that he was going to openly admit it to her.

"It is about Hiccup," he continued.

"What about him?"

"He... is my son. My little boy, my brave young man, changed into a dragon. It sounds impossible, I know, but I am sure of it. That hatchling knew things that only my son could know."

She gave him an expression of feigned confusion.

"So, why did you do what you did?"

"I thought I could get him changed back into a human. I did not know what the witch was going to do until I thought I had no choice. Give her Toothless or never get my son back."

"But you did have a choice all that time."

"I know and I chose poorly. He was my son all along. I was desperate. I was too proud. I did not trust my own people. I... wanted you to know that before this battle in case something happens."

She stepped forward and put an arm on his shoulder while giving him a kind smile.

"You are a good man, Stoick. I would say that you have kept your honor ever since then."

He slowly shook his head.

"I wish I could say that there was any left to keep," he mumbled.

She stepped back from him and prepared to depart, but he stepped forward and grabbed her arm.

"Bludvist would not come here unless he was sure of victory. He always had a plan. His plan was to unite the Chiefs under his rule back when he came to the tribal council many years ago. But he had another plan in case they did not bend the knee. None of them did."

"I know. Something does feel strange."

She returned to the preparations for battle as the scouts winged back to shore with the news of the approaching armada. She received the news and strode down to the shore to see it for herself.

There was now a faint cloud visible out on the horizon. A cloud that glittered with all the colors of the rainbow even from such a distance. A rainbow cloud bringing with it death.

* * *

Everyone stood obediently in formation. Lines of fighters, shields and spears at the ready, were on the beach, and dragons and riders perched on the ground or cliffs next to their respective tribes.

The ships slowly approached.

They could all see the cloud of dragons spiraling out at sea. A swarm of fire and claws poised to strike. But every time that any of the dragons flew toward the island, they invariably turned away and flew back out to shore, clearly disturbed by something. That something had to be the King, just as Valka had said, though how was completely beyond comprehension.

"Steady girl, steady," Astrid whispered to Stormfly.

The first ships were approaching out in the deep bay. Dozens of armored men were visible on deck along with various pieces of trapping equipment.

 _What is he doing? They do not have a chance._

A growl seemed to roll through the entire island. The lines wavered, people stumbled, and dragons cried out in alarm.

She somehow knew what was going to happen moments before it did.

The King erupted from underneath the first transport, impaled it on his tusks, and lifted it into the air. Then he fell to the side. The first transport crashed down onto the second one as the tusks tore the lower boat asunder.

A cry went up from all the defenders and roars of triumph echoed from the shore.

The King emerged from the water and hauled himself into the bay's shallows. He turned toward the approaching ships and growled so deeply that the grains of sand shivered.

She allowed herself a grin at the pure power that the King wielded.

 _Gods, I am glad he is on our side._

And a pair of tusks burst from the deep water offshore as another massive dragon emerged from the depths with a bellow of challenge. The water rolled off its back as it came into view and hauled itself onto solid land in the bay.

Her grin faded as she saw the new arrival.

The raucous cheering vanished.

"No..." she whispered in shock.

It was another massive grey dragon just as large as the King and of the same exact type. It had a massive chain around its neck and bore plates of armor. Its dangerously sharpened tusks gleamed white in the sunlight. It walked between two ships without seeming to notice them at all. The ships clearly did not matter at all to it.

It only had eyes for one thing on the island.

The two titanic creatures stared at each other just across the bay. They snarled and waved their tusks in challenge, seemingly forgetting everything else around them.

She knew what was going to happen. They were going to clash.

With a flash of understanding, she realized that Drago's entire plan somehow revolved around the outcome of this one fight. The whole battle depended on this one colossal creature that had come forward in challenge. That was Drago's weakness, one key point that if struck would end everything. None of the boats, other dragons, or human attackers mattered at all.

She gave the attack signal to all the other riders just as both titans called aloud. Hundreds of dragons went aloft from the island in seconds while the living crown of dragons descended from over the grey challenger's head.

The titans charged, their every stride echoing through the ground and stirring up great waves. Their tusks met with a crack as the two flights above met with fire and claws.

And everything became chaos.

The defenders were forced back at the savagery of the attack. The armored dragons did not even try to plan their attacks and instead merely threw their bodies, claws, fire, and teeth at the defenders. Flashes of fire erupted everywhere in the skies.

She saw dozens of dragons, defenders and attackers alike, fall from the skies. She and Stormfly ducked under a pillar of flame from an attacking Nightmare. Stormfly dove in a short dive and flicked her tail, sending a handful of spines into the attacking dragon's hide.

No sooner did they pull up than she had to spin away to evade another attempted strike from a Gronkle. One of the Volsung riders next to her was knocked off his Nightmare and fell.

The attacking dragons continued to spiral around the titans while hounding the defenders back, clearly working to prevent any interference in the battle while also being unable to intervene themselves.

Fires erupted, claws flashed, and teeth snapped. Howls and screams echoed on the wind. And massive cracks and groans echoed over all the other noise every few moments as the duel continued.

None of the riders or their mounts could get near the titanic clash. Drago's war ships had engaged the fleet on the water below as his flagship and transports approached the shore without opposition.

* * *

 _Blast, mercenaries..._

He screwed his blacksmith's hammer onto his arm and lifted a shield in the other. The first transport had landed and was spilling out soldiers onto the shore. None of the tribes' dragons were free to flame this company of attackers since they were entirely engaged with the swarm above.

He quickly turned to the nearest men at his side and clasped arms with them. Then he felt a tap on the shoulder.

"Gobber, my friend..."

Gobber slowly turned and faced him. Stoick was clad in armor and had a massive hammer in hand.

"Stoick... I thought ye swore off fighting..."

Stoick looked out at the large mass of approaching men and shrugged.

"Well, Surtur flew off when the King called to them. And I saw a bunch of heads over here that need knocking, shields that need breaking, and... a friend that I would stand by."

Gobber strode over and embraced him. It had been a long time since they hugged.

"There're are a lot of 'em though, Stoick."

"I know, Gobber. Perhaps today is a good day to die. How many do you think you can take?"

They stepped back, turned to the nearing fighters, stood shoulder to shoulder, and considered them.

"They don't look like much. Ten," Gobber declared.

"Ten? I think I can double that number!" Stoick laughed.

"You do have twice as many hands as me," Gobber chuckled.

They both raised their weapons and their voices.

"See you in Valhalla, my friend," Stoick growled.

"For Berk!"

"Death!" "Berk!"

The lines charged and met with a rain of arrows and the clash of blades.

* * *

Battle was joined in the sky, on the water, and on the ground.

* * *

They had locked tusks, and he had driven the challenger slightly back from his island. It remained an even match as they swung at each other, their growls shuddering the sea. Then the challenger made a wild strike, trying to undercut his own attack. Both strikes missed but left the challenger unbalanced.

He lunged, driving his tusks up toward the challenger's throat just as it reared backwards. The tip of his tusk pressed into the challenger's exposed weakness, but the tusk's dull point scraped off the scales and missed being a death strike.

They both retreated several steps to catch their breath while glaring at the other. Their life-flames burned brightly but were closed to the other. He felt the growing chill in his liver at how skilled his opponent was and how much more endurance it had. It was the superior fighter of the two despite its momentary lapse.

Then the challenger briefly closed its eyes, possibly signaling a truce or delay in the fighting.

And then he heard a sound from above. A whistling shriek.

He glanced up and saw the source of the shriek.

A dark wing. The dark wing from his own nest. The dark wing that had only lift and warmth in its liver for kin. The dark wing that had clever paws like she-kin-liver-clever-paws and helped to make kin not be thralls. The dark wing that could comprehend the incomprehensible noises of two-legs. The dark wing that was far more than the other not dark wing kin in his nest.

The dark wing that was now a mind-thrall to the challenger great one.

He narrowed his gaze on the dark wing and reached toward it with his great will in a way he had not before even when its actions were liver-twisted. His great will that could burrow into another kin's life-fire vision-hopes, twist them into something not-true, and make them be. He only used his great will on his kin in great need to sooth their pain, ease their passing, or prevent death bringing challenge fights. The kin would know nothing of the range around them. Comforted. Flying in thought. Free of pain. At peace.

But what he saw inside this dark wing was bad, twisted, wrong, lies, false!

It was not a kin's life-fire vision-hope. These life-winds were flying against each other and fouling up the other's flight. They were waters calm on the surface but a writhing storm unseen beneath. And they were also lacking, twisted into not having what the dark wing held closest to its liver.

Empty, peaceful lies that let another will act through it in its place. A foul, twisted, rotted will to death.

The dark wing continued its death-dive as the other great one challenger got to its feet and charged.

It would be easy. Send forth his breath, his warmth-devouring wind, to freeze the water-mist in the air, and the dark wing would be no more. Ignore the dark wing and its fire-breath death-dive would further unbalance the clash.

To let the dark wing live would mean his own time was flown and ended, if that was not already certain. He was the weaker of the two great ones in body and battle skill, having never aimed his own life-flight toward such conquest.

But he could not and would not kill an innocent. The dark wing diving toward him with a maw filled with death was a false-kin. It was a thrall-kin.

He frees thrall-kin.

But its twisted-vision-hope was too powerful for him to shatter. He did not truly know the dark wing. He could not mingle his own life-flame with that of the dark wing. He could not speak the deep words which could only be truth and which the dark wing's life-flame would know as truth. Their life-flames were too different.

He could crack at the twisted-vision-hope though. He whispered to the dark wing of lies. Of wrongness. Of being thrall. Of being lost. Of needing to find. Of needing more than vision-hopes. Of needing truth instead of comfort.

And the cracks spilled through the false-vision-hope.

The dark wing tossed its head and pulled out of the dive. It bellowed in alarm and turned for shore with a trembling, disturbed flight.

The tusk glanced off his shoulder as he spun to meet the other challenger great one again. He shrugged off the painful strike and struck at its head from the side, but it had ducked under his wild, pained, and weary strike. It locked his head between its tusks and hurled him down into a large rock. It was the superior fighter of the pair.

Then it lunged at his exposed weakness.

He looked up at its great eyes as they drew closer to him. Those eyes that were narrowed in cruel triumph. Of the culmination of many cycles of preparation. Of what it thought justice, now twisted into revenge at imagined offenses. Of the two-leg Alpha whose life-fire burned like its own. Of shame before two-legs. Of its will before others. Of death to all who would oppose it.

He closed his eyes for the last time and remembered.

The She-Greatest-One, the She Who Sees with no eyes and speaks with no voice, had whispered to him many season-cycles ago of two necessary acts in his life. The first was his need to send a trusted-kin to a far island of two-legs and retrieve a two-leg in whose liver burned the fire of a kin. The second was of the only choice that mattered in his life. Of the choice that in some way flew under the wings of every small sacrifice he made for those he was responsible to. Of the life or death of another. Of the dark wing whose life would change the world.

Assert himself or let himself fade.

The challenge resolved and conquest achieved, his and the victor's life-flames opened and mingled for the last time. He felt the rot and pain writhing behind the triumph in its eyes. The same rot that would foul even its triumph here and make its liver feel no warmth now or ever.

And he struck at its life-flame with his last act. With the coldest, most piercing spike of thought-words possible. The words were so terrible because they both knew that they spoke only truth. Life-flame could not speak untruth.

.

 _You have lost everything, brother._

 _._

* * *

.

Everything...

.

Stopped...

.

The roars were silenced.

.

The shouting faded.

.

All heads swiveled in the same direction.

.

Astrid spun around in the saddle after noticing the strange silence and complete lack of fighting. All the dragons in the sky had turned and were looking in the same direction. She stared in horror as well at the distant outcome.

.

"No..."

.

The new Alpha stepped back, drew its blood-coated tusks from the dead King, and heaved heavily for several moments out in the shallows. It slowly shook its head as if in dismay.

.

Then the new Alpha slowly lifted its head toward the shore and stared at the hundreds of dragons and humans on the shore and in the sky.

.

There was one instant of peace.

.

Then it roared a cry of triumph that echoed over the whole island.

.

Stormfly started tossing her head and shrieking wildly.

"Girl, what is wrong?" she put her hand on her dragon's neck but not no response other than a shriek that she had never heard from her dragon before.

She would have fallen when Stormfly started bucking and pitching if she had not been latched to her saddle at the time.

A shrieking wailing started to emerge in the air.

She looked down the beach and saw something similar happening everywhere. All the dragons seemed to be affected by something terrible and were flying and screeching wildly.

 _What is going on?_

Everything had gone wrong after Drago revealed his secret weapon. No one could have prepared for his having a dragon like the King. It was not part of the plan.

The terrifying result was right there in the air around her.

Bonded dragons kicked off their riders or otherwise thrashed furiously in the sky. Dragons with empty saddles had turned and were attacking the beach as new fires blossomed throughout. Several poor souls were snatched up in massive jaws and carried into the sky.

Stormfly managed to remain in the sky and glided with a trembling flight back to shore.

"Stormfly, girl?" she screamed.

Stormfly landed roughly and stood shuddering, almost as though the dragon had forgotten completely about the battle, her rider, and everything.

She unlatched herself from the saddle with a click, ready to give her dragon whatever comfort was possible. Stormfly hopped wildly at that faint sound and beat her wings to take flight.

She was tossed from the saddle and fell the couple lengths toward the rocky ground. She hit her head, and everything went dark.

* * *

Valka looked out from on Cloudjumper's back and stared. She saw the King fall. She felt a knife through her own heart at the strike. Over twenty years she had known the great King.

Why had she not known? It was obvious now how Drago assembled his army.

Even more shattering though was the Night Fury that she saw flying away from the bay.

Its flight was terrifyingly disturbed and rigid. It was as though it was not truly free, which it was not.

"No! No... Hiccup..."

And her heart broke as she tugged on Cloudjumper's neck to fly them both up away from the cataclysm down below. As the impossible dream she had dreamed for many years long ago and had seen made real shattered in teeth, claws, and fire. There was nothing she could do for Hiccup or any of the others below. To take Cloudjumper within call of that new Bewilderbeast would likely only enthrall him and doom her as well.

She wept as they circled high above, apparently beyond the range of the Monster's call but still able to see everything.

* * *

Was-Grounded heard the echo of a terrible bellow from outside the nest. Something chilling was happening out there. All the other kin except the hatchlings had been called out by the great-tusk-Alpha earlier. He and Green-Wings had also felt a great need to fly forth as well, but they had both ignored that call to keep Dawn-Singer safe. Being here with their little one was the far greater calling for both of them.

This time though they shared a brief glance and worried nuzzle before he left her and Dawn-Singer behind at their ledge and flew through the empty nest out to the overlook.

Something had sounded wrong about that most recent bellow. It was similar to the great-tusk-Alpha but different. He had to find out what was happening outside the ice nest.

The feeling of ice and fear that had wiggled in his liver since waking grew stronger as he flew to the outer ledge.

Then he emerged on the outside of the nest and pulled up at what he saw. A spike of ice was driven through his liver.

Fires burned everywhere down below. Water-walkers burned brightly. Grounded kin and two-legs covered the ocean and land. Kin were shrieking wildly and diving to flame or strike at two-legs on the ground. And the great-tusk-Alpha that was a good Alpha to the ice nest lay motionless in the waves, dead at the tusks of another such kin. At the tusks of a Monster.

The Monster again called aloud its triumph, and even from such a distance he felt the power of its great call.

To take his place above it in its dominance.

To fly free of any painful thought.

To have what he wanted.

To find true peace.

To submit.

To obey.

He blinked and shook his head as he remembered Green-Wings and Dawn-Singer, both hidden deep within the ice nest. Her wildness and bravery, the new egg that she carried even now, and the warmth that filled his liver when he was around his little fledgling.

That was his place. Not swarming above a Monster, never to have his thoughts and life to give and use as he wanted.

The Monster's triumphant and commanding call washed over him and could not cling to his liver. His liver was already filled, not empty and wanting something that he did not have.

He heaved as he caught his breath and looked down over the destruction. All the grounding and death was very bad and chilling, but his own nest-kin were safe and would stay safe. Dash back into the nest, warn her, grab Dawn-Singer, and they could vanish into the sky with their tails to the fighting and dying. They were the only ones he was truly responsible to.

Only them and...

And then he saw a Night Fury floating on the wind far below, its flight empty of purpose or awareness.

Several life-organ beats passed as the terrible sight sank in and dragged its sharp claws across his liver. His breaths were stilled as he watched Shadowwing gliding, completely enthralled by the great-tusk-Monster. There was no way to know how strong that control was.

He spun around and stared into the relative safety of the nest where his own nest-kin lay hidden.

And he remembered it all again in an instant.

Two-leg Hiccup risking his own life to save him on the water-walker outside the fire-nest. His own teaching Hiccup how to talk and fly as nestlings and fledglings. Fighting with him in his rock-headedness. Sleeping at his side for warmth on many a cold-season's night. Hiccup's willingness to fly the nest to search for him. Letting him share the nest and den with Green-Wings and Dawn-Singer.

 _I will keep you safe, Hiccup. I promise._

His own words spoken to a newly-hatched Hiccup all those seasons-cycles in the past.

 _My best friend..._

 _My brother..._

There was another of his nest-kin who was not safe and free to flee with him.

Not yet.

He closed his eyes and drew a great breath to steady his life-fire, knowing well what he had to do. He turned tail on the ledge and dashed inside the almost empty nest. A quick flight took him over to his roost where Green-Wings awaited. She was already on her feet and nervously pacing.

"What was that? I... wanted to go out there but our Dawn-Singer is here and... what is happening?" she growled in alarm and confusion.

"Take him and fly to a far small-island. Stay away from the fighting. Go to our range if I do not come back."

"What are you doing?" she exclaimed in worry.

"What I must do," he growled.

"Sire?" Dawn-Singer chirped with evident fear.

He bent down to nuzzle his little fledgling.

"Go with your dam, my little one, go and be safe."

He looked back up at her.

"Go now!"

If she was confused or much alarmed, she hid it well.

"If you do not come back to me, I will find you and eat your liver!" she shouted.

Then she quickly grabbed Dawn-Singer in her arms, not trusting him to be able to fly fast enough, and flew out the nest away from the battle. He watched them both go with a chill in his liver.

 _I might never see her again, but they will be free._

He flew back to the overlook and observed the battlefield, looking for any sign of his target. Then he spotted the small black speck well removed from the continued fighting. That was very fortunate for his own purposes.

He glanced at the great-tusk-Monster, confirmed that it was distracted, and threw himself from the ledge, slowly flying out over the death. He could not count the number of grounded kin and two-legs far below.

Then he dove while concealing any sound from his dive.

 _Don't look up... don't look up..._

The enthralled Shadowwing barely reacted at all until it was too late. He stretched himself out at the last moment and crashed into the Night Fury from above. They both tumbled from the sky, only barely managing to right themselves before crashing. He recovered himself and flapped once to arrest his fall while the other rolled head over tail to a stop.

"Shadowwing..."

He barely had a moment to recover though before the other Night Fury jumped to its feet with a snarl and turned on him.

It did not respond as it stared him down for many wingbeats. Its eyes were narrowed in death, and in them there was no shadow of the kin he knew.

Then it struck and slashed at him with a ferocity that Shadowwing was not capable of. He barely dodged the ball of glowing fire that shot from its mouth by leaping over it. Then it continued to swipe and snap at him. He stepped back, dodging each of its wild strikes. It was hard to properly fight back without being willing to strike a grounding blow.

"Stop!"

It did not react except to leap at him again and try to close its jaws around his wings. He again spun away from its most recent strikes.

"Hiccup!"

It froze for an instant and blinked. Hope was sparked in his liver.

It shook its head for a moment and then snarled anew. It jumped with a forearm and claws held out to slash. He was able to block the strike with his own arm. He was still the faster and stronger of the two. His liver became more chilled as the fight dragged on though. This creature had none of Shadowwing's many weaknesses.

"Please stop!"

It stumbled back from him and froze with its ears flattened to its head, overcome by an unknown disturbance. Then it looked up and away down the beach, clearly hearing a command. It crouched and prepared to jump for the sky, their duel apparently forgotten.

 _No, you don't!_

He jumped after it, closed his teeth firmly around a leg, and fouled its escape flight. It shrieked its protest as it tucked its wings and fell onto its back. It had its breath knocked from it, and it lay there like a weak thing as he approached in the hope that it was weak enough for him to try something else.

 _What can I do?_

Then it recovered and hurled itself at him, not even bothering for a strike with any care. Even he was taken by surprise at the speed of the wild strike. They rolled and its claws dug into his soft belly as he howled in alarm and pain.

It fell completely on him, bared its teeth right near his throat, and breathed heavily. Its eyes narrowed on his own fearful ones. Its eyes, in which he saw only his own death, stared him down and... froze in confusion.

It whined and stepped back slightly. Its slitted eyes glanced at its own foreclaws coated in his life-water.

That moment was all he needed.

He kicked it back, twisted, and quickly righted himself. He threw himself at it while it was on its side, ignoring his own pain and life-water dripping from his belly. His jaws closed around its throat, and he twisted it onto its back, completely pinning it and able to tear out its throat... if there was nothing left of his brother to save.

He fought against the pain, the fear, the need to tear, to rend, and to go for the kill. It was very hard, even knowing who this was...

Not trusting himself in the battle-moment and his fighting-anger, he unclenched his jaws and held out a paw and foreclaws to pin it down at its throat.

Then he roared his pain and fear directly in its face. At this thing that was so familiar and dear but was also neither.

It went still and limp under him as it looked away from his eyes in fear of its own. They both heaved with exhaustion, and it remained motionless in his grasp.

Then its slitted eyes rolled to his. And it grinned at him.

"I... hate... you..." it growled.

He gasped in disbelief and fear.

"You... took... everything... from... me..."

His liver broke at such terrible words that clearly revealed the truth. Hiccup had never truly forgiven him for what he did to him, for taking him out of the world that he knew and wanted to be part of even now.

"You... are... not... my... br..."

Its voice broke and its eyes wavered, quickly growing large and then fading again. But he saw the fear and confusion in its eyes in that instant.

There was still someone in there to save. The twisted voice was only the Monster or a false-lies-shadow talking.

"Hiccup?" he gasped.

Its slitted eyes wavered as they again locked gazes.

Another life-organ beat passed before his pained and fateful words came forth, the answer to which or lack thereof would shape all the winds of their future.

"Do you know me?"

The Night Fury's lips curled open again, and it growled a single pained, fearful, and confused word as its eyes continued to waver.

"Toothless?"

* * *

.

Headache.

.

Flashes of light.

.

Pain, confusion, and swirling voices.

.

Her limbs dangling at her side.

.

She vaguely felt herself being carried a great distance and then roughly deposited on the ground.

.

Breaths slowly recovered.

.

A single cruel voice called out to her through the haze.

"Well, well, look what I have here! Dragon master."

She did not have enough breath to respond as she opened her eyes, slowly recovered her wits, and gradually realized where she was. She was up on the ledge that separated the beach roughly in half. Around her stood soldiers and a singular man wearing a dark scale cloak and wielding a staff-spear as a weapon.

Never had she seen him before but the presence of authority that the man had and the amount of deference he was being given were all she needed to know.

She pushed herself to her feet and faced Bludvist. The monstrous man who was responsible for all of this. She reached for her blade, ready to run him through to avenge all the senseless death and destruction, but her weapon was gone and she was defenseless, save for her small, hidden dagger at her hip. That weapon would be useless except maybe in close quarters.

A crashing sound echoed behind her as the victorious Bewilderbeast slowly hauled itself onto the shore and approached. Its massive crimson tusks swung overhead.

A silent moment passed as she and Bludvist glared at each other.

"The would-be dragon master or whisperer or whatever you call yourself. I have heard much about you. Most... impressive," Drago sneered.

"I never wanted to be any of that. You know nothing about us," she answered.

"I know enough. You think that you can have and control dragons of your own? None of you are worthy."

"Control? It was never about that with us."

"No? That is the only way. They will turn on you if you trust them. I should know."

"You are wrong about them. They are good creatures that can bring people together."

He chuckled savagely.

"Oh, you think there is something special about them? Something that you could show me?"

She could see the madness, coldness, and pain burning in his eyes, and she knew that he was completely beyond redemption or reasoned argument.

"Nothing that you could see," she answered.

"Good that we understand each other," he growled.

He stepped closer to her and away from his guards, slowly backing her toward the cliff that fell straight down onto the rocks several dozen lengths below.

"I heard that you have a Night Fury," he laughed.

"You heard wrong. We never had him. He was always free."

"Not anymore."

He smiled, raised the staff, and pointed it at her.

A moment passed before she realized it was a command. With that terrible realization, she looked to the skies in budding horror as she understood the insinuation behind the command and his last few words.

 _No, he doesn't have a... Hiccup didn't..._

But Hiccup had been missing all morning after being dismayed at being told that peace was impossible.

She remembered the strange things she had heard in the past about big dragons and what she had seen when the white King fell. The terrible possibility became all too real. What if something had happened and Drago had managed to capture Hiccup? What if he had been controlled, if that was even possible, as seemed to have happened with most of the other dragons?

The moments ticked by as she fearfully scanned the skies.

There was no infamous shriek diving from the sky to announce her coming death at the claws and teeth of someone she knew and loved.

The moments passed in silence. Drago's smug grin gradually turned into a frown as he too looked up at the sky in evident confusion.

"You seem to have a problem," she teased.

"No, this is not possible!" he growled up at the Bewilderbeast.

It only replied by closing its eyes in apparent confusion, growling warily, and turning away to face down the shore to where the fighting had ceased.

"You are a coward!" she screamed.

Drago paused and glared at her.

"A spineless coward who hides behind slaves and makes others do the fighting for him! You wouldn't even face a woman in honest battle!"

"You want to face me?"

"If you still have the manhood for it."

Then a wicked smile appeared upon the great man's twisted, scarred face.

"I like your fire, girl. Dragon master against dragon master. My way against your way. It seems fitting. What weapon do you want?"

"My sword."

"Get the girl her sword!" Drago roared.

One of the soldiers brought forth her sword and tossed it to her. She had tied her hair up in a bun and set aside her cape in that time. He did not remove his cape though. He apparently carried no weapon other than his staff.

Something seemed too certain about his movements. He was too confident and accustomed to victory. That could be his weakness.

She held her sword out at her side and faced him while balancing herself on the balls of her feet. Poised, ready to strike or dodge.

He strode forward, his staff now held like a spear. He jabbed at her, but she easily ducked and hopped to the side. Then he held the staff like a bat in one hand and swung at her. Their weapons met with a crash and hail of sparks.

His strength almost overwhelmed her on the first strike, and she barely spun to the side, putting a few feet between herself and him. She noticed that his staff seemed to have bent slightly at its midpoint where the weapons clashed. They both stepped back from the other.

"You are quick, I'll give you that," he growled.

"Why are you doing this! What did we do to you?"

He paused for a moment as a truly haunted look passed over him.

"It is not what you did. It is what they did!"

"They?"

He gave a quite draconic snarl of his own.

"I know what it is to live in fear! I watched my village burn, my family taken. But even as a boy, left with nothing, I promised that I would avenge them and rid the world of the dragon menace."

"By causing all this death using a dragon army, are you serious?' she shouted.

"You need dragons to conquer other dragons," he grinned.

"Or maybe you need dragons to conquer other people instead. You never wanted revenge against dragons. You betrayed that promise."

He chuckled maniacally.

"Clever girl. But what better revenge is there against dragons than to make them slaves that give me power?"

"How about not let the past control your life!"

"Weakness... this is my purpose now!" he growled.

"What would your family say about what you have become?"

He only replied by howling and stabbing at her again. She easily dodged, being far more nimble than he was, and rolled to her feet as the duel resumed.

 _Why does he only use the right?_

He had not yet even tried to grasp his weapon with his left arm.

 _Maybe it is weaker. That is his weakness._

She stepped back to catch her breath.

"Are you even trying?" she mocked him.

"It is over! Your Alpha is dead!" he growled.

"I am not!" she sneered.

He charged with a howl and swung the staff overhead, bringing it down where she had stood an instant before. Her sword spun in an arc down onto the staff's midsection with all her considerable strength and speed.

The staff snapped in half.

She dodged to the side to avoid the counterstrike, rolled, and struck down at his armored leg from behind. The blow did not pierce the armor but did send him to his knees in pain. She swung the sword high and brought it down on his offhand arm as he spun to block the strike.

The strike was perfect, and the blade sank deep into the arm.

He did not bat an eye.

Something had felt wrong about the strike too. It had not felt like carving into meat and bone.

Drago turned to the side, wrenching the sword from her hands as his entire false arm fell away to the ground. He reached out with his remaining arm, grabbed her by the neck, and lifted her from her feet. His massive fingers closed on her throat as she kicked and tried in vain to pry them away. It was impossible to even scream or draw breath.

He stepped over to the ledge and, with impossible strength, held her out over the precipice. She became light-headed, and spots filled her vision as she kicked at his chest without effect. He wavered for just a moment as he was precariously balanced while holding her out over the drop.

"I am the Dragon Master!" he growled in triumph.

The panic and pain vanished. She dropped one of her hands from her throat and struggled to speak. He let up his choking grasp just enough that she could answer.

"You... will... n..."

"Yes, go on..." he growled as he pulled her nearer to him.

"... never... be... their... master..."

She knew it in that moment of lucidity when he pulled her closer to gloat over her defeat. He had fallen for the single most common weakness that the great tended to fall for. Overconfidence. Overestimation of their own ability.

He saw only accepted defeat in her relaxing her grasp on his arm. He never saw her hand slide down to her hip and retrieve a hidden object given to her by her father many years ago. He had no free arm with which to block any strike.

He never saw the dagger that she drove into his neck.

His eyes went wide in shock as he realized his failure. He wavered for an instant and lost his balance before any of his soldiers could reach him.

His gaze went down the coastline as he fell. He saw the dragons swarming over the shore and killing as they went. He remembered the dragons that had swarmed over his own village many years ago when he lost an arm, all his family, and all that made life worth living. He remembered looking at his remaining bloody fist and hearing his own name whispered from the darkness. A new name that would always remind himself of the past and never let him heal.

If only someone would rid the world of these monsters and destroy the shadow of fear that they caused. Maybe he would. Maybe he would avenge all those he lost long ago. Maybe he would rid the world of the dragon menace...


	48. II - Exorcism

_**Author's Note – This was my favorite chapter to write in the entire story to this point. I took inspiration from a bittersweet scene in a sci-fi film that most considered mediocre. I wonder if anyone will correctly identify which film. There may also be some echos from 'I Hear Him Scream' in places, although it has been years since I read that epic. Finally, the opening quote is the closing line to the epic that it is taken from.**_

* * *

 _"Thence we came forth to rebehold the stars." -_ _Dante_ _Alighieri_ _– Inferno (Canto XXXIV)_

* * *

Exorcism

* * *

.

Spinning…

.

Falling…

.

Sleeping…

.

Waking...

.

Hiccup slowly came to as his headache vanished. He struggled to open his eyes for the longest time, mostly because he did not actually want to get up and start the day.

 _Where am I..._

"I'mmm in my house..." he mumbled into the pillow without getting up.

It was too cozy in his own bed and under the warm, fuzzy covers.

It took a few minutes before he managed to summon the willpower to wake up and emerge from his comfortable burrow. He glanced out the window and saw a few snowflakes falling outside, but it was an otherwise bright and sunny winter morning.

He sat up in bed and stretched widely with a happy sigh and a wide yawn. He waved an arm to his side, felt nothing, and realized that he was alone.

"Where is she?" he groaned.

Then he noticed all the noise coming from outside the bedroom.

He swung himself out of bed, put on his shoes and robe, and strolled down the hall to investigate the noise.

 _I swear, if this is another one of her..._

"Surprise!"

His four sons and daughters, Stoick the Second, Valharrama, Thorin, and Aesther, hopped out of hiding and practically attacked him. It was a vicious attack that would have felled him if there was any coordination at all in the attack.

"Happy Solstice, father!" "Thank you for the doll!" "Father!" "Papa!"

Aesther threw her tiny arms around his belly in a hug. He took turns gathering them all into his arms and ruffling their hair. Their smiling faces and youthful energy warmed his father's heart like little else could on a winter day.

"Alright, back up and give me and your father some room!"

Astrid walked up to them, and the children parted around her, running off to the kitchen and play room. She had let her golden hair down and was wearing her favorite fur robe. Her twinkling eyes, sweet smile, and tender embrace emptied his mind of all thought. He brushed aside her bangs, held her waist, and they kissed until they heard a couple of the children squeal in embarrassment.

"Good morning, my love," he whispered in her ear.

She stepped back from his loving embrace and grinned.

"Good morning, my Chief."

"Your Chief?" he blinked.

"What? Forgotten that you are the Chief, huh? Getting that old already?"

"Thank you for summing that up. No, I just don't want to be... a Chief today."

"No? What do you want to be then?"

"Just yours."

She rolled her eyes and then punched him.

"Ow, why would you do that?" he groaned.

"That was for trying to get smart with me."

Then she grinned at him and kissed him again.

"That is for later."

"You are sending me mixed signals here..." he smiled.

She only rolled her eyes at him again.

"Breakfast is waiting, my love. I'll see you in there. Kids! Breakfast!"

All four of them rushed past and dashed into the kitchen. Astrid then turned and followed them on their way to put the final touches on breakfast.

Hiccup stood still and looked around the house, around his house. The draperies on the walls, the portraits, the furs and coats near the door, the hunting bows and shields, all of it was intimately familiar and dear to him. He meandered over to a window and looked outside again. The village seemed quiet as was appropriate for a morning of a festival day. A few people were carrying around barrels full of mead or goats and chickens for the slaughter and upcoming feast.

Everything was peaceful and perfect.

The view was only interrupted when a black raven landed outside and pecked at the snow for a few moments. Then it looked up at him, stared with oddly blue eyes, cawed once, and flew off.

He felt a shiver down his back that had nothing to do with the weather. A raven was a messenger of the gods.

"Huh? What was..."

"Dad!"

He slowly turned away from the window and made his way back to the kitchen. Everyone was sitting around the table and munching on their flat cakes.

"Daddy, you're back!" Valharrama cried.

"Where else would I be?" he laughed.

"Father?" little Stoick asked.

Hiccup looked down at the young kid with the vivid green eyes, with his own eyes.

"Yes, my son?"

"Here, we got you something."

His son reached under the table and pulled out a large box.

"What is this?"

All four of the children chuckled, and his daughters giggled wildly.

"Oh, this will be good," Astrid whispered.

"You are in on this too?" Hiccup laughed kindly.

"Just open the box."

The box wiggled slightly, and he slowly removed the top of the box. A tiny nose pushed its way through the gap, and the young pup looked up wide-eyed.

It was a black wolf pup with bright green eyes.

 _Wide green eyes looking back at him..._

He blinked in amazement.

"No, you did not!"

"Go on, daddy, hold him," little Aesther eagerly exclaimed.

He reached into the box and picked up the pup as it bunched up its little shoulders in uncertainty.

"Where did you get him?"

"Gobber found a den in the woods. Naturally, the Chief gets the best of the litter," Astrid explained.

"He's so cute," Aesther said with her little hands held out.

"Here, take him."

He handed off the pup to her.

"He is wonderful. I'm sure you will all help me train him," he declared to his kids.

"Yes, we will!" they all clamored.

"Go on and play, and you put the pup in his bed, Aesther," Astrid commanded.

"Yes, mom…"

He watched as each of the children scampered off.

"What do you think, my dear Chief?" Astrid whispered.

"I think they are going to have their work cut out for them."

"Oh, I'm sure they will. Remember that your parents are going to be coming over soon?"

"Right."

"Well, we can make sure that he takes the kids outside for a while. I think we should have some time to ourselves later," she added with a wink.

Completely understanding her suggestion, he grinned back at her and was extra motivated to help with cleaning up after breakfast. His children played and yelled in the background all the while as he helped tidy up.

He put away all the dishes and then wandered into his study. His fingers slid over the many old drawings and designs that were on the walls and the desk. They were prints and designs for boats, buildings, and gadgets, all of which helped the village in some way. They were always successful and had never failed him.

This study was his own little hidden world. It was a place of refuge that he knew he could always return to at the end of the day for lasting peace and quiet, safe from all else that was wrong with the island.

There was just one thing that seemed even remotely out of place. That thing was the little bed in which the wolf pup was dozing.

He knelt and looked at the little sleeping creature.

 _He is actually cute. Never thought I'd have a pet. Being Chief takes up so much time._

He stroked the black fur only to have the pup wake up and stretch its limbs with a wide yawn.

"Hey there, little guy. I feel like we are going to be good friends one day."

The pup leapt at his hand and started gnawing on his fingers.

"Hey, no! Bad boy," he barked while massaging his pinched fingers.

"Good thing you are still toothless…"

 _Toothless…_

 _Toothless..._

 _Toothless..._

He shivered and trembled where he knelt. A shadow seemed to sweep across his view from outside the window. He steadied himself against the bed and sat down while catching his breath. The shadow eventually passed.

 _What was that?_

Why did that word affect him so deeply? It was almost as if the word was deeply familiar somehow.

He immediately stumbled down the hallway in search of answers.

"Astrid, what is the matter with me?"

"Other than everything, nothing, my dear."

"Great, wife pity... I must be imagining things then."

"You do have quite an imagination, my dear."

He returned to his study, still slightly confused by everything, and stared at his own reflection in the mirror. His long hair, green eyes, cropped beard, and broad shoulders were all as he remembered them. Strange feelings seemed to pop up without warning and now he was imagining hearing things.

"What is wrong with me?"

He took some time to browse the papers on his desk. There were copies of some old Eddas, tribal treaties, and various pictures. Some were obviously drawn by Thorin and Aesther. The more intricate ones were of course his own as few possessed his own skill at drawing.

But one picture scrawled on old yellow paper made absolutely no sense.

His hands seized on the yellow paper, and he could not tear his eyes from it. It was a strange tail with fanned fins, or rather a single fin. He felt to be falling into the paper as the entire world warped around him in that instant.

 _Days in the forge..._

 _Leather and straps..._

 _Wide and round green eyes..._

He blinked and shook his head.

"What in the… a fish? No… wait, whaaaat...?"

He had never seen anything like it before, but he somehow knew it intimately. It was too familiar. He nervously folded and pocketed the picture and decided to take a walk to give himself some room to think. Walking had always helped him before when something was especially bothering him.

"I'm going to go take a walk," he paused with his hand on the doorknob.

"Don't you want to see your parents?" a deep voice thundered out.

He slowly stepped back from the door and turned around. There, standing in the living room and grinning from ear to ear behind a grizzled red mane, was the great man himself.

"Dad!"

Father and son hugged and laughed heartily. Stoick pounded on his back in merriment, a beat which he eagerly answered.

"Happy Solstice, son!" Stoick's voice echoed out in the house.

"You too, father."

"Son!" Valka called as she entered as well from the playroom with the children.

"Mom!"

They embraced with her ruffling his hair.

"I brought meatballs!" she happily announced.

His eyes found his mirthful father's eyes just as they went wide. Stoick slowly and secretly shook his head with an expression of impending doom.

 _Understood..._

"Thanks mom, I'm sure we can find a good use for them."

"Have they given you your special gift yet?" she eagerly asked.

"They did indeed. I'm not sure how we are going to train him since I've never done this before."

His father laughed and slapped his own belly, now a bit more vast than it had been years ago. His time since stepping down as Chief had been very good to him in his retirement.

"Oh, I can give you some help there. Just think about it, in a few years you will be known as Hiccup the Wolf-Hearted. And the little guy will go everywhere with you. He will be your shadow, your guard, your strength, and your best friend."

 _My best friend..._

 _My br..._

"Quite a high standard you're setting there dad. He already tried to eat me," he chuckled.

"Oh, that just means that he wants to play. Wait until he is bigger and can lick your face. It probably will not wash out!"

 _That does not wash out!_

Hiccup winced and rubbed his temples at a brief flare of pain.

"Now, where are my grandkids?" Stoick roared.

They apparently took that at their cue to rush in and attack him. The battle ended very quickly with the four of them rolling on the ground in hysterics after a well timed and much practiced tickle defense from their mirthful grandfather.

Seeing his own father play with the children and be completely happy and carefree, unlike the troubled and weary Chief he had been in the past, was perfect.

Hiccup poured himself a mug of ale and leaned back in his chair while the fireplace crackled with warmth. He propped up his feet on a stool.

"I could get used to this."

He watched in bliss while downing the ale. Then he set aside his emptied mug of ale and put his hands in his pockets while watching the playful revelry.

He frowned when he remembered the inexplicable picture folded on the paper in his pocket.

There was no proper reason why a mere drawing would disturb him even through such a peaceful and joyous occasion such as this. Nothing should intrude on the lovely sight of his family all together.

That strange feeling of wrongness did not leave him even after several minutes. Instead, it only grew more intense until it was an almost tangible itch. An itch that he had to do something about.

"Dear, I'm going to go for a walk. I need a moment."

"Don't be gone too long. You are mine later, remember?" Astrid smiled.

He forced back a grin of his own, put on his coat, and stepped outside. The snow had completely stopped falling, and the cold was not truly numbing.

The first thing he saw sent a chill down his spine. That same raven that he saw earlier was circling up above and seemed to follow him as he wandered.

His walk took him past several houses lit from within with smoke billowing from each chimney. He passed the Thorstons, the Jorgensons, the Ingermansons, the forge, and the Great Hall. The few people he met were all happy and content and acknowledged him at his passing.

 _They are all happy. So why am I not?_

He paused and stared out at the mist encircling Berk just offshore. Then he glanced up at the sky and frowned. Why did he feel that something was wrong or missing? It almost seemed like it was too quiet. Too peaceful in a way.

And he saw the raven fly into the forest and disappear over the trees. A physical chill seemed to fill the air at the sight.

 _What? Odin's mane, what is going on? Maybe He wants me to follow his bird._

He wandered without knowing to where, following a whispering that pulled him on into the forest and away from the village.

All sense of time seemed to be lost as he trudged through the snow and trees, one of which was oddly felled and leaned down a faint slope. Something about the faint clearing and large rocks in it seemed faintly familiar as there seemed to be an echo of a roar on the air.

 _What happened here?_

A few more minutes of wandering left him before a gap in a rock wall. The path was obstructed by an old wooden shield wedged between the rocks in front of him. He reached up to pull the shield out and felt a faint shock when his fingers touched the wood.

 _Pulling out pins in the forge..._

"How do I know this?"

He ducked under the shield and walked into the isolated cove. The little lake within was frozen over, and there was nothing much to see past the ice and snow.

 _What am I doing? They are probably all waiting for me by now._

"This was stupid."

He sat down on a pile of large rocks near the entrance, pulled out the drawing, and looked at the drawing of the strange winged creature in all its glory.

 _Wait..._

Was that different from before? Wasn't it only a drawing of a strange fin last time?

He wracked his memory for the name of the thing. It almost looked like something out of a legend. Then he gasped and placed it.

"Loki's breath, it's a dragon!"

 _Dragon..._

 _Dragon..._

 _Dragon..._

The faint words seemed to echo on the breeze and left his skin tingling. He shook his head and grimaced at a splitting headache that had erupted without warning. The moment only passed when he turned his thoughts back to the village and to his family.

 _Those things... are just stories. Who… who drew this?_

The drawing was obviously his own though. No one else he knew of used pencils so fine or drew with such care. The drawing especially emphasized certain non-threatening traits of the winged demon, specifically the wide eyes, mouth without any teeth, and head tilted as if in curiosity. The depiction seemed too familiar for some reason as he paced back and forth.

"Oh, gods! What is wrong with me?"

Another shadow passed overhead with a gust of wind. He glanced over at the rocks near the entrance to the cove and saw nothing there. The wind stirred up the snow on the ground over toward the frozen pond though.

He looked around in confusion and slowly budding alarm. Seeing nothing else in the cove except for ice and snow, he warily walked over to the frozen pond and casually glanced down to see his own reflection.

And he recoiled at the image of the dragon looking back up at him from within the ice.

He fell to his knees and shivered, suddenly overcome by the cold as his nerves failed him. It almost felt like something had physically knocked him down and drove his breath from him. He eventually recovered his breath after heaving for several moments.

 _Gods, now I am seeing... things..._

Some strange force or twisted desire bid him take another look into the ice.

There it was again, looking up at him with its expressive green eyes, ears, head frills, and smooth black skin and scales. It blinked when he did and mirrored his every move. Almost like it was his own shadow. A shadow with wings.

 _ **Shadowwing...**_

"What is going on!"

"Don't you know?" a voice spoke from behind him.

He flew to his feet, turned around, and stared at his own reflection. At a man almost his own height with the same eyes, features, and voice. It could have been his own twin except that it was slightly larger.

"Who are you? What is going on here?"

"It is me," the stranger implored him.

"No, stay back. I don't know you."

Hiccup pulled out a knife from somewhere and faced off against the stranger.

"No, don't," the stranger held out his empty hands.

"What is this trick!" Hiccup growled in growing anger.

"No trick. You know me."

"I told you I don't know you. Gods, I'm talking to myself. How is this normal!"

"Of course it's not. None of this is normal! None of this is real!"

"What?" he exclaimed in confusion.

"Do you remember anything? What you really are, what happened to you?"

He laughed at such absurd words.

"Of course I know what… who I am. I am Hiccup, Son of Stoick and Valka, and the Chief of Berk. What do you mean what happened to me?"

The stranger's shoulders clearly slumped.

"You really don't remember anything. Is it all gone? The island, the battle, the dragons..."

The splitting pain swelled and sent him to his knees in agony.

"Hiccup, you need to go back."

"Go… back?"

"To what is real. None of this, the island and the people…" the stranger waved his arms around, "is real."

"No! This is real to me!" Hiccup shouted.

"Do you remember the skies? The clouds? The wind on your wings?"

"Liar!"

He gave a savage growl and lunged with his blade.

"What are you doing? Stop!" the stranger screamed.

 _ **Stop!**_

Blow after blow were sent at the stranger, but it was too quick and parried every strike with its own blade. That it made no retaliatory attack further infuriated him.

"Why are you fighting me, Hiccup?" the stranger pleaded.

 _ **Hiccup!**_

He froze, momentarily appalled that this beast before him had dared address him by name. As an equal.

"How dare you speak my name! Fight back!" he screamed.

The stranger seemed a twisted mockery of himself. Almost like him but different. Speaking and whispering impossible and terrible things.

His own blade flew back and forth, his last strike only barely blocked by the stranger still wielding its own blade. But again, it never lunged at him.

"We don't have to fight! Please stop!" the stranger screamed.

 _ **Please stop!**_

Hiccup retreated several steps to catch his breath. And he wanted to be anywhere else. There was no sense fighting someone completely alone. Go back to the village and get reinforcements to come destroy the monster.

Answer the call.

Obey.

 _Yes._

He turned away and started to run toward the cove's entrance when he was tackled from behind and lost his breath. The stranger had thrown itself at him and cut his leg to prevent him from leaving.

He caught his breath as his anger swelled at the betrayal. He jumped to his feet as well as he could, feinted to catch the stranger by surprise, and launched himself to tackle his attacker. The stranger was not fast enough to dodge such a wild, desperate attack. It kneeled over with a grunt as his own blade sank into its belly. He wrenched out the blade and fell on top of the defeated attacker as his own anger waxed.

"I'm going to kill you. I'm going to cut out your heart!"

 _AND TAKE IT TO MY FATHER!_

He froze as he stared into green eyes that were filled with fear and pain and completely missing the hate and anger that should have been there. Its green eyes that looked exactly like his own. Its green eyes that looked like a mirror in which there was a hazy, dark reflection.

He recoiled and stepped back, completely overcome by a haunting sensation of familiarity. Then he noticed that the knife he held was covered in blood. He stared in horror at the blade and couldn't even remember why he had drawn the weapon at all. Further, it looked familiar now that he looked closer at it. Was it the same knife that he had once... thrown away in this place? Thrown away when he met... someone... dear to him?

Why was he trying to kill this person who had not actually harmed or threatened him? Someone who had tried all along to avoid harming him. He himself had been the aggressor from the start.

The weapon fell from his hand as he stared at his bloody fist.

 _No... I... I did this…_

And he was on his back with his attacker on top of him. He struggled but was completely pinned with the attacker holding him down by the neck with its own blade. The attacker howled its triumph at his defeat, surely about to kill him after his own failure.

He had not gone for the kill.

He shut his eyes in fear as his strength waned. His terrified thoughts turned to his home and his family. To the comfort and peace he knew and needed.

And foreign thoughts seemed to take shape and told him what he should feel and think.

 _ **I hate you**_

 _Yes, I do... do I?_

 _ **You took everything from me**_

 _Yes, it... what did it take from me?_

 _ **You are not my br...**_

 _Not my what?_

.

 _Not my what!_

 _._

 _What are you hiding!_

.

"Hiccup…"

He froze at that voice that sounded very different, almost inhuman even, and yet was somehow familiar.

He opened his eyes again and looked up through a misty haze at the dragon pinning him to the ground. It was too familiar with its large and narrowed green eyes, midnight black skin and scales, large ears, and frills around its head. The image was very similar to what he had seen in the ice. Almost like they could be... related.

The dragon opened its toothless maw and spoke mournfully in perfectly intelligible words.

"Do you know me?" the dragon pleaded.

The name rose from his lips without conscious thought. The name, just like that hauntingly familiar sensation, was too much a part of him to be lost even if what the name meant to him was still vague.

"Toothless…" he whispered.

Toothless purred in obviously pained happiness.

"It is me... Come back to me..." Toothless whispered.

"What?" Hiccup gasped.

Toothless stepped back several paces and let him get up. Hiccup could not manage to stand on his own two feet, his scratched leg pained him too much, and could do no better than to brace himself on his hands. He looked around the frozen cove, only now noticing the strange spires of ice, foreign rock, and sandy gravel near the edge of the lake.

It was not how he remembered the cove. More menacing was the mist that seemed to drip into the cove from above and obscured the sun itself. Everything here felt good on the surface, but there was something twisted, missing, and... not true about all of it.

Voices and wants in his head and heart fought for his attention. They called him back to the village and summoned him to what he knew felt good. What was true? What felt good? What did he want more? Was it normal fog or smoke? Berk never had a fogbank in the winter. Why couldn't he see any other dragons? There should be many of them. They lived in peace with the humans here... didn't they? When did he and Astrid ever get married and start a family? Why did that feel thoroughly impossible? Where was Toothless in this world? Why was this dragon gone from the village and his own life?

Then he noticed all the blood from the suddenly terrifying stab wound he had dealt to this... dear... Toothless.

"I... hurt... you..." Hiccup moaned in heartfelt pain.

"It was not your fault... It made you do it," Toothless whispered as he stepped closer.

"No... I did this..." Hiccup whispered.

"You would never hurt me..." Toothless gasped as he stopped only inches away.

Toothless then closed his eyes and gently touched Hiccup's nose with his own.

"Please... you are my best friend..." Toothless implored.

"My best friend..." Hiccup whispered back.

"My brother..." Toothless barely whispered.

… _your first ever fight with your brother..._

… _fly the same air in the skies of life..._

… _Almost sounds like us..._

 _ **WHO...**_

 _MONSTERS..._

 _Sorry, dad..._

A helpless black dragon on the ground...

 _Cut out your heart..._

 _CAN..._

 _I could have sworn you had..._

An eager black dragon bounding to greet him...

 _Everything we know about you guys..._

 _MAKE..._

 _You're not my son!_

 _It's an occupational hazard..._

 _I'm proud to call you my son..._

 _YOU..._

 _ **ARE...**_

A Monster chasing them both from the sky...

 _Hold, Toothless, now!_

A roaring inferno stretching its maw wide...

Eternal darkness...

 _THINK..._

A warmth nestled next to him in the shell and under the blankets...

Days of growling, hearing, learning, speaking, fighting, and playing...

 _Toothless, teach me flying..._

 _Lick hurts. Mouth-water helps hurts..._

 _ **YOU...**_

 _BAD..._

Learning how to hold the wind in his wings...

A brother found...

 _Much like two-leg you are, Toothless..._

 _What did you do!_

A betrayal, pained flight from home, and searching the wild afar...

 _THINGS..._

A brother lost...

 _ **DARK...**_

Reunions, family found, joy beheld, and love felt...

 _You are as beautiful as I dreamed..._

 _I feel much now..._

 _Fly the winds of life..._

 _You are my kin also..._

 _Shelter you with my wings..._

 _Not-sire Shadowwing..._

A mother found... A brother found... A family found...

 _ **WING?**_

 _Please... you are my best friend..._

 _My brother..._

Hiccup opened his eyes and clearly saw with acceptance, as if for the first time, his own reflection in Toothless's eyes. It was the reflection of a Night Fury.

* * *

And they both beheld wide, round, and fearful green eyes.


	49. II - Sunfall

_**Author's Note - This antepenultimate chapter of volume II is a wild ride.**_ _ **There is a symbolism/contrast between the two Bewilderbeasts. As a hint, they are archetypal figures.**_

* * *

" _If the radiance of a thousand suns... Were to burst at once into the sky... That would be like the splendour of the Mighty One... I am become Death... The destroyer of worlds."_

 _\- Robert Oppenheimer quoting from the Bhagavad Gita_

* * *

Sunfall

* * *

And they both beheld wide, rounded, and fearful green eyes.

"What...? Where... am... I...?" Shadowwing gasped in confusion.

Was-Grounded groaned in pain and weakly fell onto his side as a massive, terrifying roar echoed off in the distance.

Shadowwing growled and winced at the sound. He shut his eyes and shook his head against the sun's blinding light as it seemed to flare all around him. Only then did he notice the soreness in his tail and limbs, his subsiding splitting headache, and his throbbing knee.

"Grrr, what..."

Then he opened his eyes and beheld the bleeding gash in his brother's belly, the pool of blood where he had been standing, and the blood dripping from his own claws. Their eyes met again and saw nothing else of the world around them. Time and sound were not. Fear, hope, confusion, pain, and horror were.

The impossible and terrible truth of what had to have happened struck him like a thunderclap and drove shards of ice through his heart. What he saw before him almost looked like a perfect mirror of a terrifying nightmare he had once had.

 _No! No! No!_

"NO!" he screamed.

He bounded forward in a panic with concern and fear shining in his eyes.

"Brother?" Was-Grounded weakly groaned.

The frailty and fear in his voice was completely heartbreaking.

"Yes, I... I... hurt you..."

Another roar of anger from beyond made his head throb again.

"No, it was not you. It is not your fault."

"I... tried to... kill..."

"No! Stop..."

"What did... what happened?"

"Not now... I… I cannot lick... that hurt," Was-Grounded moaned.

Shadowwing knelt down without hesitation and attended to the wound as well as he could. It was thankfully not very deep despite being very bloody. The metallic taste of the blood still made his bile rise in his throat, only made all the worse by knowing that he had somehow done this.

That he had apparently attacked and tried to kill his own brother. That he had somehow become a Monster in his own way. But how?

He kept at his grisly task until the blood stopped dripping and the entire area was thickly coated in slobber. He could not get the sickening tang off of his tongue though.

"Better?" he gasped.

"It will be better. What about your leg?" Was-Grounded sighed in evident relief.

He glanced at his own leg and noticed that it now had a deep bite mark around the knee. It stung a bit but should be nothing worse than a few lost scales and at worst a curious-looking scar, none of which meant that it would not hurt or would not leave him limping for several days.

"It does not hurt much. What happened? Where are we?"

"The island with the ice nest."

Shadowwing looked around and recognized what had to be the rocky beach. And then he realized something terrible. There was a distant din of fighting and roaring in the background.

"The fighting? Where is the great-tusk-Alpha?"

"Dead."

"Dead?" he gasped in horror.

"A Monster like the great-tusk-Alpha killed it."

And he was on Drago's ship and saw that creature again. A strong, piercing blue eye. A massive Bewilderbeast with a cold, penetrating gaze that saw through him and...

.

There was nothing.

.

All that time, however much it had been from when he flew out to Drago's fleet to almost the present moment, was gone from his memory. There was nothing but a void remaining until he saw his brother standing over him and speaking something. Even that part was hazy and unclear.

An ancient passage of warning echoed in his memory.

' _Monsters can make you think bad things.'_

"What... No..." he gasped in complete dismay as he realized what had happened.

And his own heart broke as the extent of his prideful stubbornness and stupidity crashed down on him like Thor's hammer. At the realization that his blind, defiant trust in his own way had almost torn his family apart forever.

But with that knowledge came a burning fire of anger toward that monstrous creature that had clearly done something terrible to him. It had used him to try to kill someone he loved, to strike at his own family.

He bared his teeth and seethed with a fury that he had never felt before.

Was-Grounded cautiously got to his feet with a pained groan and crept up the nearby rocks to get a view of the bay. Shadowwing followed after him and hopped up to his side with a slight limp of his own.

And they beheld complete devastation.

Dozens of boats out at sea were burning. Dragons swarmed over the shore and waters. Fires burned freely on land. The white King's bulk rolled in the distant waves. The new Alpha Bewilderbeast, the Monster, stood just offshore with its crimson tusks gleaming in the sunlight and the whirlwind of dragons above its head a living rainbow.

The fury grew in both their hearts as they both remembered how this Monster had turned them against each other. How it threatened the peace and had already caused too much death.

And they both perfectly understood what the other was thinking.

They both have a history together in dealing with Monsters.

"We must fight it!" Was-Grounded snarled.

Shadowwing turned to face him, blinked, and froze, completely dumbstruck at what he saw.

"What are you... doing?" he gasped.

Was-Grounded glanced over at Shadowwing in response and froze with his jaws hanging open in shock.

They both saw the other, noticed the other's look of astonished shock, and then turned to glance at themselves.

.

They were both glowing blue from their noses and parted jaws, on their back fins, and down to the tips of their tails.

.

"What... is this?" Shadowwing fearfully asked.

"What is this? We will fight it now!" Was-Grounded recovered himself with a murderous growl and eyes narrowed almost to slits.

Shadowwing seemed to steady himself somewhat and growled as well after several deep breaths.

"How? It does not breathe fire or fly."

Was-Grounded thought quickly about this Monster's weaknesses. It did not breathe fire and could not be killed the way he had the other Monster by igniting its fire-air inside its throat after breaking its wings in a death dive. Its scales and hide were too thick for any kin-fire to burn, and only other great-tusks had large enough tusks. Any possible idea seemed without lift.

Then a previous battle he had closely witnessed floated to the front of his memory. His tail twitched as he gave a snarl and his light seemed to flare brighter for a moment.

"I know what to do. Do you trust me?"

"Always," Shadowwing hummed.

"You flame its eyes to blind it. Fly the other kin away from it if you can. It does not know about me, and you can fly faster than me now."

"I do not have fire like you..."

"Yes, you do. I know that you do. You are burning like me now."

"How... how do I make fire?"

"Like flying, do not think. Only do. Want fire to burn with all your liver! Are you a Night Fury?"

"Yes, but I… I do not think I can fight... the Monster in my head alone…"

Was-Grounded hopped over to him, and they rested muzzles against each other again with a soft hum. They remained like that for several wing-beats as their scales and skin tingled with this strange burning light and with power.

"You are not alone. Remember who you are, remember me, and remember what it did to you. Fill your liver with anger. Can you do that?"

Shadowwing bared his teeth and let out a snarl of pure rage.

"We can do this, you and me as one!" Was-Grounded growled in satisfaction.

Then he stepped back, bared his teeth as well, and spread his wings. Together, they soared away from the beach while doing their best to stay low and out of sight. Nervousness and shared anger gave strength to their wings and let both of them forget about the pains of the last few minutes.

Shadowwing tried not to do so but could not help looking down and seeing all the still bodies and pools of red. Dozens of skiffs and longboats were either burning or beached on the rocks. Fires burned freely in the wreckage on land. Scores of armored and armorless dragons lay still on the shore. Countless men and women lay about in various terrible conditions as dragons flew wildly along the shore. And then there was the regal white King. The body lay bobbing in the water just offshore with a massive hole in its throat.

All of this because of a madman and a Monster.

A madman that he had thought he could talk to and make peace with.

A Monster he should have known about and been afraid of.

They flew tightly around a spire and landed on a high ledge overlooking the battlefield. It was hard to see past the swarm flying around the Monster.

"What if this... does not work?" Shadowwing whispered.

"Then fly away fast to the other side of the island. They cannot catch you. We will only have one chance at this strike. Fly fast."

Shadowwing took a deep breath, summoned his courage, and dove from the ledge.

 _This is stupid... this is something crazy..._

Silently and swiftly he flew down toward the beach. Only when he was halfway there did he allow for the infamous whistle that would announce his advance. At the same time, he roared deeply and aimed directly for the Monster's head. He wanted it to know that he was coming for it.

It slowly turned to glare at him and rumbled its deep growl. Its eyes narrowed on him in surprise, and he heard a hated buzzing start building around him, in his head, and in his chest as he stared into the strong blue eye.

But this time he knew what to expect. The call also seemed far weaker this time for some unknown reason. He remembered Toothless diving toward an inferno to catch him, Toothless challenging the wild Zippleback even as a mere fledgling, Toothless at Outcast Island, and the wondrous day when the winds of their life, so long parted, blew back together again.

 _Peace..._

 _This was not your fault…_

 _Peace..._

 _You are not alone..._

 _Peace..._

 _You are my best friend..._

 _Peace..._

 _My brother..._

 _Pea..._

 _Love and wrath..._

He stared defiantly into the massive eye which had previously stolen away his own thoughts and which now seemed frozen and unable to look away from him. He tipped onto his side and wove between the massive tusks, passing only a body-length from its face. He did not notice the pocket of gas that had built in his throat or the bright glow reflected in the Monster's exposed eye.

That moment seemed frozen in time as he wanted the beast to burn in pain and writhe in agony.

His anger at what it had done to him poured forth without conscious thought, and a glowing ball of blue fire erupted in the exposed eye. The fire spilled out over the Monster's face like water poured onto rock and even seemed to burn the other eye as he flew past the great head and began to turn in a loop.

The Monster roared in anger and pain, thrashed quickly for its massive size, and wildly flailed its enormous tail about to crush him midair. And he saw another spiked tail flying toward him many years ago.

 _Not again!_

But this time he had wings of his own.

He quickly banked himself higher, flying closely between the spines on its tail. Almost vertically he flew as the tail closed on him, the displaced air pushing him faster.

It missed its strike, and he spun up into the open sky with a joyful and defiant bellow. Then he let gravity take him as he spun down for a second attack.

There seemed to be no chance to get a clear strike at the other eye though. The Monster had already roared fearfully and angrily in command, and all the dragons above and around it echoed the call. The hundreds of surviving dragons on shore and in the air all turned toward him and started flapping wildly.

 _Time to try this one more time!_

He took several deep breaths and flew on as low to the water as he dared. The speed of his flight had to leave a wake behind him as he went. The first of the fireballs flew at him, but they seemed to move slower than normal. All conscious thought vanished from his mind, and he trusted his wings to guide him through the firestorm. Dozens of blasts flew around him from above, crashing into the water or otherwise disturbing his flight. He twisted and turned, dodging every shot without thought. The heat from the passing flames warmed his scales and seemed to give strength to his limbs as he rose higher.

It was a sky dance.

A massive, red tusk was being swung directly at him in his line of flight. The Monster had learned from before and closed its remaining only slightly singed eye against his attack.

And he imagined the good King impaled by this exact tusk. It happened before he was even aware of it as an even brighter flash erupted from his maw. Everything in his vision was blue for one instant. Then he saw the flash of blue fire strike at the tusk and explode on contact before he lost his view. He turned down, dove with a spin between the Monster's titanic legs with the swarm closing around him on all sides, and flew straight toward a smaller cloud of wings ahead of him.

 _This is now or never!_

He closed his eyes as he flew through a Nightmare's flaming cloud. It was almost certain that he would crash into a dragon flying at him through the fire. There would be no warning because he was practically flying blind. But in that moment he somehow knew without seeing where the clear and open sky would be and angled himself accordingly.

He opened his eyes as soon as the heat vanished and instantly angled his wings to whip him up and over the Gronkle that had thrown itself at him. Its bumpy body just grazed his belly. A hail of Nadder spines passed by him and missed his tail. A quick spin and tip onto his side carried him narrowly between the final two armored dragons and out into the clear, open skies.

 _Yeah!_

The primal roar of triumph and defiance burst from him unbidden. Everything from his first burst of fire to the present escape flight had all happened in not even a minute.

The Monster drowned his call out with its roar of anger, alarm, and fear.

He felt his light flare brighter and hotter in defiance as the Monster's fearful call and command echoed in the air. He flew on as fast as he could along the coast, leading the massive swarm away from the Monster and keeping all its attention on him.

Having drawn all the dragons away from the Monster and surely able to outfly the fastest of the other dragons' flights, he wondered what the rest of the plan was.

 _I hope you know what you are doing..._

And then he turned to look back at the massive living cloud fast in pursuit of him. Several hundred dragons, what had to be all the flying dragons above the island, were flying at him as the Monster plodded along behind them through the surf.

He almost forgot to breathe when he saw that the Monster was now missing half of its left tusk.

 _What? YES, I DID THAT! DID ANYONE ELSE... see..._

.

There was a burning sun falling from the clouds.

.

He followed the glowing light in awe. The blue light seemed to radiate from every part of the Night Fury's body, from its nose to its tailtip and even from its wings, and was growing brighter by the moment. This was far more intense that the strange light that had burned to life on them both only minutes before and which burned on him now.

 _What... are... you... doing?_

The distant Night Fury threw out its burning wings and arrested its dive.

.

And the entire island was awash in blinding light.

* * *

The Alpha two-leg he knew had fallen.

It was no great loss to him. He needed it and all two-legs no more.

Though, it was slightly chilling to know that a great one, even if a mere two-leg, had fallen. It had almost felt like the Alpha two-leg had a life-fire very much like his own burning in its liver. They had been reflections of each other.

But this defiance from this kin? How dare it! How could it? This tiny dark wing that was so easy to make his own before. It had been begging for peace and comfort, which he had gladly given to it.

He was Alpha. He was the first of all and the only. The others were only for him. He was every one of them.

Except for this one.

No kin could possibly resist his great-will. It was not normal or the way of the world. To have power to resist would put this dark wing above his control. Would make the dark wing a great-one also...

And now it was burning with life-fire and defiance-light. That was something that he had never seen before. It was new and chilling.

His great-will stretched toward it again and found...

No peace. No wanting comfort.

Only blazing wrath. Anger and wrath which closes life-flame to the other beyond any control or influence.

But his great breath could freeze it with spikes of ice. A kin he could not have should not be.

Its eyes. He saw into them. And he saw into its life-flame. This time though he looked for more than the wanting-comfort and desiring-peace that had been sufficient before.

What was it that this dark wing flew for? He had to know so that he could destroy it later and remove one more threat to his own triumph.

He felt it all in that moment.

Care for kin. Care for two-legs. Life-fire that burned for others. Laughing with others. Flying with others. Giving to others. Being for others.

It had so much more than he did or ever would have, and knowing that truth hurt more than anything could. One life willingly shared weighed more than all the empty thrall-kin of the world.

 _'You have lost everything, brother...'_

He was frozen by that painful spike of thought-truth driven into his liver by his once nestmate even now in its death. The love and wrath in the dark wing's life-flame had seized that thought-truth and drove it deeper into his liver in a renewed strike of truth.

And then life-fire seared his eyes, leaving him half-blind in one and blind in the other.

Exactly as he now knew that he had been his whole life.

His wild tail strike at it missed, and he knew that it would come for another such blinding strike.

Pain. Fear. Anger. Command. Protect.

He swarmed toward the dark wing while within the thrall bodies of all the kin. They were not fast enough to ground a dark wing. He struck to crush it in midflight and was struck himself by its writhing life-fire that sank into his tusk.

There was no pain as his great tusk, which had killed the weak white fallen-one, broke in half and fell into the water.

Flee and admit defeat.

Never.

He stared down at the broken tusk and remembered what this Monster dark wing cared for. What its life-fire burned for. It cared for kin and two-legs.

All kin were his own and no belonged to no other.

One command bubbled up from his rent liver.

All of them were to follow after that dark wing and kill it and every two-leg on the island and on the water-walkers and across every island and across every range of the entire world and every one of them could be frozen and burned and devoured and crushed and all that was good was bad and hateful now because it hurt and all that made the dark wing warm had to die with it and it could feel the pain that he himself felt because...

… truth hurt.

He followed after the massive flight, stepping openly on grounded kin in the waters as he went. Grounded ones did not matter to him. They could not benefit him. He was the only that was. All others were only to benefit him and flame his liver. They were small and worth not.

The Alpha was the first and only of the nest.

And it brought no joy. No warmth. No peace to his liver.

He could still see the other, weak great one that was once kin to him looking up at him from behind its massive eyes, almost in pity or sadness even in defeat. He was always jealous of it. And in destroying it, he had destroyed his own ideal, leaving him lost with nothing to strive for. Nothing but his own empty greatness.

He continued to watch the distant flight through his one remaining useful eye as his own thoughts broke like falling ice which shatters on the ground.

Why was it that he could not feel the pleasure of being Alpha?

Why was it very bright for now in the sun's flight?

Why must he scream so loud in pain?

Why did it hurt so much to live?

Why was the world spinning?

Why was it so dark now?

Why was he lost?

Down onto all fours he crashed as he fought against the pain and struggled to be.

He cracked open his unflamed eye and saw another dark wing burning with the same light. Another dark wing that he had not known about? They had joined flights to strike him in his weakness.

Turn aside and flee?

Avenge himself and do justice?

He felt that his hold on the kin was slipping. Some of them, those most bonded to two-legs, were shaking themselves of the false-vision-hopes and were returning to the shore and to the two-legs.

Two-legs... they did all of this somehow, yes, it is their fault. This was anyone's fault except his own.

He heaved in place and moaned in pain. And he beheld the two dark wings together on the ground before him.

* * *

Was-Grounded watched as Shadowwing dove down the mountain while he floated higher up above. It was crucial that he himself not be seen. The Monster only knew about one of them and the longer it stayed that way the better.

Gliding in the cloud cover was the safest way to get in position for his strike. It chilled his liver to have his brother risk himself, but he had to be the one to do this. Only he was accurate enough or powerful enough to take the shot. It did not help that his injuries from the fight and the amount of his lost life-water still hurt and made it hard for him to fly fast at the moment.

Then he turned his attention to far below and willed his brother's attack flight on.

 _You can do it. You are stronger than you know._

He saw him flame the Monster in the eye and then dodge its tail before spinning around for another attack flight. His own liver burned hot at the successful, burning strike.

 _YES! I knew you had fire in your belly!_

The Monster roared in anger, command, and fear. The entire swarm of thralls in the air and onshore turned and started flying.

It was one of the most chilling moments of his life watching him weave and dodge the rain of fire and spines. It would only take one hit. Night Furies did not have the thickest scales among all kin.

There was another flash of fire down on the Monster's far side. He watched as Shadowwing disappeared underneath the Monster with the swarm of thralls closing in from both sides.

 _He is going to make them crash!_

Many enthralled kin crashed into each other and fell into the ocean with broken wings or stuns from the impacts. Those that did not fall had to swerve wildly before continuing the pursuit. Shadowwing had tipped, spun, and dodged through the entire flight. They could not ground or catch a Night Fury. It was the most impressive and liver-flaming flying that he had ever seen from any kin, himself included.

All the flight-worthy thrall-kin proceeded down the coast away from the Monster.

He tucked in his wings, fins, and limbs and silently dove in a freefall only to level out at the last moment to preserve the surprise. None of the kin, and most importantly the Monster, seemed to have noticed him. It surely would not see well, if at all, out of the flamed eye.

And his own liver burned with renewed heat and pride when he saw that Shadowwing's last strike had broken the Monster's left tusk. That was a kind of grounding strike. A strike that would ground an Alpha and end a duel to become an Alpha.

Except this Monster did not retreat or admit defeat.

All his anger and fury toward the Monster began to fill and stoke his life-fire.

He was nothing except the knowledge that this Monster enthralled the other kin, turned nest against nest, and killed the good Alpha.

This Monster's flight of thralls destroyed his once home-nest-island on which he had many good memories.

This Monster's actions threatened the warmth and bonding between kin and two-legs.

This Monster had enthralled his brother and would try to enthrall both him and Green-Wings if left alive.

The moment was only a few wingbeats away. One moment that could shape the future winds of countless kin. The Monster never saw his attack coming as it was blinded in that eye.

He threw out his wings and arrested his dive with only a few lengths to spare. All his scales flared with a flash of light along with his one shot.

.

A burning blue sun burst into being before him.

.

It was burning so hot and so bright that he had to close his eyes and turn away as he darted past the Monster's head. Then a great gust of wind crashed into him from behind and almost knocked him from the sky.

He banked upwards without slowing as an ear-shredding shriek followed the wave of wind. That shriek consumed all other sound until there was nothing but a painful buzzing in his head. But it was not a buzzing of bad-thought-whispers flying to enthrall his thinking.

He spun on his tail and saw that the Monster was standing up on its rear legs and slowly shaking its head while howling its unheard scream. He flew around it and saw that the eye which they had both struck was gone. A gaping, smoking hole as large as most kin was all that remained and was pouring life-water from deep inside the Monster's head.

The swarm of distant kin had already separated into several flights; some were merely hovering in place, others seemed to be returning to the ice nest, and the rest were flying down the beach and toward the Monster.

The Monster eventually fell back onto all fours while violently shaking its head. It slowly recovered its awareness while heaving and moaning in pain.

Great though his strike was, it was not a killing strike.

And he heard a set of swift wings approaching and knew who it was without looking. Shadowwing darted in to his side, and they both dove for the beach without sharing any words. None were necessary.

They both landed at each other's side while spinning in place to glare up at the Monster. They flared their wings wide, let their light burn bright, and screamed at it, their voices joining into a defiant cry of challenge.

The Monster slowly turned to face them. Its shattered appearance was quite chilling to behold, what with the dripping hole where the right eye had been, the burn marks on its face, and the left tusk now cut by half. The remaining eye looked tired and weak.

"It is over now?" Shadowwing whispered.

Was-Grounded was not so sure. The Monster had not bowed to admit defeat or fled in shame.

"I do not know," he hissed.

They were both carefully watching the Monster when something about its appearance changed. There was a slight arching of its neck, narrowing of its remaining eye, and parting of its jaws.

Shadowwing remembered seeing the spikes and blocks of ice driven through and around destroyed trapper boats.

 _No! Not that!_

He barely tucked in his wings and cowered when something struck him before the wall of cold and ice hit.

.

Darkness and cold filled the world around him and embraced him.

.

Alone in the dark.

.

Trapped by the ice as solid as rock.

.

Frozen in place and barely able to move.

.

Locked in a bad dream of weakness and failure.

.

Never to escape being a thought-slave.

.

"Shadowwing?"

He opened his eyes and realized that he was not alone. There was a warmth and press of limbs around him. They were wrapped up together in a hug that would definitely have been very awkward under any other circumstance.

"Brother?" he weakly gasped.

"I am here..."

"I am afraid..." Shadowwing gasped.

"Do not be, we will get out."

They both took deep breaths, quite aware of how little air there was to breathe in this tight prison.

"How?"

"Together."

"What should I do?" Shadowwing whispered.

Was-Grounded growled as all his length began to burn with light again. It quickly became too bright to keep their eyes open in the confined space, and Shadowwing felt the different fire as it filled the space they were trapped in and burned into the surrounding ice. As it burned from his own back and tail.

He knew what to do without being told.

They both burned and shrieked as only Night Furies could.

The burning, living light erupted from them and shattered the prison of ice. Blocks and shards of ice were hurled many lengths through the air and fell back crashing to the ground. The sand around where they had lain was swept back at the blast.

They rolled away from each other, hopped to their feet, and stared up at the Monster. Its remaining eye was wide in disbelief, and it shook its head slightly along with giving a faint whimper of fear.

All while a flight of dragons approached and hovered overhead.

They looked up at the dragons and saw that their eyes were wide open and their movements filled with purpose and awareness as the free dragons turned toward the Monster.

Then they both turned back to face the Monster. They flared their wings. And they screamed.

* * *

They lived and broke the ice.

Impossible.

He could see nothing of the dark wings anymore. His great-will felt nothing of them now.

In their place were two burning suns. The light from their maws and backs scorched his vision and their screams and roars filled him with fear.

Too fast to ground with a tusk or other kin, having fire hot enough to break his tusks, with wills beyond his great-will's thralling, unable to be trapped in his thickest and coldest ice, and blazing with life-fire.

But the kin were approaching and the dark wings were vulnerable on the ground. Burn them? Bite them?

The kin flew in over the dark wings and turned toward him with fire glowing in their maws. They were not his thrall kin.

He saw the promise of his own death in those burning suns as their shots joined and struck him anew. Just as all the not-thrall kin added their lesser fires and seared his face.

.

Stay and die like the Alpha two-leg.

.

He turned and ran, ignoring the burning pain as best he could. Forgetting all the kin and letting them fall away. Bounding for his life. Chased by the vengeful lights.

Into the cool, soothing waters. Down into the depths he swam, hidden from the wrathful fires and the world to heal in peace. Maybe to come forth again under a far future sun.

He would be the last once-great-tusk. Unsure how he would live now, for what was there left to live for? Never to again challenge any to be Alpha, for there could only be dark wings as Alphas now.

The mere thought of dark wings filled his liver with fear. They were different from the other kin. He could still see how they burned with wrath and light. And for the first time, he felt something else in his liver. A grudging admiration for these great kin that were not only kin. He knew that he had done wrong, but there was no unflying what was flown. He now understood something about dark wings that he should have known before. They could be light wings.

* * *

Two burning flashes of fire struck deep into the open, raw, and bleeding wound. The free dragons hovering above, most from the ice nest and from the tribes, joined in the strike with their fires as well. The defeated Monster spun around with a renewed howl of pain and turned for the deep water, its feet carrying it as fast as they could. They both took to the sky and flew after it. More shots flew at its face to hasten its departure.

The defeated Bewilderbeast then reached the deep water and dove.

They remained hovering above the water as the underwater shape vanished into the depths and water's surface stilled. Then they turned and flew toward land together at an easy pace, both of them completely exhausted. They wearily landed well up the beach and took several moments to catch their breath while barely staying on their feet. Then they turned to face each other with twin looks of amazement.

A moment of awed silence passed.

"You did it!" "You did it!"

"Your flying!" "How did you do that?"

"Fast enough?" "Do what?"

"You flamed it!" Was-Grounded bellowed with pride.

"You made a fire-sun!" Shadowwing yelled in amazement.

"You broke its tusk!"

"You broke the ice!"

Was-Grounded jumped over to him, nuzzled him openly, and hummed deeply.

"We did it. We drove it away together as one flight," Was-Grounded whispered.

Then he looked up and saw them all approaching. Many kin. Formerly thrall-kin and wild kin. What looked like half of the ice nest and many not from the ice nest seemed to be gathering around them on the beach. All the ones that had joined in at the end and helped drive the defeated Monster away were now on the ground and crowding around them both.

"What are they doing?" Shadowwing nervously asked.

"Quiet…" Was-Grounded whispered, only realizing what was about to happen when it did.

All the kin bowed their heads to the ground.

He was completely frozen as his eyes went wide in amazement. This was only a gesture that he had seen given to the Alpha by the kin under its protection.

That made him...

That made them both...

He then stood tall and roared their triumph to the skies. All the surrounding kin did so as well, and their roars joined into one cry of victory and freedom. They then dropped back to the ground and began to disperse as quickly as they had arrived, most of them flying back into the ice nest or dispersing onto the beach.

"What... was... that?" Shadowwing shivered.

"They have two new Alphas," Was-Grounded answered in awe.

Shadowwing froze and his eyes went very wide.

"What! New Alphas?"

"Yes, they bowed to both of us."

Shadowwing shook his head in evident disbelief.

"I am now a kin Alpha with you? What... does that mean?"

"Not now, I must fly to Green-Wings and tell her everything."

He saw his brother's nod of acknowledgment and then hopped into the sky.

* * *

Never had his liver burned hotter than it did at this moment.

He saved his brother.

They drove off the Monster great-tusk.

They freed the thrall-kin.

They became nest-Alphas in a way.

He roared aloud his triumph anew as he flew past the ice nest. There was a far peak where he and Green-Wings had rested before on the side of the island most removed from the fighting and grounding. He rightly suspected that she would be there, safe from all the danger, and landed next to her where she lay waiting with Dawn-Singer securely tucked away under her wing.

No time at all had elapsed before she got up and dashed for him, immediately smelling the life-water and gazing at his belly.

"Show me!" she commanded with a twinge of fear.

He lay down on his side and let her inspect the wound. Then she smelled it and certainly knew that it had already been tended to. She licked it anyway, and he hummed his thanks to her.

"What happened?" she implored him.

"A... thrall-kin clawed me. That thrall-kin... is gone now. Shadowwing helped me."

"Where is he? Do we need to fly now?"

He got up and nuzzled her neck while breathing in her familiar and precious scent.

"The fight is over. The bad two-leg nest had a bad great-tusk-Alpha. It made kin be thralls. The good great-tusk-Alpha is dead."

"But the bad great-tusk?" she turned back for the resting Dawn-Singer.

"Grounded and fled," he snarled.

She whipped around with very wide eyes, unable to believe what she had heard. But she also saw a faint glow flare into being around him at his declaration.

"You defeated it?" she gasped.

"With Shadowwing's help, yes. We drove it away together."

"You defeated a bad-Alpha-Monster..."

She averted her eyes and started to bow. His liver twisted at seeing her inclining her head to him.

"No, do not... bow..."

"You are an Alpha now," she whispered.

He looked out toward the ice nest. It was still a very new idea to him. That his own kind of kin could be recognized by other kin as the Alpha of a nest was a deeply warming idea that gave his liver great lift. Help protect a nest was something that he could certainly do.

But he could not catch fish for all the kin. He certainly could not force enthralling obedience on other kin that did not want to obey him. And he would not demand obedience and deference from her even if he could. To do so would almost be to make her less than him.

His light died away as he bent down before her, worked his head under hers, and lifted her head up to be even with his.

"I am your life-mate. You do not bow to me," he whispered.

She stared at him in amazement and did something she could not remember ever doing before in all her season-cycles.

She trembled and sobbed at the warmth that flared in her liver.

"You never stop amazing me," she hummed into his ear.

"You will always fly the winds of life with me, not below me or behind me," he whispered back.

They nuzzled long in comfort to the other.

And then both of their heads snapped toward the distant beach as they heard it together.

* * *

Shadowwing got back in the air as soon as his brother flew off. He wished that Was-Grounded could have stayed to help him, but he certainly had every right to see that his own family was safe.

He himself had not been in the air for a few moments when he saw up close one of the horrors of war.

Down on the ground, he saw one of Drago's war-dragons tearing apart a man's body. With his heart clenching and with a tickling in his throat, he dove and landed next to the dragon.

"No!" he growled and flared his wings in warning.

The dragon grumbled and licked its lips but submissively backed away, leaving what was left of the remains behind.

He couldn't even look at the remains properly because it was too terrible. He remembered being told once that this kind of thing happened. That it was natural for a dragon to want to eat.

Never had he actually seen it happening before.

He settled for dragging a nearby wooden board over and somewhat covering up the remains. All while barely keeping the contents of his stomach in his stomach.

Who had the man been? Who had he fought for and why? Had he even been a bad man? No one would ever know.

He wandered further down the coast toward the masses of humans. His knee stung slightly as he walked, but the horror all around took his mind off that slight pain.

Several dragons were nudging and keening at still bodies. A couple of the humans that he could see were stirring or were being helped to their feet. But many were not. Too many were clawed, hacked, or burned. Dozens were still and motionless. Even many of Drago's own soldiers seemed to have been flamed.

"No…" he whined.

A soldier from Drago's army stumbled into his path. The man had a narrow but deep gash in his side, a gash that was dripping blood.

He made his choice without considering what the man may have done in the past. The armor the man was wearing did not matter. All that mattered was that the man would die without immediate help, so he shoved the man to the ground despite the terror doing so caused. The man screamed himself hoarse while he carefully flamed the wound. The smell of charred flesh was sickening, but this had to be done for the man's own good. Then he stepped back, leaving the man whimpering and clutching his burned, but no longer bleeding, injury. Infection was still possible, but certain death from loss of blood was averted. It was now in the hands of the Fates what would happen to the soldier.

 _Why does it come so naturally now? I still don't understand how I actually make fire..._

He next came upon a Nightmare that was missing an entire wing and was struggling to stand. There was nothing that he or anyone could do for the dragon. At least there was no bleeding to treat.

The air itself seemed heavy with moaning, groaning, and despair.

Where was everyone? Where was anyone?

He wandered the beach with growing horror when Cloudjumper's distinctive call eventually echoed from above. The Stormcutter heavily landed on the ground, and a masked figure clumsily hopped off his back. She tore off her mask and had a clearly terrified look as she stared toward him.

"Mom!" he leapt toward her.

She seemed oddly subdued and only slowly approached him.

"Is it you? You're… you're…"

She saw his wide and fearful green eyes. Whatever else she had intended to say, she didn't manage to after that point. The tears on her cheeks spoke for themselves. She dropped her staff, threw her arms around his neck, and cried openly. He softly whined as he put an arm on her back and held her close.

"I thought you were lost. I saw you flying with the others…" she eventually mumbled.

It was truly strange and frightening to hear an account of the battle when he could not recall any of it. No flying among the other dragons, no memory of a fight on the ground, absolutely nothing at all until the hazy moments with his brother before him and seeing him on his bloody side.

She eventually released him, retrieved her staff, and returned to rest against Cloudjumper as the normally proud Stormcutter appeared visibly shaken.

"There are so many dead. I haven't even been back to a camp yet. It looks like it is all over. No one is fighting anymore. Drago's ships are leaving."

 _Good._

"I am going to go to the survivors, find the Chiefs, and... see what the plan is now."

He nodded to her and watched as she and Cloudjumper flew off.

 _Gods, how bad is it?_

He flew up toward the shelf in the middle of the beach so that he could get a better look over the whole area. There were bodies of both humans and dragons everywhere and fires were burning freely as far as he could see. Ships still burned out in the bay. Carrion birds began singing and circling around the smoke stacks.

Then he saw it on the top of the ridge. A cape with inlays of blue Nadder scale lay abandoned. He slowly crept to it as ice began freezing in his heart.

And then he saw the bottom of the miniature cliff. He dove, landed, and beheld the entire scene in an instant.

Drago Bludvist's body, complete with a shining hole in his neck, was broken on the rocks.

But that wondrous revelation paled when he saw her bruised and broken body only a couple paces away. Her golden hair was stained with streaks of red, the choke marks on her neck stood out sharply, and her eyes were empty and still. But she had a faint smile as she lay facing toward the bay where the conquering Bewilderbeast had been driven back in defeat.

He spun away and howled a cry that carried over the whole island.


	50. II - Umbra

_**Author's Note - This is the penultimate chapter of volume II. For those who did not know, the umbra is the darkest part of every shadow cast in an eclipse. The symbolism should be clear as to whom this applies. This denouement chapter is likely the darkest in the whole story. The full aftermath of what transpired is still to be revealed and becomes clear quite early on in this chapter.**_

* * *

" _Despair is the price one pays for setting oneself an impossible aim." - Graham Greene - The Heart of the Matter_

* * *

Umbra

* * *

A new morning broke over the island. The slowly rising sun gradually burned away the remnants of the fogbank and mist as the temperature slowly climbed.

The wounded were no longer screaming or howling, their pain having mostly eased with time or death, and the smoke from the large bonfires of corpses had long since blown away on the winds. No one had even tried burning the dragon bodies, and they still lay wherever they had fallen.

There were two masses of people gathered on the beach. The larger mass had worked at the boats through the night while making repairs and comforting their wounded. The very idea of tribes had fallen away for the moment as everyone was united in their common goal of getting off the island. There were no living dragons among or near this group.

The smaller mass was huddled together around roughly constructed huts far up the beach. Their dragons were crowded nearby, almost encircling the assembly, and refused to move.

A Stormcutter flew up from these survivors and vanished inside the ice nest.

* * *

He did not want to move or do anything else besides lay deep inside on the ledge after not sleeping at all. None of it helped with the chill in his limbs. Nothing felt like it mattered much anymore. There was a gaping hole in his chest, in his heart, out of which the warmth of life had bled dry.

Was this what it felt like to have ones soul ripped apart? To suffer two separate invasions into his own being, his own self, in the same day.

He reluctantly opened his eyes when he heard some of the native dragons flying by and out to sea. They were grumbling as if they were hungry, which they probably were since there was no Alpha to provide for them.

 _It must be easy for them to forget… to not really feel anything at all or be attached..._

 _Maybe their way is better..._

Was it better to not feel and not get attached to anyone so that getting hurt by losing them is not possible? It certainly seemed safer at the moment.

A softer sound of footsteps began drawing nearer, and he did not need to turn and look to know who it was. Who else would or could come to him now?

Valka walked over to his side and sat down on the ground. Neither of them said anything for a few minutes.

"Are you ok, son?" she whispered.

 _What do you think, mom?_

He only shook his head almost imperceptibly.

She cautiously reached out and rested a hand on his neck. When he did not shy away, she began stroking his neck. He reacted to her gentle stroking by unfurling a wing and draping it over her.

She could remember several times when her newborn son had been very unhappy, probably hungry, and only she had been able to calm him. Nothing that Stoick, having no way with babies at all, had ever done had quite comforted the crying baby. This was now her chance to make up for some of the motherly comforting that she had not been able to give, not that the news she had to share was at all good though. Almost none of it was. It had to be shared regardless.

"It is ok now. I... we need to talk."

He reluctantly nodded and got up from where he lay to follow her over to the writing box. Several tense seconds passed before she spoke.

"This is bad. Very bad."

 **You think?**

Her voice was frail and quivered when she spoke. She held on tightly to his neck as she spoke the terrible words.

"The other tribes have denounced all dragons."

The words seemed to echo in the air long after they were spoken. It felt like a hammer that beat upon a piece of metal too hard and caused the metal to splinter. It marked the end of something that he and others had devoted countless days, years even, to bringing about. So much of the friendship and trust, the peace and coexistence, shattered in one day.

He whimpered as he wrote the simplest question possible.

 **Why?**

She could only whisper.

"Can you not imagine? Many of their own dragons turned on them in the battle when the other Bewilderbeast won. Threw them off in the air. And they said that some of their own dragons even… killed their own riders..."

He almost vomited at the mere suggestion. Seeing a dragon from Drago's army try to eat a dead body was one terrible thing, but for a dragon turn on its own human companion, on its own rider and... friend, was too horrifying to seriously think about.

"I do not know if that happened, but all the Chiefs we knew are gone... missing and their people are scared. There are so many dead. They want to blame someone; they need to blame something. So they blame dragons, all dragons."

His paw trembled as he wrote.

 **What will they do?**

"They are taking the remaining ships and sailing home alone right now."

 **Do they care what we did?**

 **We defeated it**

She got up and slowly paced.

"It doesn't make sense, I know. They don't understand that the dragons did not have a choice and that it wasn't really them. Everyone saw what happened, but I don't think they understand it or can accept that they owe their lives to dragons, to you both."

Everything was falling apart.

 **I need to talk to them**

She put an arm on his shoulder to stop him.

"No, you don't understand. They will try to kill you too. Especially you or me."

"Fine! Let them!" he shouted back.

He tried to dash away from her but was foiled as she grabbed his neck and refused to let go.

"Let go!" he growled.

"No son..."

"Let go..." he whimpered.

"No son..."

"Let go..." he whispered.

"No..."

Then he stopped and hung his head with renewed exhaustion and grief. They did not move for several long moments as she remained holding him.

"Don't make me lose you... Please stay..." she gasped.

He whimpered but nodded in pained agreement. She nervously let go and walked back over to the box with him slowly following her.

 **Why especially us?**

"They blame us for telling them to come here. Something about it being a trap from the start. No more treaties, I remember. There are a dozen or so who disagreed and stood by their surviving dragons. Berk also survived mostly in one piece, I think, except..."

She could not bear to speak the name.

"I... I should also tell you that I met him. Your father."

He reluctantly glanced up at her in genuine surprise.

"I let him know who I was. He told me about how sorry he was for everything he did and about how he was going to work to make everything right again. I believed him."

She paused and only warily continued.

"All that they know right now is that he is missing."

He blinked and stepped back.

 _What?_

"So many are missing right now, and we might never know what happened."

He hung his head anew in weary shock and leaned into her comforting touch as she stepped over to him.

 _He might be gone... my dad might be... oh gods... no... not this too..._

A moment passed as he silently mourned and she rubbed circles on his neck.

"I thought I knew him again. He reminded me of the man I married, before all the cares and duties of being Chief changed him."

She closed her eyes, clearly lost in old memories.

"I bet you never knew that your father could sing. Not very well of course, but he had a gentler side once."

She began humming a strangely comforting tune though she spoke no words. Then she went silent and did not continue.

"I wish I had been able to sing our song happily as it should be sung…"

Neither of them said anything until Valka wiped her cheeks dry and hesitantly continued.

"The funeral for all the dead will be later in the afternoon..."

He moaned sadly but nodded in acknowledgment.

"You might... go down and see everyone later after the other tribes are gone. It might help."

 **Now what?**

"I think I will stay here with you until everything settles down out there."

He turned away from the writing station, and they slowly walked out to the ledge together where they looked out and saw a mass of people far down on the shore. Boats were being loaded with survivors and supplies and were already sailing away from the island. Several dragons tried to fly up to the boats but were beaten back with spears or other weapons.

It almost felt like his heart was tearing anew as he saw confirmation of the terrible event unfolding. He turned away and looked down the beach in the other direction to where there was less to see.

"It will be ok, son," she stroked his neck.

 _I... did this... I wasn't there for them... So stupid... What was I thinking? I failed them all..._

He felt nothing but emptiness as he looked down off the ledge at the rocks far below. At the sharp rocks.

The merciful rocks.

It would be easy. Just step away from her, hop off the ledge, close his eyes, and let the fall take him. It would all end. The emptiness, the pain, the shame, and the guilt.

All would be... not.

And he saw his brother finding his broken body and howling in grief to the skies. Innocent Dawn-Singer hanging his little head. Valka weeping as she knelt beside him. The pain they would all feel for many years.

 _Don't make me lose you..._

 _Fly the winds of life..._

He gasped and stepped back from the ledge at the thought of how those he loved would grieve at such a terrible deed.

"No," he whispered.

"What?" Valka asked.

He silently shook his head.

Another glance followed at the ships sailing away from the island. With all his limbs trembling, he turned away from the life-shattering scene and returned to his spot by Valka's hut where he normally rested. But he knew that there was no sleep waiting for him there now.

"Will you be ok?"

Yes, he nodded.

"Ok, I think Cloudjumper needs me. He is... a bit upset too."

They both crept back inside the inner sanctum. She whistled and leapt onto Cloudjumper's back mid-flight a moment later.

Shadowwing glanced around the interior of the nest, vaguely noticed how quiet and still it was, and winged to his brother's ledge, landing with a slight hiss from the pain in his knee. The excitement of battle had thoroughly died away and left more of the pain behind to feel.

Was-Grounded lifted his head while Green-Wings remained still.

"You are awake," Was-Grounded whispered at his arrival.

"Yes..."

"How is your leg?"

"It hurts some but is not... I do not..."

Shadowwing could not finish his thought and only weakly sighed. A moment passed before Was-Grounded spoke up after seeing his growing despair.

"You are very chilled for them."

"Toothless... It all broke..." he whispered.

"What?"

"The other two-leg nests have turned their tails on all kin."

Was-Grounded blinked, certain that he had misheard.

"They are not kin-bonded now? Why?"

"The Monster made the kin turn on their own bond two-legs and try to kill them. Many two-legs who still live cannot trust kin now and have thrown all kin out of their livers and nests. The two-legs from our home-nest-island and some from the other nests are still kin-bonded, but they are not many. Too many were grounded and killed."

He hung his head and trembled, his voice barely a whisper when he continued.

"I wanted to make a good world... where kin and two-legs could trust and not fear. Like... we were before... It was and now it broke. It fell from the sky. All flamed in one sun..."

Was-Grounded lifted a wing and gestured at his side. Shadowwing only briefly hesitated before walking over to him and reclining at his side. His brother covered his back with a wing as they used to do long ago.

"It is an egg that was cracked. You said that the home-nest-island two-legs and some others are still kin-bonded, still have a liver-bond with their kin?" Was-Grounded said.

"Yes," he mumbled.

"Then the hatchling in the egg still lives."

"Maybe. I do not see how it can hatch now..."

"Try not to think about it then. Think about other things."

Shadowwing faintly nodded and tried to change the subject to something happier.

"What about you? Being the Alpha? What does that mean?"

Was-Grounded had thought long and hard about that exact question in the sun since driving off the Monster.

"I do not think I am truly an Alpha like what was with the great-tusk."

"But they all bowed to you."

"It depends what Alpha means. I cannot thought-control the kin like the great-tusks did. I cannot provide for them. Being Alpha for us is different from the great-tusks. We can help protect them only."

Was-Grounded hummed warmly.

"Do not forget that they also bowed to you. If I am like an Alpha then you are also and that makes me warm."

"But… what will the kin do without an Alpha like what they had before?"

"Probably what happened back on our old island. There was no providing Alpha then. As long as they nest with two-legs, there is no need for an Alpha to get food for them."

"And the kin who do not nest with two-legs?"

"They will need to survive alone."

A moment passed during which Was-Grounded's ears fell and he too only whispered.

"Is there a death well-saying and body-burning ceremony soon?"

Shadowwing was silent for a moment before he answered.

"When the sun flies lower in the sky, yes."

"My liver is much chilled for her. She was good to us. Very different from the first sun I met her."

Shadowwing could not bring himself to chuckle at the memory or do anything but stare aimlessly.

"She was a good Alpha to her nest. She grounded and killed the Monster two-leg Alpha. I am sure that was a great fight. She had the liver and life-fire of a kin," Was-Grounded continued.

"I do not want to think about it..." Shadowwing mumbled.

"Then think not. Sleep now under my wing. I will shelter you."

Shadowwing lay his head down on his arms and exhaled deeply.

"Thank you, brother..." he mumbled.

He soon fell asleep at his side.

"No bad sleep-visions now..." Was-Grounded whispered.

With that, Green-Wings slowly lifted her head, as she had been pretending to be asleep for a long time but had not wanted to intrude. They looked at each other without saying anything until she broke the silence.

"Your egg-mate is very strange..." she whispered.

"He feels much and wants much. More than most kin. You heard about the two-legs..." he answered.

"Yes, I... know not what to think. I always thought that they would be mostly false in their livers."

"But you saw what happened to them on the sand. They think that their kin were false to them first. And you met the spine-tail kin-friend, the she-Alpha. Did she have the liver of a kin?"

She thought about it before admitting it to him and to herself.

"Yes, she did. She was a two-leg with good fire in her liver for kin."

She seemed to pause in confusion for a moment though.

"What did he mean by you and him before when he was talking about kin and two-legs? He sounded very thought twisted then."

He thought quickly and flew an answer that hopefully had enough lift.

"He probably meant our old home-nest-island. That was a place where kin and two-legs were good and warm to each other when we were fledglings."

She hummed and seemed to accept the answer. He lay his head down to return to sleep when an idea warmed his liver and nipped at his tail as he looked to her side where Dawn-Singer was also resting under a wing.

"I want us to do something later this sun..."

* * *

The other tribes' boats were gone out past the horizon by now. The departure of the survivors from the other tribes had been impressive in its haste. Maybe half the number as had come to the island left it on those ships. No one was left on the island now except those still loyal to their dragons and several score of Drago's stranded soldiers whom no one bothered as they distantly worked at repairing a few ships.

Shadowwing finally summoned what courage he could and flew down to see what remained of his dream.

It was strange to walk toward the people who had once been his tribe and whom he had met again just days before. Gobber, Thorvald and Sifa, Skald and Vistra, Gustav, Finnbjorn and Katrina, Roggvir, Nien, and the Hrafn family being the main ones he could see who were from Berk and whom he knew decently well. Others he recognized along with some of their families from the other tribes were Helgrid, Ralof, Orsik, and Tembra from the Vaina and Jarlief from the Volsung. They had all lived, though apparently with various assortments of burn marks and scars to hopefully boast of someday.

The entire group had removed itself from the worst of the destruction and had removed the nearest dragon bodies to where they had made camp. It was almost possible to pretend that nothing terrible had happened if one was on the ground and looking around without prior knowledge.

All of their living dragons, many of which had minor clawmarks, lounged on the ground or glided nearby, clearly relieved that the beach was emptier now. He briefly spied Blueback and Stormfly further up the beach playing with their fledglings. Even from such a distance though he could see that Stormfly looked disturbed and lost. Every dragon he even came close to inclined its head toward him.

He saw everyone start to stir at his approach, even those he had already met just days before.

"Hicc... Shadowwing, we are happy to see you," Skald was the first who stepped forward from the pack.

 _Hey there Legs..._

He forced back an attempt at a smile and gave the man a brief pat on the back in greeting.

Others came forward as well to greet him.

"We all saw your flying yesterday. Absolutely amazing how you and Toothless beat it," Gustav exclaimed.

"We wouldn't have made it without you!" Finnbjorn said.

Then a big man with a peg-leg strolled forward to meet him. However, Gobber seemed far more subdued than he usually was.

"Nice of ye... ta join us."

He walked right up to his former master and teacher and stared evenly into his eyes. He could see the hurt and despair in them. It was not hard to imagine why considering that he felt it himself.

He reached up and put an arm around Gobber's back in a hug which the blacksmith awkwardly returned.

"Thank you... Hiccup..." Gobber whispered.

Shadowwing then stepped back and regarded everyone else gathered here. There was still so much unreasonable hope, life, and eagerness among all of them. They still stood by their friends despite all that had happened. They still trusted even after all the terrible things that had happened. They all had stubbornness issues.

Something amazing happened only a few moments later. A cry went up from those gathered as people pointed up in the sky.

Three more Night Furies, two adults and one almost yearling, were spiraling above them and looking for a safe place to land. They flew down and landed a short distance from the gathering.

Everyone stood motionless for a moment, and then chaos erupted.

"There they are!" "I told you!" "The other Alpha!" "Look at it!" "So cute!" "I want it!"

Shadowwing hopped up to the three dear arrivals in surprise.

"What are you doing out of the nest?"

"We wanted to come see the good two-legs and see the death-resting ceremony," Was-Grounded answered.

"Two-legs!" Dawn-Singer happily cried before dashing for them.

"No, stop!" Green-Wings shouted after him in alarm.

But the eager little Fury did not listen and ran on.

Skald stood motionless as the young Fury wove around his legs but not because of the young Fury sniffing at his boots. The mother Fury who had pounced over and stood glaring down at him with her teeth bared while softly growling at him was incentive enough to be perfectly motionless.

"Uh... nice Night Fury..." he mumbled.

"Green-Wings, do not hurt him," Shadowwing exclaimed.

"Play!" Dawn-Singer cried as he peeked out from behind Skald's legs.

"No, little one! Come here now!" she growled.

He lowered his little head and submissively wandered back over to her. She plucked him off the ground and put him on her back. Then she backed away from the gathering, only fully relaxing at her mate's side.

"Uh, what was that about?" Skald asked.

Shadowwing looked around for some viable sand.

 **Her name is Green-Wings**

 **She does not trust humans much**

"Ah, I see. Do you think she will ever trust us?"

 **It will take time**

"And the little one?"

 **He is Dawn-Singer**

"Dawn-Singer. That is a beautiful name. He actually reminds me of you."

 _What! Me?_

He glared at Skald with some amusement.

"Yeah, so full of energy and friendly to everyone."

Shadowwing grumbled and rolled his eyes, but he managed to faintly hum nonetheless.

"Could you ask Toothless to say hello to us? I heard that he doesn't go by that now, but we all remember him. We have not seen him up close in a long time."

Shadowwing called to Was-Grounded and beckoned him over.

"You remember legs-of-fish."

"Yes, he is less in the belly now," Was-Grounded hummed.

Shadowwing actually chuckled softly.

"What? What is it?" Skald demanded to know.

 **He said you lost weight**

"Well, I am glad he approves," Skald smiled.

"He is not the only one!" Vistra exclaimed with a soft nudge at his back.

Everyone laughed heartily at Skald's embarrassment.

Shadowwing then turned around and stepped over toward Green-Wings.

"You want to see good two-legs. You see them and run away?" he teased.

"I do not know these two-legs. Kin-liver I know, but these ones are not kin to me," she hissed.

"Not kin to you now..."

Then he was staring cross-eyed at a big tail drooped over his face as Dawn-Singer had leapt from her back and onto his head. The Fury must have liked his perch because he sat down there, still looking eagerly out toward the crowd of people. He was also getting a bit big to fit on such a perch.

Shadowwing glanced at Was-Grounded, who returned a bemused look at him.

"Shadowwing, we play with two-legs?" Dawn-Singer hummed.

He glanced at Green-Wings and saw her perfectly clear answer.

"Not now, Dawn-Singer, you go to your dam."

The little Fury grumbled softly and flapped once back to his mother's back. Even so, his eyes never left the crowd of people gathered nearby. Shadowwing then turned back from the other Furies when he heard the beat of more approaching wings.

Cloudjumper landed just down the beach from everyone, and Valka hopped down from his back. She again wore her full attire including the wild helmet and spike-horns. Then, staff in hand, she approached the remnants of her old tribe.

"What is that!" "The Dragonheart..." "The wild woman..."

She nervously looked around the gathering and was solemnly greeted by a Night Fury first.

"Hey there, you look a little better..."

She hugged his neck as he put an arm around her back and gave her a faint rumble.

"...my son," she whispered.

 _Thanks mom..._

"Where is Gobber?"

He turned to one of the side tents and gave her a beckoning nod. She followed him to the tent's entrance where they saw Gobber sitting inside in apparent exhaustion. He briefly glanced at them before returning his attention to the weapons on the ground before him.

"Hiccup... oh, Dragonheart, what are you doing here?"

Valka gathered herself and then slowly took off her helmet. She held the helmet at her side while staring at him. He had not yet looked up at her.

"Gobber..." she implored.

He turned toward her and froze, his eyes going wide in disbelief.

"Val, nah, it can't be... now I'm seeing ghosts..."

"Yes, it is me."

He stumbled over to her, still in apparent shock at her sudden appearance, and eventually found his voice.

"We thought ya were dead... all those years..."

"Oh, Cloudjumper never meant to harm me. But I was... lost all this time in a way."

He put out his good arm, and they embraced with him being very gentle with her much smaller frame.

"No one else knows who I am Gobber, do not tell them."

"Why not?"

"I'm not ready for that yet. I do not think I ever will be. Let me stay lost to the world. I... we both need to know what happened with Stoick. All I heard is that he was missing."

Shadowwing nervously squeezed himself partway inside the tent to listen.

"I guess you two of anyone here should know," he groaned as he sat down again.

"He was fighting with his old battle-fury, not really sure where that came from. I saw him kill one of Drago's beasts myself and take on several mercenaries at once by himself. That was after he saved me a couple times. Hurled an axe some twenty paces to take someone who would'a had me, a perfect throw it was. And I lost sight of him. More soldiers were landing, dragons were attacking and carryin' people off, and everything was chaos. Then the fighting down on the ground just stopped when ya two were up there fightin' the big one..."

Gobber went silent for a long moment.

"I never saw a body and no one has seen anything of him since. We looked among the dead and the survivors. I don' want to think about it, but I know it in my gut though..." he whispered.

Valka did not shed a tear or sob. She instead stood at Shadowwing's side and held his head. He only stared at the ground, his aghast expression perfectly evident to them all.

* * *

The sun began to fall lower in the sky as the afternoon passed. Everyone began looking around at each other anxiously as they began setting aside their various tasks. There was no Chief or Elder present to formally announce the beginning of the ceremony.

Then Thorvald stepped forward and took the lead.

"It is time."

The next few minutes passed in a blur as strong men carried bodies wrapped in sails or old cloth onto a mass grave. The weapons of the fallen were placed at their sides. The survivors grabbed torches and began to gather around the departed. Family members spoke words of honor as they lit the fires.

"Why are they doing that to the dead?" Green-Wings asked.

"It is how they respect the dead. Burn the bodies so that predators or rot do not eat them, true, Shadowwing?" Was-Grounded answered.

"Yes, true," Shadowwing mumbled back.

His gaze was fixed on the men and women standing somewhat removed from the gathering and slowly piling rocks together far up the beach. Each person had a helmet in their arms as well as a sword. One after another they sank the swords in the ground before the pile of stones and then placed the helmets on top of the pommels.

Gobber was the last to participate and left his own helmet behind.

"What is that?" Was-Grounded asked, following his brother's gaze.

"That is for the dead... with no body to burn..." Shadowwing hesitantly answered.

Then he walked over to the pile of stones and sunken swords. He sat down, curled his tail around his front, and hung his head as he remembered it all.

His dad's bravery in leading the tribe through all the years of raids and protecting his own, being disowned by him, him announcing how proud he was of his son, his providing for both his little charges even before the first day they hatched, how he had supported the inclusion of dragons in the village and arranged for peace with other tribes, how he had outcast those who had to be removed, how he had threatened Alvin, how he had bravely led the battle against the Berserkers, how he had become consumed with an obsession that made him turn traitor, and how he had apparently spent all the time since then trying to redeem himself.

How he had died fighting for his own and for family.

And all of his own frustration and smoldering anger seemed to wilt within.

 _I'm... sorry dad..._

Sigh.

 _I know I'm not what you wanted me to be. And I'm not the peacemaker I thought I was. I don't know..._

He felt a hand on his shoulder. She spoke only in a whisper, despite it only being the two of them, as she looked down at the solemn markers.

"You came early into this world. Such a wee thing, so frail, I fear'd you wouldn't make it. But your father, he never doubted. He always said you'd become the strongest of us all, and he was right."

He rolled his shoulders in a faint shrug.

"You have the heart of a human and the soul of a dragon. I know I doubted you before, but only you can bring our worlds together. I believe it. That is who you are, son."

She slowly stepped away to give him some room. He closed his eyes and took in the silence.

 _I, uh, I guess I was always afraid of becoming like him. He was arrogant, stubborn, and proud._

 _And I did in a way. I made the same mistakes that he did. I was too proud. I did not trust my own people enough. I did not listen because I thought I knew best. Like father like son._

The soft, chill wind drifted over him.

 _But he did try. He was also powerful, brave, and selfless, even if he did make many mistakes. He tried to move on and be better. I guess that is all anyone can do. Never stop trying._

He gave a very deep sigh and turned away with Valka standing next to him. They walked back to the main gathering together. Everyone was gathering closer together as the mass bonfires started dying out. A couple solemn minutes passed in relative silence.

Then he saw four people, one of whom was Sigurd, emerge from one of the tents while carrying a stretcher. The stretcher had a blue Nadder-scale cape laid over it.

He watched from afar as his heart clenched anew. Then he closed his eyes, still remembering her empty eyes and her golden hair stained with streaks of red.

Everyone followed the procession at a respectful distance down to the water's edge where a small fishing boat was prepared with a pyre. There was no wailing although there was a great deal of sobbing.

Gobber stepped forward and faced everyone once the body was laid to rest in the vessel and the sails unfurled.

"What needs to be said about the Dragon Whisperer? She had a way with the dragons. And she was a fighter, a true shieldmaiden. She killed Bludvist in combat and died in battle, and for that we know where she is. May the Valkyries welcome her and lead her through Odin's great battlefield. May they sing her name with love and fury so that we might hear it rise from the depths of Valhalla and know that she has taken her rightful place at the table of kings. For a great woman has fallen; a warrior, a Chieftain, a sister, a dragon rider."

With those words, they pushed off the ship. Everyone watched as the ship slowly drifted into the harbor.

Shadowwing only lay on the shore, whimpering softly while Valka rubbed his neck in comfort. Archers along the shore began to light their arrows and fit them to the bows.

And then Was-Grounded leapt into the sky without any warning and flew out toward the ship. He came to a rest and hovered next to the ship, each beat of his wings pushing wildly at the ship's sails. Everyone on shore watched in amazement as the Night Fury roared aloud and then fired a glowing shot at the ship. The shot spilled out over the ship instead of exploding and quickly set the pyre alight. Then he winged the short distance back to shore with the ship fully engulfed in dragon fire.

Shadowwing trembled openly as the flames spiraled higher into the sky.

It all washed over him in an instant. His memories of her from his youthful crush on her, to her newfound respect and admiration for him following their romantic flight, and to their drastically changed and confusing relationship after his new life began.

As the pain sank in again from having such a dear part of life cruelly torn away, it felt safest to never risk being attached in that way. To never risk such heartbreak again.

* * *

Thorvald turned away from the harbor and faced everyone once the final remnant of the ship had burned away and vanished under the waves. He struggled to find his voice for several moments. Then he glanced over at Sifa and took some comfort from her encouragement.

"We will remember the world that she worked for, unlike those who would forget and turn their backs on their friends. We will always be dragon riders."

A brief pause followed.

"I wanted to be the Chief once before. I did not know what I was doing and thought I deserved it by only being in the right family. None of that stuff matters now. I am not the Chief you all wanted to have or deserve, but I will lead you if you want me. Will you have me?"

No one moved or said anything for several moments. Then Gobber started hobbling toward him. The blacksmith stopped, unhooked his smith's hammer in lieu of a weapon, and lay it on the ground before him. Then everyone else from Berk followed after him by laying a weapon on the ground at his feet. Only those not from Berk remained uncertainly waiting.

"What about you? I understand if you do not know me. All that you know is that I am a fellow dragon rider. Look around at everything..." he gestured toward the distant burned ships and devastation.

"Everything changed. We all lost our homes, and you left your tribes because they could not accept you anymore. Berk... is gone. Your homes are gone. Will you join us and be one people, the last dragon riders, wherever we end up?"

All the survivors from the other tribes conferred among their own groups and gradually began to kneel in acknowledgment of their new Chief.

He held out his torch and looked over the new, unnamed tribe.

"Thank you. Now we need a plan. We are, what, just over a hundred strong? We cannot go back to where we are from. Either there is nothing to go back to, or we are not welcome there. I do not think that we can live on this island or would want to after what happened here. I welcome any suggestions."

People began eagerly giving ideas to their new Chief and talking among themselves.

Valka turned back to Shadowwing and held his neck for a moment before she whispered to him.

"I remember that you told me about the place where Toothless lived before coming to this nest. It sounded like a good place. What do you think about it? Could they make that their new home?"

He hummed in thought, momentarily rousing his thoughts from the quiet emptiness.

 _It is definitely big enough. Plenty of forests for lumber and mountains for fresh water. Grass for grazing animals. Good fishing. Uninhabited too. It is a bit cold, but when has that ever stopped them before?_

He nodded.

"Ok, will you tell them? You know the place better than I do."

He reluctantly got to his feet and began to walk toward the assembled crowd.

"Everyone!" Valka shouted to get their attention.

"Dragonheart, what is it?" Thorvald asked.

"Shadowwing has an idea. There is something he wants you all to know about."

"What is it?"

"There is a place where he and the other Night Furies lived before they came to this nest. That place could be a new home. Shadowwing, if you would..."

He stepped forward before everyone and slowly began to write.

 **On the mainland north and east**

 **It has trees, mountains, streams, farmland**

 **Good fishing and hunting**

 **No one else lives there**

"How far is it from here?" Thorvald asked.

 **Two days flight**

"That is a long way to go without even seeing the place first. But we have come this far already and we do not have much choice."

Thorvald turned back to the new tribe.

"Shall we go there? Fly to this strange place that he told us about. This... what should we call it, Skald?"

"Haven?" Skald offered.

"... this Haven where we could rebuild and live in peace?"

He looked around and saw nods of agreement all around.

"Then we shall. We will be ready to leave in a couple days."

Then Valka stepped forward and addressed everyone.

"There is something else that we need to do first," she declared.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note - Some closing thoughts on the confirmed significant death, I believe that it was a fitting homage to the second film and of what happened therein while still being different, most significantly in how the death came about. I also believe that I gave that fallen character an honorable treatment all throughout. No, it was not a romance arc. Instead, it is one that felt to me more in keeping with their original character of duty, sacrifice for the tribe, a warrior streak, and maturing and coming into their own as a capable leader who did what was necessary to keep the tribe together in a difficult situation.**_


	51. II - Penumbra

_**Author's Note - The penumbra is the part of the shadow where the source of the light is partially visible. Let that give you some hope that the darkness will pass.**_

 _ **This is the final chapter of volume II. I wanted the entire volume to be a decent mix of homage to the original canon while also being clearly different and exploring new material and backstory. Please feel free to share any overall thoughts you may have on how volume II went even if you have not reviewed at all yet or if your review comes well into the future.  
**_

* * *

" _Life begins on the other side of despair." - Jean-Paul Sartre – Le Mouches_

* * *

Penumbra

* * *

"There is a small island not a half-day of flight from here to the south. That is where Bludvist had his trappers working from. I think that there may still be dragons trapped on that island," Valka continued.

"Why do you think that?" Thorvald asked.

"Because Cloudjumper and I have flown near it many times when tracking ships. We could not get in though. I want to free any of the dragons in there now after Bludvist's defeat. I do not think that the captives would easily trust any humans though, not even me," she frowned.

"Why not?" Skald wondered.

Valka only groaned softly.

"A dragon that has never known other humans is more curious and I can easily interact with. A dragon that has known only pain from humans will not naturally trust me."

Shadowwing considered it and agreed that it was definitely best to do something. Any kind of activity might help distract him from everything else.

 _Plus, I can probably help a bit with the whole dragons not trusting humans at all problem._

 **Do you want me to come along**

 **To help calm them down?**

"Yes," Valka immediately answered.

 **When do we go?**

Thorvald turned to them with a heavy sigh.

"With respect to you both, why should we go do that? The idea of trapped dragons makes me feel bad for sure, but we don't actually know any are there now. And we have to look out for our own here first."

"It would not need to be many, only a few volunteers to go with me, Cloudjumper, and Shadowwing. We will fly there, free any of the dragons we find, and return here. We can bring all the freed dragons from there and from here with us to our new home. It would also be a betrayal of everything we say we are if we do nothing to help them," Valka answered while leaning on her staff.

Thorvald thought for a moment.

"I will not forbid it if you and any volunteers want to fly there on your rescue mission," he finally granted.

"And with respect to you, Chief Thorvald, I do not need your permission because you are not my Chief. My only loyalty... is to the dragons, to my family, to the Night Furies now... I will fly there to save the dragons and any help that you or your tribe can spare will be welcome," Valka bristled.

Thorvald looked back at her with a strange mix of frustration and respect.

"Would any of you volunteer for this mission?" he asked everyone.

Several hands went up after some muttering and discussion. Skald was the first to step forward with a nod. There were a dozen volunteers before too long.

"How long will you be gone?" Thorvald asked.

"No more than a couple days. We will leave in the morning," Valka replied.

"Ok, we will be ready to leave when you return."

Thorvald departed with the rest of the tribe while Valka began to speak with the volunteers and make plans.

Was-Grounded stepped forward with an obvious question on his mind as he looked at the assembly.

"Brother, the two-legs are doing something. What?"

"Kin-liver said that she thinks the bad two-legs have more kin trapped as thralls on a different island. She wants to free the thralls. And she had me tell these good two-legs about the place where you lived before this ice nest, about... Haven," he finished after a moment of thought.

"Haven?"

"It means a safe-range, a new home-nest and range."

"And they are going to fly to the range where I and Green-Wings made our den to make a new mixed-nest of their own?"

"Yes."

Was-Grounded grumbled to himself.

"We liked that range much because it had no two-legs... But if these good kin-bond two-legs need a nest, it is a good range for them to make their nest-dens..."

"What will you two do?" Shadowwing hesitantly asked.

Was-Grounded and Green-Wings shared a glance with each other and up toward the ice nest.

"We would like to go back to that range. This ice nest is dying and is not a good place to have and sit our next egg," Green-Wings eventually answered.

"I would like that. It will be good for you to live near this future nest," Shadowwing said.

"Maybe..." Was-Grounded growled, clearly unimpressed.

"Why are you chilled by that thought?"

"We will go back and live in our den, but we do not want to be around two-legs now. The two-legs that turned tail on kin reminded me that two-legs are filled with danger and can be false, even if because they do not understand."

"Not these ones though. These ones have warm livers to us," Shadowwing reluctantly countered.

"Maybe even these ones under bad enough winds..." Was-Grounded evenly answered him.

Shadowwing almost objected but found that he had no words. Could even these survivors turn on dragons? Could what was left of Berk and the other strongest pairs from the other tribes also fracture, and what would happen then? He did not want to think it possible, but he had never thought that the peace could have been shattered as thoroughly as it already had.

 _No, I cannot imagine that happening. These people already left their tribes behind to stay faithful to their dragons._

"What about helping the thrall-kin? Is a flight flying now?" Green-Wings spoke up.

"They will fly at the sun's next rising. The two-legs with Kin-liver will follow me with their kin. Will you fly with me, brother?" Shadowwing asked.

"I could help you," Was-Grounded answered without delay.

"Must you go, my mate?" Green-Wings asked him.

"All the fighting is finished now, and you would be safe staying here," he answered her.

"But you would be away for suns," she bemoaned.

Was-Grounded stepped over to her and nuzzled her neck while whispering in her ear.

"I should do this for him. His liver is much twisted now from all the death that happened."

She reluctantly nodded, reached around her back, and nosed Dawn-Singer awake.

"Little one, we will fly to our roost now."

He yawned, wiggled his hindquarters and fins, and spread his wings.

"I will fly fast!"

Then he was furiously beating his little wings, slowly spiraling higher away from the shore. She followed after him, and they both flew up toward the ice nest and vanished from sight in the dark.

"Thank you for coming with me," Shadowwing mumbled.

Was-Grounded answered with a wide yawn.

"We should sleep soon. Let them know that I will fly with the flight."

Then Was-Grounded flew off after his family while Shadowwing turned for the gathering.

"Mom..."

"Shadowwing?" she asked.

 **Was-Grounded will come with us tomorrow**

"Will he now? That is good. We might need all the help we can get."

* * *

They both awoke at dawn to one of Cloudjumper's eager roars. They got to their feet, stretched, and left, Was-Grounded after tenderly gnawing on one Green-Wings's ears before departing.

The entire flight was already assembled, the other dragons wearing their saddles and their riders with packs of supplies to last a couple days. A few fish had been saved for both of them, which they gladly made disappear.

Then Cloudjumper flew out over the sea with Valka holding her staff aloft in signal. The entire flight went aloft and followed them as the sun rose in the east. Both Furies joined Cloudjumper at the head of the flight.

Leagues of water passed under their wings with not a sign of land anywhere in sight after leaving the isles. Nor did any of them see any ships on the water. It was as though the remains of Drago's forces had vanished entirely.

The flight came upon a very small island about halfway through the morning. It was good enough to serve as a rest stop for those who needed it. The riders all dismounted and wandered off to relieve themselves.

Was-Grounded had curled up to rest on the warm sand. Shadowwing walked over and collapsed next to him. It seemed a perfect opportunity to broach the terrible question.

"What happened to me?" Shadowwing whispered.

"What?"

"With the great-tusk-Monster? I do not understand it."

"What do you remember?"

"I remember seeing the great-tusk-Monster and then my head hurt. And then you were there with me. You were saying things that I... cannot remember well. Almost like I was looking through a cloud and hearing through water."

Shadowwing closed his eyes and grimaced.

"And you had your... hurt in your belly. Does it hurt now?"

"Not much. Green-Wings licked it much for me."

"Good," Shadowwing whispered.

"You do not remember more?" Was-Grounded hummed.

"No, nothing more."

"How did you see the great-tusk-Monster?"

"It was in the water by a water-walker."

"And you were on the water-walker? Why?"

Shadowwing whimpered again as several moments passed.

"I wanted to talk to the two-leg Alpha and make fighting not happen."

Was-Grounded did not have the cold in his liver to snarl or make any biting remarks. It was clear that his brother felt the pain from his own blindness deeply enough.

"But nothing else, no sleep-visions, between then and when I found you?"

"No, nothing. Where did you find me? What was I... doing?"

"It was not you. It was something else in your scales. I saw it flying after the bad great-tusk-Monster won the fight. The thing in your scales was flying away from the ocean. I flew and knocked... it from the skies."

Shadowwing's entire length shuddered.

"Was I... flying against the nest? Did I... ground or kill any kin or... two-legs?"

"I did not see that."

Shadowwing did not look up when he heard that reassurance.

"You are not only saying that to not hurt my liver, are you?"

Was-Grounded growled at that.

"I did not see you flying against kin or two-legs. I only saw a Night Fury flying away from the largest fights, almost like it was lost. That is liver-truth."

Shadowwing nodded, grateful that there was no more terrible news to share.

"That Monster that was in your scales... fought well. It might have grounded me after it clawed my belly but it stopped."

"I stopped?"

"I think you were fighting it in your head and liver."

Shadowwing grumbled and closed his eyes.

"I do not remember any of it," he mumbled.

"Maybe that is better. Too much remembering is like trying to fly with too large a catch of prey."

"That does not help me feel warm though."

Several quiet moments passed.

"Your old nest has a new Alpha that we know from before. He is also from your old flight of two-leg young," Was-Grounded offered, clearly trying to change the subject.

"Yes," Shadowwing mumbled.

"Tell me this ones name again," Was-Grounded asked.

"He was... his two-leg name is Thor...vald. It means strength of... Thor."

"What is a... Thor?"

"Two-legs have stories about Thor. A very big male two-leg-thing who could throw sky-light from his paws and had a stick weapon with a rock for its head."

Was-Grounded huffed at the large description of this two-leg's life-fire. He could remember that two-leg from before; it had more wind in its belly than fire in its liver back then. However, it seemed to have grown teeth and become stronger since then.

"Maybe he will be a good Alpha. He is a kin-friend to his fire-scale."

Shadowwing vaguely nodded and then turned his thoughts to the strangest thing that had happened to them both.

"What happened to us with the... body-light?"

Was-Grounded looked up at the sky and shrugged in an acquired expression.

"I do not know. All that I know is that I felt more power. My fire was hotter and more... more."

Shadowwing went silent as a possibility brushed against his thoughts.

"Was that like a life-will-power but an other power?"

"It was not life-will-power. I think that is the hottest life-fire that we can make. I never felt that even with the first Monster we killed."

Shadowwing considered it and nodded. Then he bent down to the sands and brought out a fine tendril of blue flame to spill on the sand. The bit of gas needed came from within, and his tongue effortlessly shaped the small stream, which was somehow set alight. It all came without any conscious thought or action except a slight clenching deep in his chest, a rolling in his throat, and a will that fire be.

"I do not understand our fire," he eventually muttered.

"You do not need to. It is enough that you have it. Now you can burn your sleeping-rocks like I do, that is very warming and helps you sleep," Was-Grounded happily chuckled.

Shadowwing hummed in thought for a moment when another question bit at his tail, mostly because of the mention of the first Monster they fought on Dragon Island.

"How did you not be made... thrall by the Monster on fire-nest-island when we were fighting it?"

Was-Grounded groaned in thought and gave a faint snarl.

"It was not as strong as a great-tusk. It was also old. And having a two-leg to think about and protect helped much. More of the kin and two-legs from home-nest-island lived in this fight than those from any other nest and that was the mixed-nest with closest bonding."

"Why would having a two-leg help?"

"I think that the wanting to protect the two-leg fills the liver and makes the bad-thought-whispers not dig into the liver."

"That has some lift. You said many season-cycles ago that the bad-thought-whisper makes a kin see but not have their body. Why do I not remember it?"

"I do not know. Maybe the first Monster and the great-tusk-Monster were different in their whispering."

"I was not strong enough..." Shadowwing weakly sighed after several moments.

"No, I did not say that."

"You do not need to."

Another moment of silence passed and then Shadowwing whimpered. There was another key detail about what had happened that he had intentionally withheld until now.

"My sire is also dead."

Was-Grounded paused and stared intently at him. That was the first he had heard of it, and it would definitely explain the deep chill circling around Shadowwing now to have lost two that were of his nest in a way.

"What do you think about that?"

Shadowwing sighed and gathered his thoughts.

"I do not want to think about it. I wanted us to throw our anger out of our livers and be warm again, but now I cannot. I did not let myself warm to him even though he tried to do good... after what he did to you. He was lost in the fighting, and I am lost on these winds."

Was-Grounded softly nuzzled his cheek.

"You will always have me. I will never give you up to drift on the winds of life," he declared.

Shadowwing hummed softly at the promise. They then got up together and wandered off to find Valka. She was sitting on the beach at Cloudjumper's side and staring out over the ocean.

 **How far?**

"We are about halfway there. Are there any soldiers or men still there? Trappers maybe? I do not know what we will find."

He watched her as she appeared so calm and composed.

 **How are you so strong?**

"What?"

The question caught her completely off her guard.

 **It hurts so much**

She only whispered her reply.

"That is part of what it means to care. Maybe I only look strong… because I hide how much it hurts. I have a lot of practice at that both in the nest and from back on Berk. Or maybe it is that I am colder and cannot feel like I once did."

 **Does it ever get better?**

"Better? You get used to it eventually, and it changes you into someone new. I learned long ago that it does not do you any good to mourn forever for the past. All you have to decide is what you will do with the time you still have."

He glumly nodded as he lay his head down on the sands, hopefully to find some rest. Then he wondered about something else that she could do now. It might seem painful so soon after everything that happened, but he wanted to know it regardless.

 **Will you sing the song?**

"What?"

 **Your and dad's song**

 **I want to know how it went**

He took a moment to snuggle closer to her and gently wrap her in his tail. She chuckled softly as she absentmindedly stroked a fin while she gathered herself.

Her song was very slow and mournful when she sang.

"I'll swim and sail on savage seas... with ne're a fear of drowning... and gladly ride the waves of life... if you will marry me... no scorching sun nor freezing cold... will stop me on my journey... if you will promise me your heart... and love me for eternity."

"My dearest one, my darling dear... your mighty words astound me... but I've no need of mighty deeds... when I feel your arms around me."

"But I would bring you rings of gold... I'd even sing you poetry... and I would keep you from all harm... if you would stay beside me."

"I have no use for rings of gold... I care not for your poetry... I only want your hand to hold... I only want you near me."

"To love, to kiss, to sweetly hold... for the dancing and the dreaming... though all life's sorrows and delights... I'll keep your love beside me."

"I'll swim and sail on savage seas... with ne're a fear of drowning... and gladly ride the waves of life... If you will marry me."

She did not cry when she finished the song. He would have if dragons could weep.

A few moments passed before he felt a wing being draped over his trembling back alongside a very familiar, comforting hum.

"Brother," he eventually whispered.

"I do not know all words in that song, but it sounded like something that life-mates would sing to the other," Was-Grounded softly hummed.

"Yes, it is. It was."

* * *

The entire flight finally came within sight of a large island early in the afternoon. There was a tall mountain in the middle of the island. Then they noticed the village built around the base of a massive cliff. The buildings extended all the way down to the water where a massive wharf had been constructed. There were enough platforms to have accommodated perhaps a dozen full size boats. Only a couple vessels appeared to remain in the docks. The complete lack of anything moving was the first detail they noticed as they came closer.

Shadowwing looked over to Valka, wanting to hear or see confirmation from her that this was correct place. He flew over next to Cloudjumper and called out while looking from Valka to the land.

She heard his bugle and pointed at the island. It was indeed the correct place, only she remembered it very differently. It had been swarming with activity the last time she had flown to this island with Cloudjumper.

The entire flight followed Cloudjumper's lead in descending towards the island. Their gazes scanned the island, looking for any sign that it was still inhabited. None of the buildings had any light from within, and there was almost no visible motion on the island.

It looked completely abandoned.

They flew in over the ghost town and landed outside the largest building. The riders dismounted and reached for their weapons, just in case there were to be any conflict. The entire group began walking around while looking for any sign of occupation. The dragons were grumbling in evident nervousness all the while.

Then there was some activity. A few people, obviously laborers of some kind, exited a building on the far side of the village and quickly tried to disappear. But there was nothing in the way of fighters or true occupation anymore.

"Where is everyone?" Skald broke the silence.

"They must have left with the army. Maybe there is nothing here," Valka answered.

Shadowwing hopped over to her with news.

 **I smell the dragons**

"Where are they?"

He looked around the village and then spotted a building that looked promising. It had no windows and was one of the larger buildings. He walked over to it and pulled open the front door.

There were indeed holding pens inside, but they were all empty.

"Shadowwing!"

He turned and looked at Was-Grounded. He was sitting next to the largest building back up against the cliff wall. This building was as large as a Great Hall.

"What?"

"Over here."

He bounded over without delay.

"I smell the other kin in this trap-cave," Was-Grounded announced.

The smell of other dragons was certainly stronger near this building, and the main path through the village led directly here. It was also large enough to possibly hold a number of dragons.

He looked over to Valka and barked to get her attention. She ran over to him along with Cloudjumper and most of the others.

"In here?"

He nodded.

They looked at the very large door on the building This entrance reminded him of the gates that Berk used to have in the arena. Valka unlatched the gate and stepped back as the doors were swung open.

They all stared in pained amazement at what they saw inside.

The door opened on a large chamber filled with chains and holding pens. Unlit torches and other refuse littered the corners of the room. Every one of the pens was filled with a trapped or collared dragon. Many different types were represented, but they all shared one common feature from what he could tell from their scents and appearances. All the dragons were females.

Valka immediately noted as such.

"All females. It is obvious why."

They only had to think for a moment before the horrible answer of why became apparent.

 _Why am I not surprised?_

 **He was taking their eggs**

Valka sadly nodded.

"Probably, it sounds like something he would want to do. Make sure that no dragon lives free of his control while... building up his army."

Shadowwing walked closer to the nearest cell and his heart sank in sadness. There were the old remains of a disturbed nest next to the Nadder within.

"How could they do this? They abandoned these dragons here to die?" Valka whispered as she looked around the interior.

All the riders who had followed them into the building were similarly absolutely aghast at what they saw.

"Alright everyone, let's get them out. Remember, these dragons might be angry. Just let them get out and fly away," Valka announced after a few pained moments.

One by one the cells were opened and the wary females dashed out the building. Some seemed able to fly while others clearly could not at the moment. The freed dragons were initially wary, but all of them dashed outside when freed from their chains or cells. Valka somehow seemed to have more sway with them than even she gave herself credit for as none of them threatened to snap at her. Or maybe it was the presence of the Night Fury over her shoulder that helped to calm them down.

Something else got their attention as they started to get to the back of the building though. The rear of the building had been built up around the entrance to a cave. The cave's mouth was quite large and a very heavily worn path ran into its dark depths.

"If there are any more dragons still here, they will be in there," Valka announced.

"Do we all go in?" Skald asked.

"No, just a few of us should go. You all tend to these ones here. We will get help if we need it."

She grabbed a torch and turned to Shadowwing.

"We will need a light to go in there. Can you... light this for me?"

He carefully breathed a fine torrent of flame and set the torch alight.

"It is still amazing to me that you can do that," she whispered.

 **It is easy now**

 **Not sure why though**

She nodded and then steeled herself to continue on into the cave with the two Furies following closely behind her. The cave opened into a large underground chamber with several antechambers, all of which was partly lit up as she lighted several more torches where they hung. There were a couple large steel cages inside the main chamber but the smaller cages were mostly empty.

"This is a big cave," Was-Grounded whispered before he ran on to the nearest occupied trap.

The kin within, one of the ones that Kin-liver called a rain-slicer, was alert and watched him closely. He inspected the thing that held the trap's mouth shut and reached up to the thing as he had seen the other two-legs and Shadowwing do. The thing holding the trap closed fell away and the mouth swung open. The rain-slicer dashed out the opened mouth and ran to freedom and light.

It made his liver feel very warm to restore these kin to being not-thralls. This was something that an Alpha should be able to do, though very differently for him than it was for the good great-tusk.

Then he saw a large trap with several large sets of chains and ropes inside. The area in front of that trap was very heavily traveled.

He stepped over to it and froze the moment he got close enough to smell it. He looked at it again as a growl of anger began to build in his throat.

"What is it?" Shadowwing asked in alarm.

"Come here and smell it," he growled back.

Shadowwing did so and hummed in wary confusion.

"I smell many kin."

"Yes, many male kin."

"Why would they have many male kin..."

He stepped back with a gasp as he understood what had to have been happening here. Even so, there was something else that was...

"No, they were... using them to... make eggs?"

"Yes, they were. The two-legs who had me thrall tried to do that to me," Was-Grounded mumbled.

"What!" Shadowwing exclaimed in horror.

"They tried to mate me to other kin. That did not work for them," he snorted with derision.

"What is it?" Valka nervously ran up and asked.

He barely had the heart to tell her.

 **They were breeding dragons here**

She did not seem shocked and only nodded in acknowledgment.

"I figured that they would. Let's look around here, get all the others out, and get home."

Shadowwing and Was-Grounded turned away from the horrible cell and went to one of the remaining occupied ones. There was a Nadder inside the padlocked cell.

Shadowwing tugged on the door, but it was too strong for him.

"Step back," Was-Grounded said to him.

Was-Grounded stepped up to the mouth of the trap and looked closely at the metal holding the trap's mouth closed. He brought forth his hottest fire, an intense and narrow white flame, directly onto the metal.

Shadowwing was amazed at how long the flame held even if it was a fine stream. And it still held long after he thought it should have ended.

 _Ok, there is something about dragon fire that I definitely do not understand._

The metal seemed to glow from within and almost dripped when the flaming stream ended. Then Was-Grounded reached up to grab the trap's bars and pulled on the cell's door. The padlock was easily twisted apart, and the cell's door swung open.

The Nadder darted out of the cell and vanished outside like the other freed dragons.

"How do you make your fire that hot?" Shadowwing exclaimed in amazement.

"I want it that hot and it is."

"That is not helpful..." he grumbled back.

From where they stood, they could see into one of the side alcoves. It appeared to have yet another barred cell inside it. And there was something else in the air that was... familiar?

"I think there is another trap back there," Was-Grounded mumbled.

They strode down the short path together. They turned around the corner and then saw the sleeping dragon in the cell.

She looked like a white Night Fury.

* * *

 _The End – Volume II_


	52. Interlude

_**Author's Note – Think about how the events in this little interlude impact the wider world. You have already met this character before.  
**_

* * *

" _Fate goes ever as it must." - Beowulf_

* * *

Interlude

* * *

It closed its eyes with a pained sigh.

At every pair of wings that fell from the sky.

Each felt deep within at every spark that died.

Burned into Memory the growing void inside.

The weight of all remembered deeds considered.

The future now unseen as hope withered.

One ending brought about in the past.

And another one now forecast.

It looked out over the waters and cried.

For fate cannot be denied.

Judgment being finally passed.

Destiny known at last.

Two winds to fly their own way.

A new world to begin this day.

It looked out over the world and spoke to all that could hear across all the lands and that looked to no other.

With a whisper on the wind.

And a summons before the end.


	53. III - Light Fury

_**Author's Note - T**_ _ **his new person, who was quite an obvious introduction in hindsight, given how I like to pay homage to the canon while still having my own twists, will have an understandably central and transformative role in all to come. Without further ado, enjoy the final volume.**_

* * *

" _Whiter than new snow on a raven's back." - William Shakespeare – Romeo and Juliet_

* * *

Light Fury

* * *

She was terribly thin, so much so that each of her ribs stood out on her side. There was a leather muzzle strapped around her mouth and a metal collar ringed her neck. The visible claws on her forepaws were clipped and worn down into stubs. Perhaps worst of all though were the old rips in her wings. The tears were fine enough that they could only have been done by a blade. She had clearly put up quite a fight in the past and had needed terrible measures to control.

All considered, she looked relatively peaceful while asleep. Her breaths were labored, but her chest still slowly rose and fell with life.

But then they noticed faintly strange details about her appearance that they had missed on first glance. Her head had no frills, nubs, or ridges, her wings seemed a bit more rounded at the tips, her back had only one long and narrow fin-ridge running its entire length, and her scales seemed almost so smooth as to be indistinguishable from each other.

And there was the complete strangeness of her color as well. It seemed to go completely contrary to the name of Night Fury.

Almost as though she was not one.

 _Oh my gods..._

Shadowwing finally remembered to breathe, though he could not tear his gaze away from her. Neither of them could look away as they stared in pained and horrified awe at this discovery.

Was-Grounded recovered his voice first with a whisper.

"She needs help. You stay here with her. I will get Kin-liver."

He then spun around and dashed back up the passageway.

Shadowwing almost called out to him to take his place so that he could get the help instead, but he stayed silent, not wanting to suddenly frighten her awake with a shout. There was no way of knowing how long had she been a prisoner here or how she would react.

He cautiously walked over to the cell and inspected it more closely. There were what looked like scratches on the ground near the door. He was also met with new smells. The strangest one was evidently hers since it was familiar but also not. Another was the faint aroma of old dung in the cell. The last was a very faint and old mix of several distinctly male dragons.

He froze mid step, aghast at the realization. It was exactly what he had smelled at the terrible breeding pen. She could only have had the same smell because she had been there too.

 _What have they done to you? How dare they!_

They must have been trying to breed her too. That could never have worked since they definitely did not have another Night Fury or whatever she was. She would also never have willingly gone along with it.

 _Why would males try to do that with the wrong dragon? It makes no sense. They don't do that outside their own kinds._

He took a deep breath to steady himself.

 _Maybe the Bewilderbeast forced them to... I do not know... I do not want to know..._

He allowed himself a very faint snarl and tail thrash to vent his anger.

 _I really wish Drago was here now so I could tear him apart myself..._

Another deep breath followed as he tried to slow his racing heart and resolved to not think about what he had just learned.

 _Alright, calm down... this could go wrong so many ways but someone has to get you up._

He pulled the pin out of the lock, and the door opened without making any noise. He slowly and carefully walked over to her and paused, his nose hovering over her shoulder. There was no telling what was going to happen next or how this moment was going to change their lives.

Then he gently nudged her shoulder and stepped back from her.

She stirred slightly at his touch and forced open her drowsy eyes. A moment of confusion passed as she gradually realized that she was not alone anymore. Her light blue eyes found his and went very wide in alarm.

Then she scrambled to her feet with a muffled bellow and backed away from him until she ran into the rear bars of her cell. Her eyes darted wildly from him to the open door behind him. Her breathing was panicked, and she could not seem to stop whimpering in fear.

He was completely frozen as neither of them moved a muscle. It was heartbreaking how terrified she was of him. But he could not look away from her, and she did not look away from him.

"I will not hurt you," he whispered.

Then he lowered his head and began slowly walking toward her. Doing so made her whine softly, but this had to be done for her own good. The muzzle was a very simple one and could easily be pried off if only one knot came loose.

He sat down in front of her and slowly lifted a paw to her head. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion at his sharp claws, but she made no other move, whether out of paralyzing fear or choice he could not know.

Then he hooked a claw into the knot and gave the rope a tug. The muzzle loosened after a moment of fiddling with it.

She blinked, possibly realizing that he was trying to help. Knowing that he was trying to help apparently did not stop her from trembling at how close he had to bring his claws to her face though.

He carefully worked a claw under the edge of the muzzle and began to pry it away. She pulled away as he tugged at it. The muzzle fell away from her head, and he flung it outside the cell with a growl. Then he backed away from her to give her more space.

She did not move for several moments, apparently being stunned at having the muzzle off. Then she opened her mouth widely and rolled her jaws every which way, clearly glad to be able to freely stretch, with her still sharp teeth fully unsheathed.

 _How long did they keep it on her? Why did they think they needed to muzzle her?_

"You are safe now..."

She snapped her jaws shut at his words and stared at him again.

.

.

 _Can she even talk? Maybe she doesn't..._

"I... am... safe... now?" her raspy voice filled the silence.

Even from a strange dragon, it was impossible to mistake the trill of a voice that had not been regularly used in a very long time.

"Yes, you are. I will help you," he promised.

"Water..." she weakly moaned.

 _What? Oh, she needs water first._

It was at that moment that he heard footsteps bounding down the hallway. She heard them too and immediately slunk back a couple steps against the cell's wall as the light from a torch grew nearer.

"I brought Kin-liver."

Was-Grounded peered around the corner and noticed that the female was awake and crouching against the wall of the trap in clear fear. Her smell also told him that as he came closer. It also told him exactly how she had apparently been used by the bad two-legs' male thrall-kin. That part was not surprising since he himself had almost been used as one of those male mating-thralls before. He felt his liver burn with anger and he barely stifled his growl, not wanting to frighten her.

"Shadowwing, what is the matter? He wanted me to follow him and…"

Valka's voice died the instant she looked into the room and saw the three Night Furies, one of which was impossibly white and was clearly a female by appearance.

 _Another Night Fury! They were not the only ones!_

And then anger filled her heart at seeing the noble and... strange... dragon with her torn wings, scratches down her side, and her clear starvation. The white Night Fury whimpered the moment she saw her and avoided meeting her gaze.

"Oh, you poor girl. What did they do to you?"

What terrible things she must have suffered from the trappers and from Drago's soldiers to react so weakly to seeing a human, she did not want to think about. It was not hard to imagine from all that they had seen of this place.

Shadowwing got her attention with a purr and quickly scratched out what needed to be said. Valka peered at the dirt scratches through the dim torchlight.

 **She needs water**

The trappers and Drago's men had presumably been gone from the island for several days now and almost no one had apparently been here in that time to be able to bring the captives any food or water.

"I think I know where the supplies are kept. Will you tell her to follow me?"

Shadowwing turned back to the female.

"This two-leg will take us to water."

Something like complete dismay and distrust bloomed in her eyes.

"Why… you… with Monster…? Bad, bad Monster," she whined.

"No, not all two-legs are bad Monsters. This one is good. We will give you water and fish."

"No. Bad. Scared," she barely hissed.

Shadowwing looked back at Valka and flicked his head to get her to come over to him, which she slowly did. He slipped his head under one of her arms with a purr, and she began to scratch behind his ears, apparently understanding his purpose. Together, they looked in the female Fury's direction.

* * *

 _No... Not true!_

She could not believe her eyes. They had to be telling her a not-true sleep-story even when not in sleep.

First, a dark wing male appeared in the open mouth of her trap. And he did not try to force himself on her or hurt her even though he smells like a new two-leg-Monster.

"I will not hurt you," he said.

That was too good to believe. No others have not tried to hurt her in some way. Others are danger and not safe.

He approached her with a claw outstretched toward her. A new hurting game or threat?

Then he helped her take off the bad mouth-closing thing the two-leg-Monsters put around her mouth to stop her from biting their paws off.

And she was able to stretch her jaws for the first time in a very long time. Was any of this true or only another not-true sleep-story? It had to be too good to be true but it felt very true.

"You are safe now..." he said.

 _Safe? How? What?_

"I... am... safe... now?" she stammered.

They were the first words she had spoken aloud in her recent memory.

"Yes, you are. I will help you," he declared.

 _Help me? If you want to help then get me some..._

"Water," she whispered.

Then she heard something large approaching her trap along with a growing light. Light and approaching things meant two-leg-Monsters. The fear returned, and she crept back up against the wall which she had unknowingly moved away from.

Another dark wing male appeared, and his scent flowed in as well. He did not smell of two-legs, but he did smell heavily of a dark wing female.

Then a she-two-leg-Monster appeared as well. She looked for the hurting-vines and other hurting-things that it surely had to have, but she could not see any. She still tried to get as far from it as possible. Two-legs were danger.

 _'Flee on sight...'_

The first male began strangely pawing at the ground in full view of the two-leg. Was this an act of submission to the Monster? And then the two-leg-Monster growled and grumbled softly in its small way.

"This two-leg will take us to water."

 _Impossible! Is he helping the two-leg-Monster? I should have known._

"Why… you… with Monster…? Bad, bad Monster."

He did a strange shaking of his head that looked like he was being swarmed by little buzzers. She wondered for the first time if his head was filled with twisted-wrongness.

"No, not all two-legs are bad Monsters. This one is good. We will give you fish and water."

Her mouth slightly opened at the thought of fish.

 _I want fish and water..._

But why would she ever believe that the two-leg-Monster wanted to help her? That was unnatural, wrong, and not the normal way of life. Two-leg-Monsters only exist to hurt and kill or use kin. To break the life-fires of kin and stop them from being free. To change them into weak life-thralls like all the other false-kin she remembered from this much-bad place.

Two-legs are Monsters.

"No. Bad. Scared."

The first male then gave a sad croon, got to his feet, and walked towards the two-leg-Monster. He put his head under its dangerous paws and…

She could not believe her eyes again. The female two-leg-Monster was not hurting the very brave or very thought-twisted dark wing male. From his soft purr, the male seemed to enjoy the almost-grooming that the two-leg-Monster was giving it. Almost as though they were known to the other and were one flight.

She gave the creature another look. It had not yet truly done anything threatening to her or to the male. The male obviously knew the two-leg-probably-Monster and trusted it not to hurt him, impossible though that seemed.

What she was seeing went against everything she knew about two-legs. Against all her painful experiences, burned so deeply into her memory.

 _'Two-legs are filled with danger, flee on sight.'_

The words seemed to echo in her memories from sometime long past.

"Where are... other bad-two-leg... Monsters?" she unsteadily asked.

"Gone," he growled.

"Gone?"

"Yes, gone, flamed, grounded, and dead," he replied with a dangerous gleam in his eyes and a growl in his throat.

More than anything else, that flash of anger flown elsewhere reassured her that the male was not flying with the much bad-dark-skin-two-leg-Monster-Alpha that she knew.

Then the female two-leg probably-Monster and the two dark wing males both backed out of her trap, leaving her alone inside.

"We go now?" the first male asked while looking directly at her.

She looked around her trap. It was the only place that had given her any peace for as long as she could recall. As long as she was in here, she was not out with the other false-thrall-kin males trying to foul her or claim her in their much-bad-no-thought-liver-twisted-wrongness. Fighting them was always hard, but she was strong and had never stopped fighting them despite all the foul-bad-wrongness.

Even so and after so long in here, it felt almost like she was supposed to stay here. She knew every single detail of this trap, every scratch in the walls, every bump, and every rock. And she hated everything about it. This was a chance to walk out without the metal vines around her neck and apparently without the danger of the other male thrall-kin or thrall-making two-leg-Monsters.

She took one cautious first step and then started weakly shuffling toward them. A quick glance outside and around the corner showed that there were indeed no other two-leg-Monsters in sight. All the other traps were also emptied of the other female-thrall-kin.

For the first time in living memory, she walked down the path freely and under her own limited power, following two dark wing males and a maybe-not-Monster two-leg female.

And it was very much not a false-sleep-vision.

Her chilled life-flame felt warmer than she could remember it ever burning. Not that it was a roaring fire, but it was more than the smoldering and dying flicker that it had been until now.

But she was still very hungry and thirsty.

The first dark wing male slowed down and let her catch up with him. She felt a bit more wary of his purpose as he began walking alongside her and turned his attention to her.

"When did you last eat?" he softly asked.

"I… do not... know... Many sun-cycles…" she weakly answered.

"I should tell you that there are other good two-legs and free kin where we are going."

She immediately stopped walking.

 _Others? More Monsters and other kin?_

"They will not hurt you. That is liver-truth."

 _How can I trust that?_

She looked straight at the male dark wing. He did not look coldly at her or have a hunger in his eyes. If he had wanted to use her or hurt her, he would not have helped her by first taking off the bad mouth-closing thing. If anything, she thought he looked and smelled sad about something. There was a chill around him, and his head seemed always bowed with eyes downcast.

But she still did not know anything about him, the other kin, or the other two-leg probably-Monsters that she would need to meet. Maybe they could be kept away from her.

She hesitated for a moment and then made her decision.

* * *

Shadowwing purred happily when she started walking again. She was still very weak, but she was at least walking with a bit more purpose now. Though he wanted to talk to her more, he knew that she needed water, food, and proper rest before any lengthy discussions.

The four of them finally came to the main entrance to the entire complex. The sunlight from outside was a very welcome change from the torchlight inside the cave system. The female Fury groaned though when the light began to grow brighter.

 _Gods, how long was she kept in there?_

They finally left the building and saw the remains of the abandoned village in plain sight all around them.

Almost as soon as they exited, several dragons noticed the gathering and began to approach out of curiosity and deference to their Alphas. Thankfully, most of the riders were further down the beach and busy working with their packs of supplies.

He heard her start whimpering and noticed her creep away the moment the other dragons began drawing near. He recognized all of them from Berk and the other tribes. They did not seem to notice her distress, so he spread his wings, softly growling and baring his teeth in a polite warning to them. The other dragons understood that signal at least and backed away, the ones on the ground with a quick bow as well.

Then he saw where Valka was leading them towards. It was one of the nearby supply rooms. He then glanced at the white female and noticed how she had her eyes narrowed as she stared at the visible dragonriders.

 _It will be hard for her trust any of them after what happened to her. Really good thing that we have Valka here to help._

"Follow me," he whispered to her.

None of the four of them said anything further until they reached the building.

"Wait here," Valka addressed him as she walked inside. He sat down to wait for her to return while the white female nervously shuffled on her feet and looked around in apprehension.

"There are no bad kin or bad two-legs here now. Do not fear," he whispered.

She said nothing back to him following that plea of his.

Valka appeared a minute later, struggling to roll a barrel in front of her.

"Can you help me with this?" she groaned.

He got up and helped her roll the barrel into their midst and then put it right side up. She then pulled out a small knife, carved at the top of the barrel, and pried off the lid.

The sunlight sparkled off the rippling surface of the cool and clean water inside.

"Here is water for you to drink," he told the female.

She got to her feet and looked into the strange thing. It was filled with water! The not-Monster two-leg and the dark wings did bring her to water! Not only was it water but it was clean and good for drinking.

She eagerly buried her muzzle in the strange thing and water.

Valka watched happily as the dragon began to guzzle down the water. She was still deeply disturbed by how poorly the dragon had been treated. This Fury had clearly borne the worst of all the trapped females, and she could guess at why. Nothing deserved to be starved like this one had, and no dragon deserved to be used as breeding stock. Shadowwing had not said anything to confirm it, but she had her own suspicions from all that she had seen. There was no chance that Drago would not have tried to get eggs from this female, even though he certainly could not without another Night Fury or whatever kind of dragon she was.

"Son, keep her here. I will see if I can find some dried fish or meat for her," she said.

He nodded and watched as Valka returned to the storeroom.

The female finally lifted her dripping head from the barrel and shook to hurl off the droplets of water.

"Better?" he asked.

"Yes, much better," she sighed with relief.

She looked at him and blinked several times.

"Why is the she-two-leg good to me? Why… are you helping me?"

"No one should be hurt the way the bad two-legs were hurting you. I… know what they were doing here. We got all the other females out of their traps. This she-two-leg has the liver of a kin and has helped kin for many season-cycles."

She was quiet as she listened to what he was saying. Then she threw a glance at his brother.

"And the other male dark wing? Is he your kin?"

Was-Grounded stepped forward at that question and spoke with a surprisingly soft and gentle voice.

"Yes, he is my egg-mate. We were hatchlings in the same nest. He is my…" he said something that she could not understand.

Regardless of what he said, it felt somehow strange to her that two dark wing males were so close to each other and were not fighting each other for status.

"Egg-mate? What is that?" she wondered.

"We hatched from one egg together. Did you see any other Night Furies here?" the second male asked.

"What are Night Furies?" she grumbled in confusion.

"They are us, our type of dark wing kin."

"Night Furies… I never heard that name before. No, I have not seen any other dark wings or my own kind."

"Your own kind?" the first male softly asked.

"Other... light wings..." she clarified.

Shadowwing blinked in surprise and turned to his brother who also tossed a confused look back at him.

 _So maybe she is a new type of dragon that is like us Night Furies? This, this changes everything..._

"What is your name?" he asked her.

She blinked at that question and hung her head.

 _My name…_

She vaguely recalled that she had once had a name, something that meant her. Something that her dam and sire had given her, but that was so long ago. That was part of a very different, much better life and world.

And a forgotten one.

"I do not know."

"What?" "What?" the males both exclaimed.

"I do not remember it," she glumly rumbled.

Shadowwing blinked in confusion and growing pity on her behalf.

 _She has forgotten her own name? I... did not know that was even possible._

"That is not good. My name is Shadowwing."

"Shadowwing... And your egg-mate?"

"I am Was-Grounded," the second male spoke.

"Were you grounded once?" she blinked in amazement.

"Yes," Was-Grounded hummed back, "I was grounded two times."

"And you fly now," she whispered in wonder.

"Shadowwing!" Valka called.

He lifted his head and turned around upon hearing her voice. She was walking toward him and she carried a small bag. The faint smell of dried meats wafted into the air. Valka picked out several small haunches of dried meat and lay them on the bag.

The white Fury perked up and began staring at the bag and licking her lips eagerly.

"I think you should give her the meat. It looks like she trusts you more than me," Valka whispered.

He nodded in agreement, grabbed the bag in one paw, and turned to the hungry light wing, as she called herself.

"Here is meat for you."

He deftly tipped the bag on its side and poured out the salted meats on the ground. She swallowed them without pausing to chew the small chunks.

"Thank you, Shadowwing. They did not give me food for…" her voice died off as the two-leg began to walk toward her. She shuffled backward slightly as the female two-leg approached with something very dangerous looking in its paws.

"What is it doing?" she hissed.

"She wants to show you that she is good and does not want to hurt you. Trust her. She brought water and that meat."

She looked at the two-leg's dark green eyes. She was no judge of two-legs being good, having seen none of them so before, but this one looked almost not bad. It moved almost like a kin in ways, and it also smelled of many other kin.

 _It did bring the water and meat..._

She took one cautious step forward and stared at the extended paw. Some of the bad ones had been foolish enough to stick their paws near her teeth and one had lost its paw to her belly. It was after the last such incident that they had started putting the mouth-closing thing on her.

But two-leg paws were too dangerous. This one's smelling of many kin did not matter. Many of the thrall-maker two-leg-Monsters smelled of many kin also. To give it a trust-sign and nose-nuzzle would make her less and give the two-leg power over her.

She stepped back from it with a faint hiss and wary grumble.

"She will not hurt you..." Shadowwing implored.

"No... no touching," she whimpered.

He glanced between the two of them, trying to figure out what to say.

"Do you want us to take off that bad holding-thing on your neck?"

That got her to freeze. She reached up and tugged at the heavy bad-thing around her neck. It had been there a very long time.

"Yes..."

"Then you must let this good two-leg touch you. She has the liver of a kin. She wants to help you."

"What can it do to help me?"

"She can take a two-leg thing with strong teeth to that thing around your neck. That will break the thing around your neck."

"And it will not hurt me?"

"No, you will be free of the bad holding-thing."

"Free..." she whispered.

She glanced from the two-leg to the dirt to the two-leg and back again.

"Have the two-leg do it," she hissed to him.

Shadowwing turned to Valka and nodded while looking at the bolt-cutters. Valka then slowly approached, again with her hand extended toward the dragon's nose.

"It is ok girl, I will not hurt you."

Again though the female shied away from her direct touch. However, the female did slightly expose the collar clasped around her neck and did not move further. That was good enough for now.

"Tell her to stay still."

He relayed the message, and the female appeared to comply.

Valka lifted the heavy cutters and set their teeth around a length of chain holding the collar. She squeezed but she was not strong enough and could not snap the chain.

Shadowwing took a couple steps in her direction to investigate the problem.

And she had a crazy idea.

"Come here. I need your help."

He did so.

"Can you bite down on this? I am not strong enough."

He looked at the handle and nodded. She held the handle in place while he slipped his jaws around it. He gave her a small nod once he had a firm grasp on it and she drew away her hand.

The collar's chain link snapped when he bit down. A quick shake of the head was all it took, and the metal collar fell to the ground with a clang.

The female stepped back and stared at the bad-thing in amazement before giving it a faint growl.

"See, I told you she is a good two-leg," he said.

"You did. It is... hard for me to trust any two-leg... or any kin now," she whispered as she stared out toward the nearby ocean.

The way she said it, so frail and weak, almost made his rent heart bleed with sympathy for her. He again imagined what she was probably forced to suffer as a prisoner here.

"I want... to be alone now," she whispered.

"Go. You are safe now with us," he answered her.

* * *

She turned away from all of them and slowly walked toward the ocean while staying away from all other two-legs and kin.

It was still too good and warming to believe. The last time she had been outside the bad-caves and had seen the ocean had been on her almost-escape that ended so terribly.

She stood alone, staring out toward the endless waters. No restraint on her neck. No mouth-closing-thing on her jaws. No chain-vines. Free.

She slowly unfurled her stiff and cut wings, completely ignoring the pain, and held them aloft as though she were about to fly.

 _I do not remember the last time I did this..._

The clouds and winds were calling to her once again. To be soaring near the sun and gliding on the unseen winds. To fly near the great moon that was as white as she was. An old hatchling dream that she hoped to one sun fly.

But she was now life-grounded.

Even if she was strong enough to fly now, it would be twisted to do so when flying would only tear the holes even larger and ground her more.

 _Maybe I can live as a grounded kin..._

She then walked into the ocean and let the water roll over her as she ducked under the waves. It would hopefully wash away the dirt and dried old waste clinging to her and let her feel cleaner again.

But water could not wash away the past.

* * *

Neither Shadowwing nor Valka could look away as the dragon slowly wandered the beach, warily keeping her distance from all other dragons and humans. She walked up to the ocean and then spread her wings for the first time in what had to be a very long time. She held them outstretched and looked up at the sky in profound longing.

It was terribly bittersweet.

He eventually nudged Valka to get her attention.

 **Need to fix her wings**

She had been thinking about it for a while. There was nothing that they could do here, but it should be possible since she was well-practiced at mending fixable wing damage. It was easy enough at least back at the ice nest. A worse issue though could arise if those tears were old enough. Recent injuries like the ones she commonly saw in the ice nest were the easiest to treat because there was no scar tissue and the healing could begin properly. Old wounds were trickier.

"I can do something to help with those tears but only back at home."

 **She cannot fly**

"That is a problem. Cloudjumper is strong but he cannot carry anyone her size that far."

 **We cannot leave her here**

"I know. It would be heartless of us. We are supposed to be back at the island tomorrow so that everyone can prepare to leave for Haven. We do not have the supplies to stay here for long."

Was-Grounded stepped forward after noticing and overhearing part of their conversation.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"How to bring the light wing back with us."

He looked to the new female washing in the water.

"Back to the ice nest island?"

"Yes, we cannot leave her here, and she is grounded. Kin-liver can help her wings when we get back to the ice nest," Shadowwing explained.

Was-Grounded hummed in thought.

"What about the water-walker?"

"Water-walker? Where?"

He used his tail to point toward where he had seen it.

Shadowwing eagerly spun around.

 **I will be back**

 **We might have a boat**

"A boat? That might work if it is big enough," she exclaimed.

He eagerly nodded and flew off toward the port.

Valka turned her attention back to the new Fury as Was-Grounded stood nearby. If she was healthy, the white Fury would certainly be a beautiful dragon. She would probably be only slightly smaller and lighter in weight than Green-Wings after being properly nourished again.

While she looked very similar to Green-Wings, there were faint differences even aside from her amazing color that was very rare in her own experience with the dragon world. Her tail was slightly longer, her head had no frills at all, she looked slightly leaner even accounting for poor diet, her back had only one long and small ridge, and even her wings looked slightly different at the tips.

It now looked more likely to her that this new Fury was a type of related dragon to the Night Furies. There was so much about them that no one knew. All that she knew for sure though was that this dragon was as smart as a Night Fury and could speak to the other Furies.

"I hope she comes with us..."

Skald eventually called out to her as he approached.

"Dragonheart, we are almost ready to go. What about you and the…" his voice died away the moment he saw the new dragon in the waves.

And he stared in awe.

"What is that?" he gasped.

"She is almost a Night Fury but not exactly. I have never seen a dragon like her before," Valka answered.

"Yep, that is definitely not in the Book of Dragons. You say she is almost like a Fury, so is she smart like them?"

"Yes, they have been talking."

"Amazing, one more with the maximum intelligence level. I get to make a new page in the Book now! So, what should we call her if not a Night Fury?" Skald mused with glee.

They both stared for a while and let their thoughts wander.

"I don't know. She is definitely a Fury. Sun Fury? White Fury? Day Fury?" Valka wondered.

"Light Fury?" Skald suggested.

"Sure, yours is better, probably. Light Fury it is," Valka laughed softly.

Then her momentary happiness quickly withered.

"She is not doing well."

"No? How bad is it with her?" Skald solemnly asked.

"She is starved and she cannot fly because her wings have been cut. And of course, there is what was happening to the other dragons we found here," she seethed.

Much to his credit, he managed to remain focused on the task at hand.

"What are we going to do for her?"

Shadowwing returned at that moment and swooped in over them before landing. The speed with which he wrote showed how excited he was.

 **It will work**

 **It is big enough**

"What?" Skald asked.

"He found a boat that is big enough to carry her. Does she want to come?" she turned to ask him.

 **Wait**

Shadowwing ran over to her and called to her. She hauled herself out of the waves at his approach and shook herself dry.

"I need to talk to you."

"What about, Shadowwing?"

"The Kin-liver two-leg can help your wings be better. She can make the breaks heal and grow good again."

Of all the things he had said to her, nothing made her look more amazed and shocked, given how wide her eyes went.

"No, I am life-grounded. I... nothing can help me..."

"Yes, she can. I have seen her make better even wings with worse breaks than yours."

"How? How is that possible?"

"She can put... small vines around the breaks so that the wing-skin grows together."

She stepped back and looked at the breaks in her wings. Then she glanced up at the sky again with a look of open, mournful longing.

"And... will I fly again?"

"Yes, but you will need to trust her to touch your wings."

She moaned softly at the idea.

"I do not like that. But if it lets me fly again, I will let it touch my wings."

He gave her a satisfied hum and continued.

"We must leave this bad island. All of us."

"But how can I leave this bad place? I cannot fly or swim."

"How did the bad two-legs bring you here?"

She groaned as she tried to think back that far.

"On a two-leg water-walker."

"That is how we can get you off the island. Our good two-legs will use it and guide its flight. It might be a pawful of sun-cycles on the water before we get where we are going."

"Where would it go?"

"A nest-island far from here. A place where…" he paused, not quite sure how much was prudent to tell her.

What if he told her about the battle that had just been fought there or about all the dead dragons that would never be buried?

"… many free kin and two-legs are."

"What do the two-legs do to kin?" she hissed.

"What do you mean?"

"Do they have hurting-things? Do they take eggs?"

"No, they do not use anything on us to hurt us. They do not take eggs. We are not their thralls."

"I do not like it..." she mumbled.

He gestured at the whole island.

"But this is a bad place. You should not stay here. How can you hunt? What if the bad two-legs come back here?"

She again looked at the gaping holes in her wings and rumbled sadly. She knew that she was too weak to fight anything right now and she could not even escape from a fight. Hunting was also impossible on this two-leg-island because there was nothing left to hunt even if she could.

She was a weak prey to life.

"I… will go with you. I do not trust the two-legs though."

"Good, good. You will be safe with us. And I will come with on the water-walker."

He eagerly bounded back to the observers patiently awaiting news of her decision.

 **She will come with**

Valka sighed with evident relief.

 **When do we leave?**

"We are ready now. All the other females are freed and have either flown away or are stretching their wings again. Most of them are just weak from being on the ground long."

Then she turned to Skald.

"We need a few to crew the ship. A minimal crew of three or four should be enough."

"For a Fury who needs the help, definitely. I will volunteer and get a few others too. Meatlug can do just fine without me for a while," Skald answered.

 **I will go with on the ship**

"Ok, let everyone know that we will be delayed getting home. It will also be good for the tribe to get one of these ships for ourselves," Skald said.

Then he turned and left for the gathering of people.

Valka stepped over to Shadowwing.

"I will lead everyone home and let them know what we found. You watch out for her."

 **Of course I will**

Then she hugged his neck, and he gave her a soft hum back.

"Stay strong son," she whispered.

Then she left to return to Cloudjumper and help lead the return flight.

Was-Grounded slowly walked over to them both.

"I should fly back to Green-Wings and Dawn-Singer."

"Who are those?" she asked.

"My mate and my fledgling. They are waiting at the ice nest."

"And you left them with two-legs?" she exclaimed in alarm and disbelief.

"Those two-legs are not thrall-makers. And my mate is very protective of our little one."

Then she looked past them both and stepped back in amazement. She watched as the other kin went to their two-legs and eventually allowed the two-legs to mount them. The kin had clearly enjoyed the grooming and nuzzling they received from the two-legs' paws. Then the liver-twisting flight flew out over the sea.

"I do not believe it. They carried the two-legs..." she whispered.

"Yes, they are kin-bonded to the other. It makes the kin warm in their livers to share their back and wings with their two-leg," Shadowwing answered.

Was-Grounded then stepped forward and stretched his wings in preparation for flight.

"Brother, are you not too liver-chilled?"

"I will live..." Shadowwing groaned after a moment's pause.

Was-Grounded hummed, brushed his wing briefly, and then took wing to follow after the other flight.

"What does he mean, why would you be liver-chilled?" she asked.

Shadowwing turned to her and almost started to answer.

"I... no, not now... Follow me, I will take you to the water-walker."

They walked along the coast and through the empty village. They had to be the only living things on the island, except for maybe a few other freed females somewhere else far from the village, the few workers left behind and now hiding somewhere, and the small Berkian crew about to pilot the ship.

Then she pulled up and stared at the strange two-leg water-walker as horrible memories assailed her. Vines tied around her legs, wings, and muzzle. Being kicked by laughing two-legs. Being fed nothing but bad fish and kept pinned to the same place. It was so true and here-now again in her thoughts that her liver began to feel a chill and her weak limbs started to feel stiff.

"Bad thing… It is a bad thing," she whispered while looking down at the sand.

"No, it is not a bad thing. It is a thing that bad two-legs used to do bad things."

"These two-legs are good ones?" she warily hummed.

He took a breath and paused to remind himself that he was asking a lot from her. She had only been recently freed from the prison and had likely been tortured in terrible ways while in there for the gods only knew how long.

 _I have to be patient to keep her trust._

"Yes, they are good. They have kin-friends of their own. They are on the water-walker to help you come with us to where it is safe."

As strange as that seemed, she already had met one two-leg who was good to her and wanted to help her. She hummed in wary thought as she stared at the water-walker.

He moved first and walked down the row of felled trees before hopping up and into the water-walker with a thud.

"Now you," he called.

She took a breath and forced herself to walk along the path. One leg in front of the other as the trees creaked beneath her every step. She did not have the strength to jump like he had, but she managed to drag herself over and into the not-bad-thing water-walker.

Even though she had been told that there were no two-legs who wanted to hurt her on the water-walker, she still crouched low to the false ground and warily looked around. Her arrival had drawn the attention of the three two-legs on the ground of the water-walker. They did not look any different from the ones who had hurt her. And they were barking to each other while looking at her.

"What are they doing? Afraid…"

"Do not be chilled, they are saying that it is sad how small, hungry, and hurt you are."

She wondered at how he could possibly understand their incomprehensible whistles and barks. Then she carefully walked along the side of the walker up to its head where she could sit down and still keep an eye on these two-legs as they did whatever they were doing. But there was nowhere to run to if they did turn on her. This was another type of trap.

Everything about two-legs was a life-trap.

* * *

He watched as the men, Skald, Arngeir, and Oskar, worked the ship as best they could. It was a normal trapper vessel with a dragonhold. Finally, after a bit of work, they took their stations.

"Ready?" Skald asked him.

Shadowwing nodded once.

"Set sail! All sheets to the wind!"

The men worked to unfurl the sail and did so very quickly for being so small a crew. The boat began to rock back and forth with the waves as the vessel escaped the harbor, made its way into the open ocean, and turned for the north.

Shadowwing stared over the vessel's stern at the receding island. That place was an example of some of the worst things that people could do. A village that existed only for the purpose of trapping and breeding dragons. Of making dragons into slaves and mere tools to be used in war.

The same war that claimed the lives of both Astrid and almost certainly his own father in addition to the friendly Chiefs he knew and hundreds of others whom he did not know. The same war that had also shattered the peace that had been growing.

The frozen dagger once again reached its way inside his chest and stabbed at his heart. So much that was once was now lost, and now he was on a boat with a terrified, abused, and starved dragon onboard sailing back to a place devastated by war.

He almost lay down on deck right then and there to sob. It was such a different feeling from what he had felt when he fled Berk years ago. He had been angry and confident then, knowing that Toothless was still alive somewhere. But he was even more lost now than he was back then.

He turned around with a sigh and saw the female again. She had curled up as far towards the ship's bow as possible with her back to the railing. He walked very slowly over to her, making noise to let her know of his approach.

"Are you better now?"

She pulled her head out from under a wing.

"Is there any food?"

 _There sure is._

Skald and the others had rolled a few barrels of salted fish and meats onboard among the supplies. He walked over to the barrel and got the man's attention with a soft roar and a nod.

"You want fish, no, oh the other one wants fish? Arngeir, get down there and open the barrel for them."

Arngeir did so, prying the barrel's lid off before returning to work the sails. Shadowwing reached inside and hauled out several of the preserved fish. They smelled barely edible, but would be a feast for someone who was starving.

"Eat these. They smell almost bad but are still good for eating."

He dropped the mouthful of fish in front of her, and she sniffed at them suspiciously before cautiously snapping up one of them. She clearly did not like the taste, but that did not stop her from eating the other ones that he also brought.

"Those fish were good," she hummed.

He dipped his head to acknowledge her words.

"Do you want to sleep?"

"Yes."

"Ok, I will show you… under the ground."

She whimpered and refused to budge. Her eyes betrayed her fear.

"No, I will stay here."

He nodded, respecting her decision, and hopped down into the open hold. Unsurprisingly, the cell inside had chains and had nothing comfortable to sit on.

 _Floorboards it will have to be for me and..._

Then he realized something that almost made whip himself with his own tail.

 _Of course she would not want to sleep in this. How stupid of me._

He lay down and curled his tail in on himself. Between the exhaustion, both physical and emotional, of the day and the regular pitch and sway of the boat, he managed to be lulled to sleep shortly thereafter.

* * *

She watched as Shadowwing stepped out of sight down the mouth of the two-leg-cave. She was not going to go down there. Too much of her life, or of what she could remember, had been spent trapped as a thrall under the ground on that bad island. So different from what should have been...

It felt safer up here even if there were two-legs up here with her. Being up here let her watch them. All was good as long as they were not threatening her or planning to do anything to her. She watched them for a long time without anything suspicious happening. Their strange calls to each other made no sense, and it was hard to imagine them having a language except that they did look at each other when they made their noises.

And Shadowwing could somehow talk with them.

She was reluctant to hide under her wing and leave herself fully blind even though the two-legs did not seem to be doing anything aggressive. In truth, she had no idea what they were doing, moving their paws all about the vines and metal things on the water-walker.

 _Maybe they are guiding its flight on the water? Aiming its arm-wing?_

One of them, the male flight-Alpha barking the most to the others, started walking toward her. It would almost have been chilling if it had not been holding a fish in his paws.

It began hissing something to her while staring at her. She wanted to bare her teeth in warning at its advance, but there was that fish…

The flight-Alpha stopped rumbling at her and tossed the fish to her, which she snapped out of the air. The two-leg then bared its teeth at her and this only confused her even more. Why would it give her a fish and then give a fight-sign only to turn away from her and not fight?

 _So liver-twisting... bad creatures... needing them for fish makes me weak..._

The two-leg returned to its place on the water-walker, and they all stayed away long enough to somewhat assure her that they were not going to hurt her. That combined with her exhaustion finally drew her to rest. She curled back up and hid her head as well as she could to escape the dimming sunlight and the world around her.

For the first time in her memory, she slept both above ground and free of chains, vines, and other bad two-leg things. And she hoped that there would be no sleep-visions.

* * *

He flew on ahead of the rest of the flight, as he was the fastest of all kin, without even bothering to stop to rest as they did. The flight to the thrall-nest had been a slow one since he and Shadowwing had been made to wait on the other kin and had rested on the small island.

The broken ice nest came into view again in the dark, but it looked different now. It was starting to melt and collapse.

 _The good great-tusk-Alpha kept it cold..._

He flew in toward the nest, again noticing all the dead bodies of kin on land and the largest one in the waves. He roared aloud and heard the answering call from down the beach.

Green-Wings and Dawn-Singer arose as one from their rest and bounded toward him as soon as he landed.

"Sire!" Dawn-Singer joyfully bellowed as he hopped up on his back.

"Little one."

"Grr, I am not a little one."

"You are to me, my little one," he teased.

Grr.

Dawn-Singer then began retaliatory gnawing on one of his soft backridges.

Then Was-Grounded nuzzled his mate and hummed his presence to her.

"I am warmer now that you are here," she said with relief.

Then she nipped one of his ears as well.

"What was that for? Where else would I want to be?" he teased.

They started walking down the coast together while purring to each other.

"What happened out there over the water?" she eventually asked.

"We found many female kin that were thralls. They are not thralls now."

"That is good," she hummed.

Then he stopped walking and turned to her.

"And we found another female also. I think she is almost one of us," he gave a curious growl.

She paused and looked at him in amazement and confusion.

"Almost one of us? You think?"

"Yes, her wings and scales are white and very light in the sun."

"She is a... light wing?"

"She is not a dark wing like you and me, but she is almost one of us. She has a like-smell that is only a little different. And she is... not well," he hummed sadly.

"No? Why not?"

"She is grounded with broken wings. And I think that the twisted-liver-rotted-waste-pile-thrall-making-bad-wrong-snake-fish-spawn-two-leg-Monsters were using her to try to make eggs with other kin," he snarled.

"What!" she bellowed.

"Yes, they try to do that with their thrall-kin. The bad two-legs that had me a thrall tried to make me sire eggs with other female kin."

She snarled and spun on him with an astonished, horrified, and possessive look.

"Why did you not tell me about that?"

"Because there is nothing to tell. They tried to make me, but I did not join with any other kin. They do not understand what season is right for us or what kin we want for mates and can make eggs with. Those Monsters have such little and empty heads."

She visibly relaxed at his words though she did not stop rubbing against his neck. He did not complain about her attention to him.

"But what about that she... light wing?" she eventually stepped back from him.

"I do not know about her. I do not know why other kin males would want to force-mate with her."

She moaned softly.

"How hurt is she?"

He gave a very soft and pained warble.

"She is very chilled and has no life-fire burning in her liver that I could see. Maybe with time, much time, she can warm again. She is being brought here on a water-walker so that Kin-liver can heal the broken wings."

"And what about Shadowwing?"

He said nothing for a while.

"He will need us. He is much chilled by the grounding, fighting, and dying that was here."

"He is our kin. We will shelter him with our wings if we must," she said.

"Yes, we will," he hummed.

Then he glanced toward her belly.

"What about you and the egg? How long do you have now?"

She thought for a moment and considered the faint discomfort that carrying it now caused. This was going to be long to carry the egg out of necessity.

"There are only a few more suns now before I must drop it. I can carry it until we get back to our den-cave."

They both looked out over the two-legs busily preparing through the dim light for the flight up to what had been their own range before. Toward what will be this strange, mixed-nest Haven as Shadowwing called it and explained it to them. A new mixed-nest for these surviving two-legs and kin where all could live in peace.

She eventually snuggled up under his outstretched wing and returned to sleep in preparation of an eventual long flight. Dawn-Singer hopped down and vanished between them both.

Was-Grounded hummed softly as he too fell asleep with them both resting at his side. His sleep was filled with visions of the good range that all were flying to soon, his old cave-den that would soon shelter a new egg, the new light wing or almost Night Fury that had entered their lives, and himself with his wings over Green-Wings, Dawn-Singer, and his own life-chilled brother.


	54. III - Scars

_**Author's Note – There is necessary picking up the pieces of life before the planned departure.**_

* * *

 _" _How do you pick up the threads of an old life? How do you go on when in your heart you begin to understand? There is no going back." - Frodo – LOTR - Return of the King (film)__

* * *

Scars

* * *

 _The dragons swarmed over the island..._

He stirred in the darkness.

 _A haze descended over his thoughts…_

He groaned in fear.

 _A piercing eye gazed through his soul and claimed it..._

He trembled.

 _Rocks were stacked to mark those with no body..._

He whimpered.

 _Flames billowed from the pyres and the ship in the harbor…_

He bolted awake as the nightmare passed. The only sounds were the regular crash of the waves on the ship's hull. The moon shone brightly overhead, and his frantic heartbeat gradually slowed as he caught his breath.

 _Gods, I need a moment..._

He crept outside and hopped up to the deck. One of the men was still at the helm to guide the ship through the night. Then, after a moment of hesitation, he jumped from the deck and took to the sky to hopefully leave the pain and grief behind for a time. Flying had always given him peace before. Gliding along in the cloud cover and flying slow circles around the boat did indeed help calm him down, but it was not the same anymore. It did not help vanquish the apparent chill in the air or within.

With a heavy sigh, he eventually banked around and flew back to the ship, landing smoothly on the deck. The boards creaked underfoot, and the ship rocked slightly at his landing.

It was just enough to disturb the yet unnamed female and wake her from her sleep. She bellowed and scrambled to her feet while looking around frantically.

"It is me!" he said.

Her wide eyes found his in the darkness.

"Don't be afraid. What is wrong?" he asked while stepping toward her.

"No! Stop!" she whimpered.

So he did.

She gradually settled back down and lay down on her belly. Without saying anything or looking at him, she curled back up under her wing and appeared to fall asleep.

 _What is wrong with her? Surely she knew I wasn't going to hurt her._

An instant of reflection was all he needed to see his obvious mistake.

 _Maybe not. Especially considering how she has been hurt in the past. I... should not bother her._

Even though he was not very tired at the moment, he walked back into the hold and lay down. He waited in silence, simply listening to the soft waves and feeling the boat's pitch and roll. It was a long time before he managed to get to sleep, and it was a fitful sleep when it finally came.

* * *

She was sure that the sleep had been the best she had ever had. Even allowing for the dangerous two-legs being nearby, she had been able to sleep above ground, breathing clean air, and not laying in her own mess.

There were no bad sleep-visions. There were none of the big two-leg traps, hurting things, or anything else to foul her sleep-thoughts.

Then she was awoken by something large landing nearby and shaking the entire water-walker. She had bolted up in fear and seen his eyes reflecting the light.

"It is me!"

She had not remembered who the 'me' was. All she knew was that a large male with unknown intentions was nearing her in the darkness.

"No! Stop!"

And he did.

Shadowwing.

That was his name.

He would not try to hurt her. Those were his first words, his first promise to her. He had already proven that those words were spoken with liver-truth.

She hid her head at her actions and at the twisting always-there life-fouling fear. The wooden ground creaked as he walked back into the mouth of the open cave-trap where he was sleeping. He did not come back out.

 _I should tell him I am sorry…_

But she was still weak after everything that happened in the last sun-cycle.

 _After he wakes up..._

The roar of the ocean and the breaking of the waves was a very welcome change from the silence and gloom she had known underground and which had become almost expected. And the lights from the sky above, large and small, twinkled between the clouds. The largest of them, the moon, commanded her gaze while she lay awake. It seemed familiar somehow. Almost like it touched some deep memories buried within.

The rocking of the waves and the gentle pitch and sway of the water-walker gradually lulled her to sleep.

* * *

He woke up in the morning to a very groggy and sleep-deprived Skald gently nudging him on the shoulder.

"Hey... we are getting closer."

Skald yawned.

"And you might want to tell her to eat. We put some fish in a barrel for her, but I don't think she likes us much."

He got up and shook himself awake before following Skald outside. The female had not moved from where she had returned to sleep. But she was awake and was looking at the sky with clear longing.

"How are you?" he softly asked.

"Shadowwing, I am hungry."

"Come get some fish then."

She cautiously crept over to him and reached into the open barrel of fish. It greatly pained him to see the stubs that were her claws.

He remained quiet as she eagerly ate. Only when she finished did he ask.

"What happened to your claws?"

"I tried to get out of the trap-cave, but my claws broke on the rock and the trap. And the two-legs also cut my claws after I clawed them in fighting."

"That place was very bad. You are safe now with us."

She warily looked around the deck.

"Do we have water?"

He went over to the other barrels and found the right one, which was also already opened for them. He took a drink first as he had almost had nothing yesterday.

"Here is the water."

Then he stepped aside so that she could drink as well, which she eagerly did. He waited patiently as she drank, and he could not help but notice the faint scars running down her side.

 _What whips or chains had Drago's men used? Or was it men who left those?_

She finished drinking and hummed her gratitude. He dipped his head in acknowledgment and gave her a smile. She immediately slunk back several steps from him, suddenly very nervous.

"Why do you do that teeth-showing? I do not want to fight you."

He blinked in confusion and then groaned softly in understanding.

"It is not a fight-sign or anger-sign. It is a two-leg way of showing happiness and warmth."

"You use two-leg signs? Why? That is much strange and twisted."

Then she groaned.

"I... want to say that I am sorry."

"For what?"

"In the night. I was afraid," she moaned.

"No, do not be sad. Why were you afraid?"

"I did not know it was you. I thought you were… going to… hurt me."

He shook his head and purred softly.

"No. I will never hurt you. I promise on my life-flight."

She considered his strange motions again.

"Is the head shaking another two-leg sign?"

"It is. It means no."

She did not say anything for a while.

"I do not know how to trust now," she finally whispered.

"I understand. Very bad things have happened to you and those leave deep hurt-marks in the liver. I know about that."

She turned away from him and looked forward toward the horizon.

"Will you tell me about the new and good nest? The one we are flying to now," she then asked.

He remembered the fires, the screaming, the bodies, and the blood. How horribly those all contrasted with the colors and liveliness of the nest, the nests of eggs and carefree young, and the glorious frozen spires.

"The island was a very good place where there was a warm nest. A nest in ice and with a great and good white great-tusk-Alpha. But there was a fight."

She sat down and listened to him, seemingly very interested in the account.

"What fight?"

"A fight with a bad two-leg-Alpha, his thrall kin, and two-leg fighters in one flight flying against the free nest, good great-tusk-Alpha, and kin-bond two-legs."

"But how could the bad two-leg-Alpha fight a nest and have thrall-kin?" she wondered.

"He had a bad great-tusk-Alpha. An Alpha that could go in kin's heads and…" he took a breath, "make them think and do bad things. The bad Alpha had a flock of thrall kin fighting for him."

She winced and looked away with a very pained look in her eyes. It looked like she wanted to say something but could not bring herself to speak.

"It made kin fight kin?" she eventually settled on asking.

"Yes, it was very bad. Both Alphas were bad."

"And what happened in the fight?"

He whimpered softly and did everything he could to keep his composure, settling for kneading his claws against the ship's deck.

"The good Alpha died and many others also, kin and two-legs. The bad Alpha great-tusk was... defeated and ran into the deep water."

She still seemed troubled by all this news.

"Why are we going there if it is a place of much death?"

"Because that is where the living are, and it is the safest place now. All the good two-legs are there."

He got up, walked to the ship's bow, and stood up as tall as he could while balancing himself with his tail. She slowly came forward as well.

"There," he nodded, "you can see it now."

Far off on the horizon was visible a white speck which sparkled in the morning light.

She stepped back from the bow and once again looked very hesitant.

"And the good she-two-leg can make my wings better?"

"Yes, she can. I have seen her help other kin with broken wings before. It will take much time, many moon-cycles maybe before you can fly, but we will keep you safe and give you fish while you get better."

She said nothing for a while until a question seemed to burst from her.

"Why are you helping me?"

He did not even need to say anything to show his confusion. His tilted head and confused warble were sufficient.

"Why are you doing all this for me?"

"Because we should. It is good to help others."

She clearly found that explanation hard to accept.

"You mean you do not want… something from me?"

"No, what do you mean?"

"Nothing…" she groaned.

 _I do not believe it..._

She found it very hard to believe. Kin normally did something good for another kin in order to get something. Something like the privilege to fish or hunt in the other's territory or to win a mate. But he was saying that he did not want anything at all from her. It made no sense. It was not normal at all.

The brief lull ended when he remembered an unresolved matter.

"Your name! You said you do not remember."

She grumbled and twitched her tail.

"I do not know it. I lost it."

"Then you should have a new name. A name you want to have."

She blinked and wondered at the idea.

"I do not know a good name."

He softly purred back to her.

"Think about it. It should be something that is important to you, something good and liver-warming to you. Something that tells your life-flight, if you want that."

"I will think about it. My life-flight has not been good and warm. What about your name, how did you get your name?"

"I gave myself that name many season-cycles ago. I wanted a name that was good for my type of kin. Our color is normally dark and unknown to two-legs. We live in the shadows. It felt like a good name."

"Not for me though. I am not like you..." she added with a sigh.

"No, you are different and... a special kin."

* * *

The rest of the journey was very uneventful, at least until they finally came near the island. Several of the wild dragons investigated the vessel and let it pass, apparently satisfied that it was not a threat.

She looked around the island-nest in amazement. Spires of melting ice were everywhere and it looked like there were many caverns out of which many kin were flying. Many different kin of kinds she had never seen before were flying around or lying about. And she could see many two-legs living on the island. Several kin were among the two-legs and did not appear at all afraid.

 _I do not like it..._

The peace, wildness, and goodness of the place was rotted through by the ruins of two-leg things both in the water and on the land, thin trails of smoke from burning things, and the still bodies of kin on the ground. There was an enormous white mass bobbing in the water. The shape of the dead thing looked horrible familiar, even if this was not the one she remembered. The memory of that terrible sun-cycle was very clear.

Then the same large split-wing that she remembered seeing before flew up and hovered nearby with a two-leg on its back. Specifically, the good she-two-leg. The odd pair glanced down at the water-walker for a moment and then flew back towards land.

"Does that kin have a name?"

"He is jumps-through-clouds," he answered.

"And... the two-leg?"

"She is Kin-liver."

Shadowwing waited until the boat came to rest as close to shore as they could get.

"Follow me."

Then he hopped over the boat's railing and beat his wings once to glide the short distance to shore. She could not do that and had to jump into the water itself and then splash onto shore.

Being back on the island made the devastation all the more real again to him. Spires of ice had collapsed all along the island, wreckage of boats and discarded armor lay strew along the shore, and they could both see what remained of the bodies of both fallen dragons and humans. The tides and waves had washed away most of the blood closest to the water, but the bodies had started to have the looks and foul smells of death.

"Where are we going?" she nervously asked.

"Follow me."

She followed behind him up the path which had been swept clean of debris. Then she noticed the destination. A two-leg and kin nest with fur-caves. The incredible thing was how there were several different types of kin, all surrounded by two-legs, and there was no fear from any of the kin. There was something else that seemed common about many of the kin.

"Shadowwing, do all the kin here have a two-leg?"

"Many do."

A terrible thought stalked her and froze her mid-step. Was that another reason why they had wanted her to come here? To carry around a two-leg for the rest of her life? Forced bonding as a life-thrall!

 _A very twisted trap. One a kin cannot see or feel. Never!_

"Will they try to make... me have one?" she hissed.

"No."

She warily growled and slowly resumed walking.

"Where is yours?" she asked.

"I do not have one."

"Why not?"

He paused before answering.

"I do... not want one like many other kin do. Kin-liver is close to my liver, but she is not my bond two-leg. Was-Grounded and his mate are the same; they do not have or want a two-leg of their own to bond with. Most of the other kin do though."

They continued on past fur-caves and two-legs. She saw many of the two-legs raise their paws and point at her as she passed. It was not warming having so much attention directed at her, even if these two-legs are supposed to be kind or warm to kin. Several of the kin started to approach, but amazingly they all backed away when Shadowwing growled or even just glared at them. He seemed to have some power over them.

 _Why do they all bow their heads and wings to him?_

They stopped in front of a fur-cave which smelled heavily of the split-wing kin named jumps-through-clouds and the Kin-liver two-leg. It was good that this fur-cave was on the far outside of this twisting, dangerous nest. She waited as Shadowwing poked his head inside the cave. His head was then embraced by the Kin-liver, and the two-leg gave him some unknown words. Then he turned back to her.

"She will be here in wingbeats. She is getting some two-leg things she will need."

"Is she going to help my wings right now?"

"She will start making them better. It will take much time as I said."

A moment passed and then the Kin-liver walked out of the cave with a small thing at her side and something small in her paw. She saw the gleam from the shiny thing in Kin-liver's paws and nervously shied away with a whine.

"Do not be afraid. She will not hurt you. She wants you to be strong again and to fly. Trust her."

She remembered that Kin-liver had offered her a paw in a sign of trust. A trust offering that she had not been able to accept.

"What do I have to do?"

"Let her know that you trust her. Touch her paw."

Shadowwing reached up and grabbed one of Kin-liver's paws with his own and drew it toward her.

There it was again. A two-leg paw in front of her nose in the same place where she had previously bitten off such paws in the past. Paws always carried hurting things.

But this two-leg... was different? This two-leg was supposedly going to help her wings be whole and stoke her life-fire. Let it touch her wings if it helped her wings be whole again, that could be acceptable.

And she remembered two-leg paws reaching for the ropes around her neck to lead her away to bad places. Paws offering fish and then pulling the fish away to torture her life-fire and make her break. She had never broken for them.

 _Only because you must touch me this time... Never again._

She shied away from letting it touch her nose, but she did let it approach her neck. That much was necessary to do what had to be done. The two-leg began making noises at her and very slowly stroking her neck. There was no way to know what it was saying, but it sounded like an attempt to be warming and comforting. The touching did not feel warming or comforting though. It was a necessary thing to endure, to suffer, so that something else could be.

Then the paw vanished from her neck.

"Let her see your wings," he rumbled.

She slowly held them out as far as they would go without looking at them.

"What should I do?" she hissed.

"Lay down, stay still, and do not move if you feel a small bite. She will not try to hurt you."

"I understand," she said as she curled up on her belly.

"It might also help if you not look at her," he added.

So naturally she looked and again saw the very small thin-tooth in the Kin-liver's paw. It was chilling knowing that a two-leg was going to do something to her wings using that thin-tooth thing. But she had no choice but to trust that this would help her. It could not make anything worse, after all.

A little grounded was the same as very grounded.

Valka saw confirmation of the problem that she feared would be the case as soon as she came close to inspect the old tears. She sighed and stepped back.

"There is a problem."

He grumbled and gave her a concerned hum.

"Her wings have a lot of scar tissue around the cuts. I can do one of two things for her. One, I can tie these together as they are, but the wings will never heal well past the scabs. Two, I remove the outer layer of scar tissue and then I stitch the wings together. That second option is the best one to let the wings heal fully, but it will also hurt a lot more now. I... know since I have done this before. Will you ask her what she wants me to do?"

He relayed the terrible choice.

"If she does the hurting-fixing then I might fly again, but the not-hurting-fixing might not let me fly?" she hissed.

"Yes," he nodded.

She did not hesitate.

"The not-hurting-fixing does not make the wings better then. Tell Kin-liver to do the must-hurt one."

She watched as Shadowwing used a claw to make the very strange scratches on the ground.

"Is that how you talk to the two-legs?"

"Yes, and I understand their talking," he answered.

"How? It sounds like empty noise."

"I learned it all long ago."

"Wait, I have an idea!" Valka suddenly exclaimed.

He turned on her with intrigue.

"Dragonsbane. Go find some of it for her. There has to be some of it still here. It will put her to sleep so that I can work on the wings without it hurting her much."

His eyes went wide as he understood the clear usefulness of the potency of Dragonsbane in this case. Only a small serving of it on a piece of meat he had once eaten in a festival completely left him unconscious. He eagerly turned to the female.

"I will find long-tooth-grass to make you sleep. That way you will not feel the hurts when she helps your wings."

"I must be asleep for it?" she nervously asked.

"It might hurt. This will make you not feel the hurt. Does that sound good to you?"

"If I must..."

"Stay with Kin-liver."

Then he turned tail and flew off toward the small forest on the island where he last remembered seeing a grove of Dragonsbane.

Valka slowly stepped over to the female now that it was only the two of them. She again lifted her hands to gently hold the female's chin, but she paused when the female barely shied away from her and did not meet her gaze for long.

"You poor thing, I can only imagine what you went through. For any dragon to endure that is terrible, but especially one of you... I will do what I can for your wings."

The dragon blinked at her and gave a wary grumble before looking away again.

"Right, you do not understand me. We will look out for you. He will, I will... Well, let me see those wings again..."

The female did not hum in faint pleasure as she softly stroked her wings, unlike almost all other dragons she had ever groomed in this way. But the dragon did not further shy away or give any clear sign of renewed distress.

It gave her a chance to think again about the strangeness of this new dragon.

 _You must be a relative of Night Furies. You look a bit different from Green-Wings even aside from color._

She was still slowly inspecting the wings, planning the surgery, and gently rolling her fingers over the thin wing membrane when Shadowwing returned with a slice of the potent grass in paw.

"Here, eat a little of this long-tooth-grass, and we will help your wings while you sleep," he conveyed.

Amazingly, she munched on the grass without hesitation and immediately became sleepy. She started blinking rapidly and went down on her belly outside the tent.

"Stay... no..." she weakly mumbled.

She was asleep in moments.

"All right, that was the easy part. I'm glad that we didn't have to scratch under her chin, she would not have liked that. Actually, I don't even know if that works for a Light Fury," Valka groaned.

His soft and confused warble asked the question for him.

"Skald and I decided to call her a Light Fury. Neither of us had ever heard of or seen one of her kind before, so making a name seemed right."

He hummed softly at the title and nodded in satisfaction.

 **She called herself a light wing**

 **Close enough**

"Really? What a coincidence. Yeah, and Fury will make it clear that there is still a family resemblance, I suppose."

His solemn croon turned the moment mellow as he recalled something else that was fair to tell her.

 **She forgot her name**

Valka stared at the words and gave a solemn sigh.

"I remember things like that from long ago. Someone gets hit hard enough on the head in a raid or a duel and they forget who they are. Sometimes it all comes back with enough time."

Then she looked back at the wings held out before them both.

"It is time."

She pulled out a finely sharpened knife and got to work on the scar tissue. He winced and looked away as she did what had to be done. It was tricky and slightly bloody work, but the dragon never once moved from her deep slumber.

He helped Valka by gently holding each of the wings out in turn so that she could do her work, first the careful removing of the worst scarring and then the longer task of sewing the reopened cuts together. It was slow going, sliding the fine needle and string through the wing membrane and holding the mass together with cross-stitches. She remained standing or on her knees the entire time, threading string through the eye of the needle and through the wing. Over and over and over again until finally the tear was gone.

It had to have taken over an hour when Valka finally stepped back and stood up. She still frowned in displeasure as she inspected her own work.

"Ok, that is all I can do for that wing."

He stepped over to look at her work and stared in amazement at first, thinking that they had somehow been made perfect again. But then he noticed the jagged edges and the small thread that wove in and out of the wing skin. And there was understandably a bit of blood.

"It might help a lot if they could be licked. Healing properties, you know..." Valka slowly added.

He inhaled and froze, knowing that it was definitely true but something else felt... invasive about it. She had no ability to tell him that she did not mind him touching her. Especially considering all that she had been through. But for her own good, he knew what had to be done and was able to set aside his reservations.

Then he carefully stepped closer and licked all along the length of the open wing where the cuts had been sewn back together. He could taste the tang of her blood and was thoroughly sickened by it. Then it was finished and he turned aside to spit out all the foul taste that he could.

The entire process was repeated for the other wing until Valka stepped back with the procedure complete while he licked the sewn cuts.

"Done. She is still out and might be for a while. I will go find out what the plan is now. Will you stay here for when she wakes up?"

Yes, he nodded, and then she left to speak with the Chief.

He lay down to rest across from the female while waiting for Valka to return with news. The Light Fury remained peacefully asleep with her head on her arms. It was such a wonderful change from how nervous and afraid she seemed while awake.

 _I wonder what your story is. What is your name? Where are you from? How did they catch you?_

He blinked.

 _Actually, there are probably some things better left alone..._

Valka returned some time later with news.

"They are eager to leave for Haven and will be ready to leave in the morning."

 **But what about her?**

 **We cannot leave her here**

She nodded.

"I told them all about her and that she cannot fly. They said that they could make room on the boat to carry her and a few more supplies from here to Haven. They didn't want to give up a perfectly good boat, after all. But I do not know the way. They will need a guide."

 **I think I need to go with her on the boat**

 **And I could also guide it there**

She thought for a moment on their predicament.

"Could Was-Grounded and Green-Wings lead us instead?"

 _That is a good idea. And I really should see them again as soon as I can._

 **I will get them**

 **You stay with her?**

She nodded.

He then stepped aside and flew up around the ice nest without going inside. Parts of it were already melted enough that they were collapsing. It would be too dangerous to go back inside now.

Sure enough, he spotted his brother, Green-Wings, and Dawn-Singer resting down the coast well away from where any of the fighting had happened. He was attacked by an eager fledgling as soon as he landed.

"Shadowwing, play now!"

Dawn-Singer leapt through the air and tackled his head with a happy roar. He play-growled back at the eager little Fury.

"I am a Monster, and Monsters eat little fledglings!"

Then he jumped and lunged at Dawn-Singer with a wide open and very toothless maw. Dawn-Singer dodged the slow strike and flapped squealing back to his mother's side.

"Dam! Get bad Monster!"

She bent down toward her little one.

"What if I am a Monster also?" she huffed.

"You are my dam. You are not a Monster. Maybe a licking Monster..." he hummed back at her with his very round eyes.

All three adults chuckled before Shadowwing remembered his reason for finding them. It was also very heartwarming to see them again, and he bounded up and butted heads with his brother.

"The two-legs and kin will make their flight to the new range, but they need flight-leaders. I will go on another water-walker with the Light Fury. Can you and Green-Wings lead the flight?"

Was-Grounded and Green-Wings looked at each other in momentary surprise.

"Light Fury? Is that her kin-type-name the two-legs use?" Green-Wings asked.

"Yes."

"It is a good name. We can lead the flight. When are they flying?" Was-Grounded asked.

"They fly when the sun hatches."

"We will be there. How is the new Light Fury now?" Green-Wings asked.

"She is sleeping. We gave her long-tooth-grass so that she would sleep while Kin-liver made her wings be good again. There was some life-water that had to be spilled."

"I want to greet this female later," she rumbled.

Shadowwing nodded and flew back to Valka's hut. She then left upon his arrival to begin packing and help with other preparations. He returned to the female's side and rested long there before she finally started to stir. This time though he understood that he should try to avoid startling her.

"Are you awake?" he kindly rumbled from a distance.

She opened her eyes and grumbled as she blinked away her sleep. Then she seemed to remember where she was and what had happened and immediately looked at her now folded wings. She gave an audible gasp when she saw them.

"Slowly... they will need much time, many moon-cycles, to get strong. This will help the wings heal well," he explained.

She stared closely at the very small vines woven through the wings and apparently holding the old cuts together.

"What must I do?" she whispered, almost in disbelief.

"Wait. Let the wing-skin grow together, and then you probably must work your wings much to make them strong again."

He paused before continuing.

"Most of the two-legs and kin are leaving this dying island to fly to a new place. A range where I, Was-Grounded, and Green-Wings nested before we came here."

"What about you?" she nervously asked.

"They are my nest, my flock, and I will go with them. You should come with us. They will let you on another water-walker."

"Another one?" she groaned.

"You cannot stay here. This nest is dying and rotted with death. You cannot hunt, and you need help until you can fly again."

She slowly and cautiously folded her wings away.

"Are you sure that I will fly again?" she whispered.

"Yes, you heard that my egg-mate... was grounded in the past... and he became sky-hatched again because of a two-leg who helped him and because he has a strong liver. I will come with you on the water-walker if it makes you feel safer."

She gave a very soft and wary hum.

"It would. I do not know these two-legs except for the Kin-liver. You said that they are your nest, what do you mean by that?"

"I lived as a hatchling among them."

Her eyes went wide in amazement and then narrowed in evident disbelief.

"No, that cannot be."

"Yes, it is. Their old nest was warm to kin and both lived as one nest."

She looked down at the ground.

"You trust the two-legs much then?"

"Some more than others. I trust Kin-liver very, very much. I trust her with my back and wings, but she is not a kin-bond two-leg to me. Others of them are good and warm, but I do not trust as much as her. You do not need to fear any of them here. They are here because they fought for kin and... lost their nest-island."

"What? How did they lose it?"

"It burned," he whined.

"How?"

"I… do not want to talk about it. That hurts much because it was also my nest-island once."

Then she stared over at the words he had written.

"And the ground-shapes that you were making?" she wondered.

"Those are… picture-words. That is how I talk to them. They do not hear my words from my mouth."

She looked down in complete confusion and pawed at the shapes.

"They look only like claw-scratchings to me."

"They do to all when they first start to learn. An adult could laugh at a nestling who tries to fly but all had to start learning when they knew nothing."

"Are you saying that I am a nestling?"

"At two-leg picture-writing, yes. Was-Grounded knows a little but not as much as I do. And talking about him and his mate Green-Wings..."

He looked up into the air, and she looked as well. Her eyes went wide in amazement when she saw the small flight. Two dark wing adults and one fledgling threw out their wings, landed next to them both, and approached.

It had been an unknowable numbers of sun, moon, and season-cycles of not seeing another kin like her in any way and now there were four others here with to her. It was almost too much to believe and made her liver feel warm with both comfort and wariness.

The other female, well-named Green-Wings, walked up to her and began to examine her, sniffing and softly nudging her. It was not threatening the way the dark wing was greeting her, but she watched the other dark wing's progress regardless. While it inspected her, she did the same to it. It only smelled of one two-leg, the Kin-liver. More importantly though she could smell the other male, Was-Grounded, on her. Was-Grounded and Green-Wings were indeed mates, and she was very heavy with an egg.

"Your wings?" Green-Wings exclaimed when she saw the old tears.

"Two-legs grounded me and cut my wings," she hissed.

"But Kin-liver helped you. I have seen that good two-leg make better many wings from thralled and grounded kin when this nest was living," Green-Wings hummed.

Then Dawn-Singer stepped away from his father. He sniffed at the stranger, blinked quickly, and then made up his mind.

"Light-wing not-dam!"

He hopped with a quick flap up onto the female's back and perched there. She then froze and cowered to the ground in evident alarm.

"What?" Shadowwing asked.

"I... have their little one... they will hurt me..."

"No, we will not. You are not a Monster-kin," Was-Grounded reassured her after warily glancing at Shadowwing.

"No? What... what is his name?" she nervously asked.

"I am Dawn-Singer!" the fledgling happily trilled.

"Why that name?"

"He liked to sing at the new suns when he was a hatchling," Was-Grounded answered.

She warily looked around at the fledgling, apparently without a care in the skies, as he perched on her back.

"Will you take your fledgling back?"

"I have a name!" Dawn-Singer hissed indignantly.

"Little one, fly here," Was-Grounded beckoned.

Dawn-Singer reluctantly flapped over to his father's head and perched there.

"I am not little!" he grumbled.

The female did something she had not done yet in all the time any of them knew her. She gave a soft chuckle as Was-Grounded crossed his eyes to look at the tail draped over his face.

"Night is flying to us. We are going to sleep before making the long flight," Green-Wings then remarked.

Shadowwing turned to the white female.

"Do you need anything now?"

"More fish would be good," she answered.

"I will take you to the fish."

She saw where he was looking, deeper into the makeshift village, and clearly did not like it. There was a lot of activity with people walking about and carrying things in preparation for the upcoming flight.

"Are the fish... with the other two-legs?"

"Yes."

"I am not much hungry then," her ears noticeably fell.

"They will not..."

He sighed.

"I will bring you the fish instead."

"I would like that more..." she mumbled.

Then she turned away from them and slowly walked up the beach while keeping her distance from any other dragons and humans.

Was-Grounded walked up to his brother's side as they both watched the white female depart from them and nervously walk the shore alone.

"She is very cold in her liver," he observed.

"Will she ever be warm again?" Shadowwing whispered.

"We can help her and lick her hurts, but she will need her own life-fire and wings to hold her up on the winds of life."

Then Was-Grounded turned and gave his brother another soft head bump and nose nuzzle.

"And you?"

"Life is one sun-cycle at a time now," Shadowwing mumbled back.

"You said that you will go on the water-walker to keep her safe and to guide the two-legs to the new range, true?"

"Yes, I will."

Was-Grounded then hummed, clearly considering something.

"That will be a water-flight of many suns from here. You will need to help the two-legs get fish for food. Do you know how to get fish with your fire?"

Shadowwing blinked in surprise at having something so obvious pointed out to him.

 _He is right. I have seen him do it before but I have not done it myself._

"No, I have never used fire to hunt fish. I... do not know how I flamed the Monster great-tusk. I... did... without thinking..."

Was-Grounded chuckled at him and huffed in amusement.

"You stopped fouling your attack-flight by not thinking much. Getting fish is less... dangerous. First, you let your fire-air into your mouth. Then you mix it with mouth-water and roll the mix into a ball with your tongue. The small burning fire-sun will hit the water very fast and dive deep. Then the fire-sun... makes a wave of water-wind that kills the fish. The fish float up on the water, you grab them, and you put the fish in your belly."

Shadowwing's ears stayed very high as he hummed in thought.

"How do you know all that?"

"My sire talked to me much when I was a hatchling and only thinking about stretching my wings. And that is how I would put the flight into words for you."

"I will do that."

"Learn by doing on the flight," Was-Grounded happily hummed.

Shadowwing forced back a faint grin and took to the sky, flying out over the sea. There were no fish in the water right now that he could see, but practice was all he truly needed at the moment.

 _Ok, how hard can this be? Should be simple from how he described it._

He followed directions as closely as he could, gathered the gas in his maw, tried to roll the mixture into a sphere, and shot at the water. The first try only collided with the water like an impact on rock and did nothing. The second try was almost the complete opposite and dove so deeply that he saw no visible effect on the surface. The third try was the happy medium between the two, a small ball of fire that dove into the water, apparently collapsed on itself under the surface, and caused a small eruption of water and a visible shockwave.

 _Got it. That is not so hard. Ok, so fish..._

There were no visible fish anywhere in the waters from what he could see.

 _Maybe the King had to dive deep to find the fish. Or maybe they are only much further away from land. Oh well, I know what to do now._

He turned his flight back to land and flew toward the people still packing supplies. He landed, briefly explained his request, and was handed three large, fresh fish which he carried in his mouth. There were also many dragons around, and they were all attentively looking at him in some way. The ones closest to him even bowed their heads or made warm croons as he passed.

 _Swarmed by adoring fans... lovely... Gods, that feels strange. As long as they do not start bringing me tributes of fish from their bellies and expecting me to eat them..._

Then he took to the air again and searched the shore for the hungry dragon, eventually spotting her much further down the shore. She was completely alone and was looking up at the sky. He made sure that his flight was in her line of sight so as to not spook her as he glided toward her.

No words were necessary when he landed and slowly walked up to her with the three large fish dangling from his mouth. She almost seemed to inhale them in her hunger, quite belying her previous words.

"Those were good fish, not like the bad, almost-rotted ones I have eaten for many sun-cycles."

"The two-legs have many fish that they want to share with their kin," he answered.

She softly rumbled and looked away from him, preferring to stare out at the sunset.

"I will go back to my nest-kin. Do you want to join us for warmth?" he offered.

She shivered and said nothing to him for a while.

"No Shadowwing, I will find my own place to sleep."

 _What is the matter? However you want it though, I guess._

"Do not go far, you know where to find us if you need us."

He then threw out his wings and flew back to the other Furies. Only his brother was still awake, clearly waiting for his return, with Green-Wings and Dawn-Singer at his side under a wing.

The other wing was immediately lifted for him, and he did not hesitate as he fell in under it.

"Is she coming here also to sleep?" Was-Grounded whispered.

"No, I gave her fish, but she wants to be alone for now."

A moment of relative silence followed as the only sounds were the occasional distant calls of dragons, the breaths of the sleepers nearby, the far lapping waves, and a chill evening wind.

Everything crashed down on Shadowwing anew all at once, perhaps brought on by the lack of having anything to distract his thoughts or the weariness of a long day, and he hung his head on the sands with a weak sob. As always, there were no tears.

A chin rested on his neck along with a peaceful and comforting hum. It was a song with no words and yet was comforting and soothing all the same.

His heart slowed, his eyes grew heavy, and a calm haze started to descend over his thoughts. And then Shadowwing was asleep, apparently without any sleep-visions yet. Was-Grounded took one more look at him and then closed his own eyes.

 _You will find warmth again, brother. I know you well, and you are stronger than you think you are._

* * *

Slowly and warily she walked along the beach until she found a big rock with a partly hidden cove she could back into for safety. There were fewer blind spots with the rock protecting her from behind.

And she stared down the beach toward where the other dark wings were surely piled together in group peace and warmth.

It dragged claws of ice across her liver to see such warmth. To see Was-Grounded and Green-Wings be so warm to the other. To see good life-mates who make the other's liver glow with shared warmth and whose eyes burn with life and care for their mate and for their young.

So different from the bad-wrong, no-life-making, not-be-one, false-joining that the Monster-two-legs had tried to force on her. It was not hard to think about the why behind what they tried to have done to her.

To have her make eggs for more thrall-kin.

She bared her teeth at the total wrong-badness. Kin should be hatched to a good, warm sire and dam out in the wild and away from the Monsters that would put them in traps, make them carry things, and break their life-fires. A kin that lived from being a hatchling looking to two-legs and needing them was less of a kin. It was a life-thrall without even knowing it.

 _I will never be a thrall again._

She clenched at the sand underneath her as she paced in a small circle. She wanted to sleep properly in a warmed place where the heat could sooth her belly.

She parted her jaws while bending toward the sand and... nothing happened. There was not even a drip of not-burning fire-air.

 _I have not been eating enough to make fire. I hope that is why I cannot flame._

It certainly felt like a reason that had lift, but there was also another, far more bad reason. What if this was deeper than only not eating enough? What if her inner-fire was truly dead?

… _The winds of life will be very warm to you, I know this, my sky-light..._

She blinked in confusion at the remembered thought-voice.

 _What?_

No answer or explanation came before she closed her eyes and vanished under her wings, quickly falling asleep shortly thereafter. Her last thought before falling asleep was that this would be the first time in her memory that she would sleep not on cold rock and not on a two-leg water-walker.

And that was very good.

* * *

Dawn came as he awoke to a nudge on his shoulder.

"Brother, wake up," Was-Grounded whispered.

"Mmmmm, what is it?"

"Open your eyes and see."

Shadowwing did so and stared in amazement, quickly shaking himself awake. Dozens of dragons were being attended to by their riders and being fitted with supplies. Crates were being roped to bellies or hung from cables. Scores more dragons with riders and without were already gliding on the morning winds.

 _Now that is amazing._

He flew a short flight down the coast and noticed Valka and the rescued female waiting for him across from a boat. Where she had gone to during the night he did not know. The ship already had several volunteers manning the deck and ferrying salvaged supplies onboard.

"There you are, sleepy head!" Valka shouted.

 _Really mom? You had to say that?_

"Everyone is ready to leave. This is... quite something."

He found a patch of sand.

 **How long will the trip take on boat?**

"I would say just over a week from what you've told me about how long the flight is."

Then she stepped over to him and embraced his head.

"I will see you around, son. Stay strong," she whispered.

He returned a purr and a brief hug.

 **You too**

 **Dragonheart**

Then she walked back to Cloudjumper, mounted him, and took to the sky. The other Furies down the beach also jumped aloft. Was-Grounded flew over in front of the flight, hovered for a moment, and then roared aloud in command. All the other dragons and riders as well rose from the sands and joined the flight over the next minutes. All the remaining dragons that had lived at the ice nest and those that had been liberated from Drago's army joined them in the skies, many leaving their metal armor that they had been imprisoned within behind on the sands. It was a spinning, glorious mass of wings and voices. Several hundred dragons had to have taken to the skies.

The Furies and Cloudjumper took the head of the flight and led it out over the sea toward the northeast. The rainbow cloud of dragons left the island behind and grew ever more distant as the sounds of the flight faded.

"That was... I never in all my most twisted sleep-visions thought I would see something like that," the female gasped.

"It does put a warmth in the liver."

"Warmth? I do not know about that," she grumbled.

A few moments passed as they listened to the sounds around them. To the empty silence of no roars, calls, trills, and buzzing of wings.

"We should get on the water-walker now, they are waiting for us," he eventually groaned.

They walked out the pier and one at a time hopped up onto the ship's deck. The ship had an assortment of supplies down in the hold now, mostly random things salvaged from other shipwrecks and the aftermath of the battle. And there were a few more people onboard this time, including...

"Well, long time no see," Skald chuckled.

 _Indeed, you would be one to volunteer again, Legs... Any opportunity to be around Furies, I guess..._

Having nothing to write on, he settled for laying a paw on Skald's shoulder and nodding to him with a happy hum.

"Awe shucks, anything to help you and our amazing, beautiful new friend here. Terrible what was happening to her."

They both turned to her. She had taken up the same place that had before, up at the vessel's bow so that she could keep a wary eye on everyone and everything happening around her.

"It's going to be a while on this ship, maybe a week. You might want to tell her to get comfortable. And since she cannot fly you might want to... tell her how to... you know... take care of... business... over the side of the ship..."

Skald for a moment looked like the awkward youth he remembered from many years ago.

 _Yeah, agreed. That is important to make clear now before it is an issue..._

He nodded back to Skald.

"Alright men! Let go!" Skald then shouted.

The crew got to work and had the ship sailing into the northeast, following in the direction that a flock of dragons had flown just minutes ago.

He slowly walked up to the ship's bow where she was already curled up and warily watching the proceedings.

"How are you?" he asked.

"This feels very twisted to be on a water-walker and be around two-legs again. I wish that I did not need to be on this thing."

"The two-leg flight-leader wanted me to tell you... to..." he fumbled his words also.

"What, Shadowwing?"

He looked up at the skies and groaned softly.

"Drop your waste off the water-walker so that there is no mess here."

She blinked and huffed.

"I can do that."

"Let me know if you need anything," he mumbled.

"I will," she hummed before vanishing under a white wing.

Then he walked down the ship and stood up on the ship's stern to gaze upon the ice nest one last time. It was falling apart in places now with great spires of ice having already collapsed. The massive and beautiful nest where he had lived for two years and that had been good and wholesome was now empty.

There were no colors spinning on the winds over the island. There were no shapes floating freely on the skies without a care in the world. The only color now visible on the island was the green from the few remaining trees and the shine from all the fallen dragon bodies where they still lay.

The island of life had turned to death.

 _I never want to come back here again._

He hung his head and trembled as he remembered all of it again. Meeting the King for the first time, finding a strange woman in the nest, learning who she really was, many missions to thwart the trappers, bringing his brother and family back there, the arrival of the other tribes, meeting Astrid again, confronting his father, his own prideful stupidity from his thinking that he was a special savior, and all the loss and senseless destruction that followed.

It was all still too near and painful.

 _How do I move on from something this terrible? This deep?_

He glanced back across the ship at the dozing female hidden under her white wings.

 _At least I have someone else to think about in the meanwhile._


	55. III - In The Moonlight

_**Author's Note – In which the Light Fury takes her name.  
**_

* * *

" _Go out of the house to see the moon, and 'tis mere tinsel: it will not please as when its light shines upon your necessary journey." - Ralph Waldo Emerson - Nature_

* * *

In The Moonlight

* * *

He woke up in the middle of the night to a creaking on deck, yawned widely, and looked up at the bright moon far overhead. Three days now they had been at sea on the journey to Haven. Not much had happened in that time. There were no disturbances at all on the sea. There was much sleeping. The greatest drama had come from his own helping to catch fish.

Then the boat rocked slightly again.

 _What was that?_

He glanced toward the ship's bow and froze at what he saw. The Light Fury was standing upright with her forearms resting on the ship's railing. She had her wings fully unfurled as she looked up into the sky. The soft wind almost made it look like she could be flying from how her wings gently ruffled in the breeze.

There was something beautiful and bittersweet about it. She had barely moved from her place there during the first three days into the venture.

 _I really hope she is able to fly again one day._

He got up and started slowly walking toward her. His steps creaked the ship's deck underfoot as he walked. She spun around at the slight noise and stared down at him as he froze in place. Her eyes were still wide and shone slightly with the reflected moonlight.

"Shadowwing, you cannot sleep?"

"I was sleeping but then I... nothing. How do they feel, your wings?"

She stretched them out again with a hum that was either mournful or hopeful, he could not tell.

"I can almost think that they might be whole and strong again, one sun still to be."

He walked up a respectful distance from her and then lay down.

"You heard that my egg-mate was grounded before, and he became sky-hatched again. That is why he took his name. Your hurt was not as bad as others I have seen because you did not lose the wings. Your hurts will heal strong again."

"How are you so sure about that?" she moaned.

"I know it in my liver. You will touch the clouds again."

She folded away her wings and turned around to face him. Then she took several steps and lay down across from him.

"How many suns now until we are at the new range?" she asked.

"This flight on the water has been fast with the wind. Maybe two more suns."

"And what is the range like? Will you tell me again?"

He hummed as he could easily picture it in his mind.

"The range is very big with many trees and plains. There are many four-leg prey to hunt. There are tall mountains inland that have many caves, one of which is where Was-Grounded and Green-Wings have their den. There is a hot-bubbling-water-pool that is very good to swim in. You will like this, there are no other two-legs there, none except for those going with kin."

"That does sound like a good range," she admitted.

"It will be different this time with the two-legs there. They will build a large nest with many tree-dens for them and for their kin. It will be very good for all."

"I will like it as long as the two-legs stay away from me," she mumbled.

He paused as he tried to consider how to bring up the obvious problem.

"But what will you do in the cold-season? It will be very cold at this range," he warily asked.

"You said that there are many caves, yes?"

"Yes, there are."

"I will find one of them to claim and sleep in."

"Why not sleep in Was-Grounded's and Green-Wings's cave-den? It would be warmer than sleeping alone. They would be warmed to let you sleep with them."

She turned aside slightly and whimpered softly without saying anything for several moments.

"Why do you fear them?" he gently asked.

"I... see them so close and how... warm their livers are to the other. They have a fledgling and another egg in her belly. It... hurts and makes me see what happened to me... How the two-leg-Monsters would hold me down and try to make..."

A solemn moment passed during which neither of them spoke. He tried very hard to not imagine what she did not want to mention.

"But that will not happen now. These two-legs are not Monsters, none of them are. And we are your kin, we will not hurt you."

"Saying those words does not make anything feel different," she whispered.

He looked down and slowly moaned with sadness.

 _Do you really think that I or my brother would do something like that to you?_

Then he winced as she snarled.

"I will never let that happen to me again! All that time, I never let them foul me! And I will never let a male climb on me... or catch me!" she seethed with her teeth bared.

It was the first time she had shown any true anger at all since their discovery of her.

She turned away and looked back out over the ocean without saying anything more. She curled her tail around to her front and stood there looking up at the sky again as she slowly calmed. He was about to leave her alone and return to his sleep when she spoke.

"Shadowwing, I have been thinking about what you said about what my name should be."

"And? What do you think?" he whispered.

"You said that it should be something of lift to me, something important."

"Yes."

She kept looking up at the night sky.

"The moon," she whispered.

He followed her gaze up to the bright and full moon.

"I am warmed by it and know it from a deep memory. It is high up in the sky, somewhere none but free kin go. But even we do not fly as high as it does. It can fly beyond the end of sight. It is always there even when the clouds hide it. And it can be as dark as your wings or as bright as mine when it wants to."

She looked down at the deck and closed her eyes.

"It is not trapped under the ground. It is free. Every time I see it I think that I might fly again as it does."

"Luna?" he offered.

"What?" she rumbled her confusion.

"Luna. It is another, better way of saying 'like the moon' and all the things you said. Filled with mystery and a little sad but free and flying."

"Luna… Luna…" the name rolled off her tongue several times.

"Do… do you like it?" he nervously asked.

She visibly relaxed and hummed while staring up at the moon.

"I do like it. I am Luna."

He remained awake and stared at her after she curled up again and went back to sleep. The moonlight almost sparkled off her wings and scales as she dozed. One thing that she had said kept echoing in his thoughts.

 _You never stopped fighting and resisting. You did not let them... That is very strong and brave of you, Luna._

Sigh.

 _If only I had been that strong..._

* * *

She lay her head down on her forearms and rested, just as she had done for several suns in a row now. She always did so in the same place where she could watch the two-legs as they worked to help the water-walker keeping walking on the ocean.

They never disturbed her except to bring fish or let her drink water. None of them tried to touch her or do any bad bonding-ceremonies. That was good. They should stay away from her as much as possible.

Shadowwing was aloft and looking for fish. She had already seen him send his fire into the water several times and swoop down to grab dead fish from the water, either for himself or for her and the two-legs. Watching him at that very normal flight was another chilling thing that smothered her liver's warmth.

Her own life-fire seemed to be gone. She could not make any flame even after trying several times.

 _Maybe that is something that happens to grounded kin. Maybe it is because I was not eating enough. I do not know now. I almost wish I did not remember my fire... such hot fire..._

She turned away from him up on the winds and closed her eyes. Her thoughts turned to the range they were going to. It certainly had been described well as a large range with no other two-legs, caves to make a den of her own in, and much hunting.

Hunting...

She did not bother to growl at the idea, knowing full well that she could not hunt well for herself at all now. She briefly glanced at her broken claws that were completely useless for any type of true hunting.

 _A weak body, no flight, no claws, and no fire,... great sky-breath, I almost sound like a two-leg..._

 _Like weak prey to life..._

But she gave a very soft growl as she clenched her teeth and felt a smoldering in her liver.

 _I have been hatched again. I will survive. I will get strong again. I will fly. I will sharpen my claws against the rocks. I will flame again. The wilds of this new range will be good. No two-leg nest, no bonding, only me._

Sleep was a very twisting thing though now after the first nights of exhausted rest. It was something completely necessary but also chilling because of what it brought with it. Twisted sleep-visions of being back in her trap with the false-vines tied to her neck. Dragged out by a couple pawful of thrall-two-legs and held down on her back as the rotted-empty-liver male thrall-kin were brought over to her.

The past was too powerful, and its teeth bit too deep. If only her life-fire would answer her. If only she could break free.

She awoke without a bellow or cry of alarm and quietly stared at Shadowwing as he now lay on the water-walker as well in rest. There was something about him that seemed especially strange and sad, something that he had not wanted to talk about before. Something that made him, despite how different he was from her, almost similar in a twisted way. She tried to think about what could be biting at his liver.

 _Does it have to do with the fighting and grounding at the old and broken ice-nest? Probably. He thinks that two-legs are a kin. So twisted and rotted. They can all be scorched for all I care. All are Monsters. All of them can..._

She noticed the wind gently ruffling his wings and the wings of the water-walker. And she remembered how her own wings that were broken now might not be in future suns. All because of one special two-leg.

 _Maybe the Kin-liver can be named a like-kin. If I ever fly again, it will be because of what that two-leg did for my wings. Maybe that one is not bad. But only that one._

 _The others, even if they think they are warm to their life-thrall-kin... no, I will not let them close to my liver. They cannot be trusted._

 _'Two-legs are filled with danger... flee on sight.'_

She looked up at the moon and briefly wondered at the words she remembered. Where did they come from? What distant winds of the past did those fly from?

She was still pondering that question when she lay back down, hid her head under her tailfins, and fell asleep.

* * *

This was something he had never done before, lead an entire flight of kin to a new nest. Every glance at the mass of wings and color behind him flamed his liver. He was a true flight-Alpha and occasionally roared aloud with feeling so that all the other kin would remember his voice.

The flight was a bit slower than he would have preferred. Not many of the kin had the same speed or endurance that he did. The slower flight did help Dawn-Singer since he had to work harder just to keep up with the head of the flight. He did also have to spend long stretches of the flight crouched low on Green-Wings's back, his smaller wings not being strong enough for extended flights yet.

And then there was Green-Wings. How she managed this flight he was not sure. He could see how heavy she was with the egg, which she would likely need to drop quite soon after returning to the nest-den. Her strength only made his liver burn hotter for her as she flew on without complaint.

The flight arrived at the mainland shore after at the end of the sun's flight. They had made very good speed with the winds at their tails the entire way. Still, for the sake of the other kin, the flight needed to stop and rest. That was another impressive sight, all these many pawfuls of different kin all reclining on the sands with their two-legs nearby. And that said nothing for the far more kin from the bad Alpha's thrall-flight or from the ice nest. All were now his and Shadowwing's. And they were all following one of their Alphas at the moment, and it felt very warming.

"I never thought I would see anything like that," Green-Wings mumbled from his side.

"All the kin-bond two-legs and their kin?"

"Yes."

"By our hatching eggs, you would never have believed the twisted life-flight that our winds could take us on," he answered.

"No, I would not have."

He nuzzled her neck and nipped at her ears.

"And how are you? Can you still make the flight?"

"It will be within a claw-tip, but I think I will."

"You let me know if you need to drop the egg before our den. We can always carry it with us to the den. You will sit it in our good den."

She curled up on the shore after humming to him. Dawn-Singer, however, did not want to sleep.

"Dam is sleeping. I play now!"

"You want to play... I am Monster!"

He softly bellowed and leapt after his fledgling. The little one was chased across the sands until he found an apparent place of refuge between Kin-liver's legs.

He and she stared at each other with amusement.

"I think I have someone of yours..." she muttered.

"Stop the Monster, Kin-liver!" Dawn-Singer pointed a paw at his pursuer.

"What do you want me to do?" she meekly protested.

"Get it!" he squealed.

Valka then looked down at her hands and then glanced up at an undefended chin. A moment passed and then a grin appeared on her face.

 _Oh, no you don't!_

He turned and bounded away from the pair, knowing that she could handle Dawn-Singer now for a long time. That let him wander the beach and meet all the kin, many of which he recognized from before on home-nest-island. Only, now he was his true size again among all of them. All of the kin he passed, no matter their type or what nest they were from, inclined their heads toward him as they should. It made his liver glow with heat.

Further, all the two-legs and kin looked very tired indeed and in need of rest.

He eventually returned to Green-Wings and rested at her side. Kin-liver came over and handed off Dawn-Singer to rest against his chest after much play.

 _Dawn-Singer will sleep well until we fly. Well flown, Kin-liver._

He then watched as the Thorvald-Alpha spoke with Kin-liver for a long time, seemingly quite pleased about something from the smiling and happy voice. They were clearly talking about this flight and about him. He knew enough of their words to follow that at least.

 _Flame my egg, I need to learn more of their words and picture-talking. I probably need to if I am going to be a good Alpha for the kin and this twisting mixed-nest._

His ears lifted as he watched Kin-liver continue speaking.

 _Maybe she will help teach me more._

* * *

The familiar shore finally came into view on the horizon along with the distant mountains. He recognized it all as it was a place that was close to his liver.

He and Green-Wings both gave a roar of delight and would have sped ahead for their range and den if it were not for Dawn-Singer flying between them. He could not keep up with them in full flight.

The large flight spiraled up and over the cliffs and circled a large clearing by the forest. This open ground would be a good enough place to land for the moment.

Before long the entire flight began spiraling in and touching down. Two-legs dismounted from their kin and stretched their legs while the kin did more collapsing on the ground and sleeping. It was a long flight for them all.

Kin-liver approached at her split-wing jumps-through-cloud's side.

"Was-Grounded, range make two-leg nest?"

He had learned enough of her words at least to be able to answer.

Yes, he nodded.

"Big range. Other two-leg nests not us?"

No.

She nodded back and smiled.

"We make nest here."

He gave a happy growl and considered his task as flight leader fulfilled. He bounded back to Green-Wings and Dawn-Singer and shared the good news.

"We are going to our den now."

"Can the two-legs come to the den?" Dawn-Singer warbled.

"No, only us. No two-legs."

The three of them set out over the familiar forests and toward the mountains and their den. His liver burned with warmth as he passed over the familiar streams, forests, and plains. There were a large number of four-leg prey down below, having had a very good season without being hunted at all.

Then they dove toward the cave-den that they knew so well. All three of them eagerly bounded inside with happy growls and were very pleased that it was completely unfouled by anything else. Green-Wings immediately went to the deepest part of the den where the sand-nest lay waiting, and then she lay herself down by it.

"How long until you have the egg?" he quickly asked.

"I will have it soon this sun."

He grumbled and turned toward the entrance.

"I will get you the long-tooth-grass."

"You... do not need to."

"Why not? It is needed for something."

She groaned softly and looked away from him before answering.

"It is more for me than for the egg. The egg does not need it."

He lifted an eye-ridge and padded over to her as she cautiously looked back up at him. A moment passed, and then he licked her clean on the face. He chuckled with mirth at the perturbed look on her face and at how she tried to wipe the mouth-water away using a paw.

"I will bring it for you even so. Now and with every egg that we will have."

She hummed deeply and softly nuzzled his nose.

"My mate?" she whispered.

"Yes," he rumbled back.

"Your egg-mate is very chilled in his liver. I could feel it. Why? I know that the fighting and grounding was bad at the ice nest, but he is more chilled than he should be. He did not lose any of us, any of his kin."

He hesitated before answering her question.

"I told you that he thinks and feels more than most kin. He thinks of some two-legs like his own kin, like nestmates of his own. One of them, the Queen-Alpha spine-tail-friend, was very close to his liver. She died in the fighting. And there was another two-leg, the former male-Alpha of the nest, who was like a sire in some ways to him."

"What?" she blinked in surprise.

"Yes, we did not have a Night Fury sire or dam to teach us and show us the winds of life on our home-nest-island. That male was like a sire to him, and the male also died in the fighting."

"It was to him but not to you?"

"No, I was always more... out of the nest and wild."

"I am warmed by that about you. It is true that your egg-mate lost most of his old two-leg nest?" she asked.

"Yes, we are almost all that he has now except for the Kin-liver."

She crouched back over the sand.

"I said that he is kin to me before, and he is my kin now. He may nest with us for all the suns he needs," she eventually said.

He glanced at her, almost in amazement at what she said.

"You would let him nest here?"

"Yes, he has been only good to us, and he has warmth in his liver for all of us. I want us to hold our wings over him."

Then he licked her cheek again.

"Now you are the one who amazes me," he hummed.

"It is what I must do for my Alpha," she teased.

"Alpha... never an Alpha over you."

* * *

"This is a beautiful place for sure," Chief Thorvald announced to the couple dozen fellow refugees nearest to him.

"The Furies said that there are no other tribes that live this side of the far mountains or down the coast. It should be very quiet here," Valka solemnly explained.

"Probably too cold for the others. The other peoples are not true Nords like we are!" Thorvald proudly declared.

"Here, here!" "That's right." "Like hammers!" "None are more stubbornerest than us!" "Who we fightin?"

Even a couple of the nearby dragons joined in with a soft roaring at the cheerful noise.

"Dragonheart, do you think that you could plan out a village here to be our new home?" the Chief asked.

"I suppose so," she replied.

"Good, I would like that. You would understand better than the rest of us how to make a world that our dragons will like. And there certainly are a lot more of them now."

"We can get started by taking down some trees. We won't be able to start on anything large like stables or a Great Hall right now, but we can get started on the basics. They will help a lot," she answered.

They glanced around at the nearby dragons that were peacefully resting after the long flight.

"They will certainly make it faster. They learned to help quite well in making the shelter we were at... before," Thorvald replied.

She nodded and turned for Cloudjumper.

"Dragonheart, there is something else I need to talk to you about," Thorvald got her attention.

"What is it?"

"We... lost our last Elder in the fighting. Some of the dragons attacked even those that were not fighting."

She winced, almost feeling physical pain at hearing that.

"It wasn't that bad for us at least, but the Elder was one of the ones we lost. There is no one who knows dragons better than you now," he continued.

"But I am not one of your tribe, I already told you that and that my loyalties are elsewhere," she answered.

He groaned at that.

"You are a dragon rider. We are dragon riders. Yes, we are the same tribe whether you want that or not. I am not saying that you would need to do all the old rites and ceremonies that do not matter to us now. Loki can have all that stuff. Just be there for us in anything that involves dragons, will you do that for us?"

"I can do that," she eventually answered.

"That is all I can ask for."

He turned back to the couple dozen of his people gathered nearby. Most of them looked exhausted or had bandages of some kind.

"Alright everyone. This is it, our new home. Let's get to it straightaway. We have everything we need to start rebuilding; dragons, fire, wood, cattle, everything..."

"Uh, Chief? There is a problem."

"What is it, Ungart?"

"The ale, Chief. What are we going to do about ale!"

That sent groans of dismay around the whole gathering.

"We are... going to have to make do without ale for a while," he visibly grimaced.

"Nords without ale!" "Why is the ale always gone?" "It's Ragnarok!" "What are we going to do?" "That's it, we're dead!"

Chief Thorvald sighed and rubbed his temples, knowing full well the precariousness of their situation.

"It is an occupational hazard of making a new home. We will trade for ale next year! Until then, be strong and remember that, just like our dragons did years ago, the ale will come back!"

* * *

Luna could not look away from the land on the horizon. It fully enthralled her attention, and she stood tall on her hind legs to see as much of it as she could.

Tall mountains capped with white had green running almost all the way up their slopes. Tall cliffs with sharp rocks flanked the coastline. It all looked wild and unspoiled by any two-legs even though she knew that there was a two-leg and kin mixed-nest being made in the range. The sight of the wild and the mountains, of freedom, filled her liver with warmth like nothing else yet. These were sights that she may have not seen in many season-cycles.

 _I will vanish into that range when I get there and am free again._

Shadowwing walked over and stood a short distance from her.

"That is the range?" she asked.

"Yes, it is a very good range to live in."

"And it has caves where I can sleep in this cold-season?"

"Yes, if that is what you want," he sighed.

"It is. I do not want another to help me."

He paused before answering her.

"What about your wings? You let Kin-liver help you with them."

"I could not do anything about that alone. Only her clever-paws could make those hurts be not," she reluctantly grumbled.

"What about hunting and food? Did you know that the two-legs and their kin always catch much fish and put them where the kin can eat down in the mixed nest?"

She said nothing for several moments as she watched the visible kin on the ground and in the air. Her gaze fixed on the false-vines and two-leg riding-things wrapped around the backs of many kin. Her eyes narrowed as she imagined a two-leg trying to make her be its mount, even if he had said that such a thing would not happen. She thought about a two-leg trying to start some life-bonding-ceremony with her, and she faintly snarled at the idea.

 _Never._

"No, I did not know that. But I will not go into the two-leg nest."

"Why..." he almost growled before quickly stopping.

"Kin should not need two-legs to feed them. It makes us weaker to not do our own hunting and to need to carry them on our backs," she declared.

"Hunting together lets them catch more than they could apart. That means there is more food for all. And the flying together only warms both livers."

"No. I... do not like the idea of needing two-legs for anything."

He inhaled and carefully considered his words.

"Will you give them a chance to show you what is in their livers?"

Luna stared inland for several moments.

"I do not know if I can or if I want to. They are not kin to me," she finally answered with a growl.

He weakly sighed.

 _Why do you not trust people who have never hurt you and who want to help you? Surely you can see that they are good to their dragons and will not hurt you..._

The boat eventually docked as many people appeared on shore and approached. Chief among them were Valka and Thorvald. Shadowwing bounded down from the ship's deck to greet them.

"Well, you are finally here. Was it smooth sailing?" Thorvald asked.

 **Yes, very peaceful**

"Good, we needed all these supplies to keep working here. It is good to have you all back."

Then he turned away from the Chief, walked over to Valka, and gingerly embraced her.

"How was it out there? Everything go well?" she asked.

Yes, he nodded.

Then his ears slowly lifted at the one good development that had happened on the water.

 **She chose a name**

"Really, what is it?"

 **She likes the moon**

 **I suggested Luna and she liked it**

"Luna... Luna the Light Fury. It has a good ring to it."

Valka glanced over at the female, now named Luna, currently still sitting on the boat, probably waiting for everyone else to get off it first.

"What is she waiting for?"

He leapt from the ground and flew up to the ship.

"Luna, are you ready to leave the water-walker?"

"Can you make the two-legs stay away from me?"

"If you want, I will walk first and let them know to stay away."

She nervously followed him as he walked down the short pier. Once on land, several people tried to approach to meet the new dragon, and he held out his wings to block them while giving a soft growl. Valka fortunately came over to help explain without needing any help to figure it out.

"Everyone stay back from her. She does not trust any of you."

The dozen or so people who were obviously eager to meet the newest Fury reluctantly stepped back and let the two Furies pass by and continue up the ridge alone. Luna picked up the pace once they had passed by the crowd.

"Look at it, Luna. This is where the two-legs are making their nest."

"I see it. What are those small tree-caves?"

"Those are their home-dens. They will make more dens for their kin to sleep in."

She warily growled at the houses that were being built.

"And what about true caves where we sleep, where are they?" she asked.

He stepped closer to her and looked up toward the mountains.

"You see the tallest mountain?"

"Yes."

"Was-Grounded's and Green-Wings's cave-den is at the bottom of that mountain. There are some other small ones also along the mountains."

She gave a happy growl and then dashed for the trees with surprising speed.

"Luna, where are you going?"

She paused at the trees and looked back at him. He could not make out her expression as she stared past him toward the other dragons and humans already milling about in activity.

"Not here."

Then she whipped around and disappeared among the trees.

* * *

It was too good to believe or wait around for. She continued to run through the trees, leaving the starting of the two-leg nest far behind. Shadowwing's voice called out for her, but there was no stopping now, not when she was so close to something like freedom for the first time in many season-cycles.

Deeper into the forest she ran until all the sounds and smells of two-legs were long gone. Then she stopped and caught her breath. The birds were singing, and there were no smells except those of the wild all around her.

A faint warmth began smoldering in her liver again at the feeling of the wild.

 _This is good._

Then she slowly stretched out her weak wings and gave them several cautious flaps. Doing so left them weak and pained after several moments, but it was a good pain, a feeling like she had spent a full sun in flight.

One of the birds was disturbed by the motion and flew to a nearby branch to chirp its protest at her. Her eyes trained on the bird as it then flew back up to its nest.

 _It can fly..._

She folded her wings and continued deeper into the wild, trying to ignore the feeling of wrongness that a small bird still had use of its wings while she was grounded.

 _Now to find hunting and a den._

She glanced at her ruined and short claws. They were not useful at all for hunting now. It was unlikely that they could grasp at or pierce a four-leg's hide.

 _And some rocks to sharpen my claws on._

Then a thought struck her. There was something else that she could try now that she was off the water walker and had been eating well for several suns in a row now.

 _I can do this._

Her gaze fixed on the grass right before her. She opened her mouth, worked the inner-lung, and felt her fire-air come forth.

The fire-air dripped from her maw with no spark to make the fire-air become a flame.

She softly whined and shivered at the biting reminder of how truly grounded she still was. Then the defiant voice spoke in her liver.

 _Luna, what are you? Hunter or prey?_

She turned for the deeper forest and ran, imagining that running alone could stoke the embers still burning in her liver.

 _Embers can become a fire!_

* * *

He almost called out for her again and considered dashing after her. Instead, he let her go.

 _She does not know this place, but she wants to be alone for a while. I understand that. It actually sounds nice in a way._

Groan.

He slowly turned away and returned to Valka's side as she had been watching the entire encounter.

"She is very afraid of us."

He nodded.

"I think it is understandable because of what they were doing to her and from being so helpless now. Once she gets her flight and claws back, she might be able to trust more."

A contented hum and nod followed.

 _They do not need me here while they plan their village. And in the meanwhile I have somewhere else to go now._

He glanced up at the mountain and knew exactly where to go. There were some people he needed to see as soon as possible.

 **I am going to see the other Furies**

He threw out his wings and flew toward the familiar cave. He did not immediately bound inside though because there was a small black shape spiraling on the wind outside the cave. Dawn-Singer was flying under Was-Grounded's watchful gaze from the slope near the cave.

He dove and landed next to his brother. He was then immediately attacked by a tongue covered in slobber. That had to be intentional.

"Grr, why did you do that?" he groaned while wiping the drool away as well as he could.

"Because I am warmed that you are here now."

Shadowwing rolled his eyes but gave a happy sigh regardless.

"I am also."

"How was the flight on the water-walker?"

"Slow. Nothing happened."

"That is good. More suns with nothing happening is good."

Then Shadowwing perked up slightly and lifted his ears.

"The female took a name. She is Luna. I suggested it, and she liked it."

"Hmm. Luna. What does it mean?"

"It means 'like the moon'. She said that seeing the moon made her liver warm because it can fly and cannot be a thrall. She also liked it because the moon can be the same color as her wings."

Was-Grounded considered the name for a moment.

"You can give a good name. We will need a new name soon."

Shadowwing had no time to think on that comment because Dawn-Singer dove toward him, hovered in the air, and smoothly dropped onto his back.

"Shadowwing!" Dawn-Singer cried.

The fledgling perched happily there on his back. He craned his own neck around and hummed at his nephew.

"Hello Dawn-Singer, do you remember this cave-den?"

"Yes, I like it. I am happy here," he chirped.

"It is your den where you hatched."

Dawn-Singer eagerly bobbed his head in a nod.

"Sire and dam have new egg."

Shadowwing gasped at hearing that confirmation. Of course they all knew that Green-Wings was carrying another egg, but this was something he had never actually seen before. His and Toothless's egg from many years ago did not count.

He turned to Was-Grounded, who was quite amused at his reaction, and asked the question without any words.

"Yes, get in here and see it."

With his passenger on his back, Shadowwing followed Was-Grounded inside the cave. Deep at the rear of the cave, he spotted Green-Wings laying on the soft sand that had always seemed out of place up here in the cave.

"Shadowwing," she called to him.

They approached her, and Dawn-Singer took the opportunity to hop over onto her back.

"Green-Wings, may I see the egg?" Shadowwing asked.

"Yes," she hummed back.

She got up and brushed aside some of the fresh Dragonsbane to reveal the precious object partly hidden in the sand. It was a perfectly smooth black shell with a faint streak of blue.

His jaw hung open in amazement as he stared at it. He vaguely noticed that Dawn-Singer was also looking down at it with an unreadable expression.

"Look at it, Dawn-Singer, you will have a little nestmate soon."

Dawn-Singer yawned and flicked his tail.

 _Cool your tail, kiddo. It is not every day you get a new brother or sister, after all. No need to get too excited now..._

"How many suns until it hatches?" he asked.

She hummed in brief thought as she replaced herself over the egg.

"Not a half moon-cycle. I carried it longer than Dawn-Singer's egg."

"And when it does hatch," Was-Grounded interjected, "you will give us some names for the hatchling, and we will give it one of the names if it is not a twisted name."

"A twisted name? What? Me do something twisted?"

Shadowwing's happy grin instantly vanished, and he turned away to stare at the den's wall.

"What bad could happen if I ever do anything twisted..." he whispered, evidently to himself.

Was-Grounded and Green-Wings shared a glance at how suddenly their guest's life-fire had dimmed.

"What is happening down in the two-leg nest?" Was-Grounded asked.

Shadowwing sighed and collected his thoughts.

"They are making their new tree-dens with their kin helping. The making is slow, but the two-legs have rock-head problems and will make the new-dens be with much work."

"Rock-head problems? They have rocks in their heads?" she was quite confused.

Was-Grounded laughed openly at that and explained the odd phrase.

"Some suns I thought that myself, but no. It means that once the two-legs set their liver on doing something they will fly their whole life-fire on doing that thing and will keep trying. Almost like they are hitting their head against rock and thinking that the rock will break."

Shadowwing then turned back to them both with a heavy and almost pained expression.

"I want to ask you both something."

"What is it?" Was-Grounded asked.

"The cold-season is flying to us soon."

"Yes, it is," he answered.

"I am lost in the winds of life now. Many who I held close to my liver are dead and... I... know that it is much to ask, but will you let me sleep in your cave-den this cold-season? Can we be one nest for now?"

Green-Wings spoke before Was-Grounded could say anything.

"Come here, Shadowwing."

He slowly padded over to her and sat down before her.

"Speak with liver-truth. Were you the thrall-kin who clawed my mate?"

Shadowwing groaned and looked down at the ground, suddenly unable to meet her green eyes.

"Yes. He would say no, but the fault is on my wings and claws, even though I would never try to hurt him."

Then she leaned forward and licked his cheek.

"What..." he blinked.

"You are my kin. You licked his belly-hurt, and I know that you would not choose to fly against him or try to ground him. We said that we will hold our wings over you while you are life-chilled. Yes, you may nest with us this cold-season and all the seasons you need. Shared warmth is good when one is chilled in the liver," she hummed.

He whined softly in deep feeling as he stepped back from her.

"My liver-thanks, Green-Wings."

"What about the white female not dark wing, the... light wing?" she asked.

"Luna, she named herself Luna, as like the moon. The two-legs call her a Light Fury, like us but different. She is running free in the trees and range now. She does not want to rest with us or nest with us."

"No? Why not?" she asked.

"Do you know what the Monster two-legs were trying to do to her?"

She only answered with bared teeth and a snarl. That was answer enough.

"She is hurt deep in her liver by that and did not want to be around you. She said that seeing you both be warm to your mate made her feel hurt."

"What?" they both exclaimed.

"She hurts by seeing good feeling and liver-warmth? That is much bad rotted thinking," Was-Grounded groaned.

Shadowwing turned around and strode over to mouth of the den where he then stopped and turned back to them both.

"She has much healing to do. As do I."

Then he threw out his wings and took to the sky. Was-Grounded and Green-Wings returned to each other's side and said nothing for many wingbeats.

"I did not know that one of us could be so chilled that seeing good makes her hurt," she mumbled.

"What do you think about her, about Luna?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"She is almost a Night Fury, a dark wing, but she smells a little different. And why is she that color? It is not good for her."

"No, it is not. She cannot hide well or hunt in secret. Maybe her kind of kin is always that color though. Have you ever seen her kind before?" she asked.

"No, I have never seen one of her before. Light wing or Light Fury is a new kin to me," he answered.

"Do you think that a... Light Fury and a Night Fury can be... good mates?" she asked.

He froze at that and threw her a wary glance while he considered the question. There were no reasons he could clutch as to why life could not come from such a joining.

"It is very soon for them to think about that, my life-mate," he replied.

She blinked and hummed softly.

"Yes, I know. That is why I am asking you and not them. Do you think they could?"

He wrapped his tail around hers and put a wing over her, in case she wanted any minor reassurance of where his liver lay.

"Yes, they could."


	56. III - Aurora

_**Author's Note – In which a bit of Luna's past is discussed, the new little Night Fury is introduced, and the winds of winter arrive.**_

* * *

" _For night's swift dragons cut the clouds full fast... And yonder shines Aurora's harbinger." - William Shakespeare – A Midsummer Night's Dream_

* * *

Aurora

* * *

A full sun of wandering the range had passed before she finally saw what she was looking for a short distance away among the trees. A no-horn four-leg. It was quite fat and ready to survive the cold-season.

That fat would feed her for very many suns if she could only catch the prey.

Closer along the ground she crept, doing everything possible to make no noise. She imagined dashing for it and sinking her teeth into its neck and belly and crunching on its bones.

But it had turned and was looking directly at her. Then it lifted its tail and bounded away deeper into the trees.

Was she too loud? She was not upwind of it.

What did it see? What could it possibly have seen that would give away her hunt?

And the bit of lift burning in her liver departed again when he remembered the twisting truth.

It saw her color of white against the fading green and brown of the trees. There was nothing she could do about that. It was not a matter of hunting better and being sneakier as long as she was on the ground.

Food and hunting had never been a problem back in the cave-den-nest when her sire and dam did the hunting for her. Her white color had not been a problem when hunting in the past with her wings and her belly-fire. Back in the good seasons when she flew the open skies, unclear and twisted though those memories were. Without flight and fire though, there was almost no chance at all of catching anything. But catching prey was exactly what she needed to grow strong again.

She again glanced at the dull stubs of claws. They had once been sharp claws that could easily tear through hide, but they had been worn down by two-legs trying to unclaw her and by her own panicked attempts to escape death in the abandoned trap.

 _You are weak... prey only..._

She wanted to defy that twisted-whispering part of her own liver, to make it know that she was not weak. But she was not sure if she believed the hopeful part of her own liver.

 _I can look for a den to make my own near the mountains. And maybe I can find prey or fish somewhere in this range._

* * *

Several days passed during which the construction progressed smoothly. Even with only minimal tools and with their dragons helping as well as they could be instructed to, the makings of a village began to up in no time at all. Pens were constructed for the farm animals that they were able to bring with. A storehouse was put up to hold the fish and other game that were caught.

It was impressive how much the force of sheer stubbornness could accomplish. Though the impending threat of the winter was also a powerful motivation.

Shadowwing eagerly worked at all of it, giving his wings and back to the work as much as possible. Such tasks included hauling heavy logs, holding the logs in place as structures went up and people worked with tools, helping to dig holes for support columns, helping to fish both nearby and further down the coast, and bringing back the occasional hunt of his own for the butcher.

As long as he was working and exhausted, he was not thinking about the past. It helped to put a bit of distance between himself and the recent loss that cut so deeply.

In addition to his work in the village though, there was another thing that was greatly bothering him. Luna had vanished and had not been seen since she turned her tail on the rest of the humans. He had respected her wish to be alone, but now he was starting to get truly concerned for her safety. After all, she had been out there for several days on her own, and he suspected that she was not well prepared to be hunting right now.

 _She has no fire, no flight, no claws, and she was already very weak when she left. She needs the help even if she does not want it._

He sought out Valka to see how she might be able to aid him.

 **Luna probably needs help**

She frowned and heavily sighed.

"I agree. She needs to eat much better before winter arrives. I do not think that she can hunt well like she is now."

 **Can you get me a pack?**

 **I can carry fish to her**

"Hmm, that might work. I actually might have something already, one moment..."

She got up and ran back inside her temporary hut. He waited only a moment before she emerged with one of her large packs he remembered from her stuff in the ice nest.

"Think you can carry that?"

She slung it over his neck, and he felt the leather pack dangle at his breast. He gave a satisfied purr.

 **This will work**

 **Thank you**

Then he dashed off to the nearest fish station. There were always a number of dragons gathered nearby. Amazingly though, they all backed away as he approached.

 _Why are they doing that?_

It became obvious when one of them inclined its head to him.

 _Oh, Alpha, yeah... whatever that means... gods, that is still strange._

"Shadowwing!" Gustav cried out from next to the station.

The catches were still small enough that there had to be someone there to ration the food at the moment.

 _Good, he is on duty right now._

"What is that bag for?"

 **I need to take some fish to someone**

"I can definitely do that for you."

He had five large fish including a couple fat salmon in the pack only moments later.

 **Thank you**

He gave the young man a brief nudge on the forehead, to which Gustav chuckled.

"Anything for a Night Fury."

Shadowwing briefly chuckled at that and then took to the air with the bag swinging from his neck.

 _Alright Luna, where would you go? Probably far away from here, that is for sure._

He turned for the north and flew, all the while keeping his gaze down the land and among the trees. Her bright color should certainly help him find her down among the trees.

 _That actually makes her easy to find. Lucky for me._

He spent easily an hour in searching before he spotted a white flash that was out of place over near the mountains. He immediately winged toward it and was not disappointed.

 _Yes, there you are!_

A loud cry announced his approach to her as he threw out his wings and touched down.

"Shadowwing..." she weakly greeted him.

"Luna, what is wrong?" he politely asked as he trotted up to her.

"The hunting is... hard here. I did not catch anything," she groaned while hanging her head.

She indeed still looked sickly thin.

"I have fish for you," he hummed.

Her eyes went wide as he wiggled the bag over his head, flipped open the pouch, and dropped the five fish on the ground. Her jaws slightly parted as she stared at the large fish sitting there for her. Then a nagging doubt nipped at her tail.

"Are they from the two-legs?" she slightly hissed.

"Yes, they are, but you need to eat. You are very thin and need food. Will you turn your nose at the fish because of where they are from?"

.

"You do not mind if I eat them now?" he teased and slowly bent down toward them.

She waited not a moment and possessively stood over the fish, which she then swallowed in short succession. She was still so poorly nourished that those five fish alone stood out in her belly.

A quiet moment passed before she warily asked a question of him.

"Tell me, Shadowwing, why are you helping me?"

He blinked and grumbled at the question.

"I already told you. I want you to be warm and happy."

She hummed and looked down at the ground, clearly deep in thought.

"But all want something when they do good. No one does a good thing without wanting a good thing done for them," she explained.

"Maybe you speak truth. There is a good thing that I could get from you," he eventually answered.

She inhaled and nervously waited without looking at him.

"I could see you be warm, strong, and happy again. That would be a good thing that I would want to see. What are you doing out here alone now?"

She grumbled at his words in either confusion or disbelief before answering him.

"I was looking for a cave-den to make my own and sleep in. I want to be far from the two-legs and other kin."

"And you are sure that you will not sleep with me, Was-Grounded, Green-Wings, and Dawn-Singer? The cold season is very cold in this range."

"I am sure."

"What if the cold wind takes your life-warmth?"

"It will not."

He cast his eyes down and did not look up at her.

"I... have fear for you all alone out here."

She said nothing in response to that.

"You might not want the help now, but you do need it until you can hunt and get your life-fire burning hot again."

"How can I get strong again if I need others to help me!" she barely growled.

"How can you get strong if you die because you are still weak now and..." he fumbled, not sure if he was saying the correct thing.

"So you think I am weak prey..." she whispered.

"No, Luna, that is not... not always..."

He weakly sighed.

"You are not strong now, but you will be again. Will you let me help you? I will bring you fish and make fire for you in the cold-season if you want."

Then he blinked, stepped back from her, and almost snarled at himself.

"No. I will bring you those even if you do not want them. You are part of this twisted range as all of us are even if you do not want to be part of it. An Alpha protects all in the range!"

She slowly stepped back while staring at him in open surprise.

"You are an Alpha?" she gasped.

He closed his eyes and remembered seeing all the other dragons around him bowing toward both him and his brother. Even now he still felt the faintest tingle of that strange feeling he had first felt back then. It was an odd fire in his belly and his blood, a fire which was noticeable now but had definitely not been there before. Or maybe he was only far more trusting and confident in himself at times now.

Whenever not dwelling too long on the past at least.

"I and my egg-mate Was-Grounded are Alphas together. We defeated the great-tusk-Monster to free all the kin. The free kin bowed to us both. We are still learning what it means to be Alphas. That has not been much until now."

He hummed in thought and looked at the clouds as she still stared at him.

"The two-legs have a saying about rock-head problems. They try something that does not help them and keep doing it because they think something different will happen. Try not to do that to yourself. Have you claimed a cave-den yet?"

She eventually recovered her voice, though it was softer than it had been before.

"No, there are some good ones, but I wanted to look more before claiming one."

"You will find one, if that is what you want. Have you seen the hot-bubble-water place?" he eagerly asked.

Her tilted head and slightly lifted ears were answer enough. She had evident interest.

"Will you let me show you where it is?"

"I..."

.

"Will you tell me where it is so I can find it myself?" she asked.

He closed his eyes and took a very slow breath.

"Yes, I will."

* * *

She was quite certain of it now.

This was the best place in the entire range.

Floating in the hot-bubble-water was more relaxing than sleeping in a field of long-tooth-grass. This had the added good of being a bath also. It was also quite isolated from all other kin and from where the two-legs were making their nest.

The only problem was that it was a very long walk from the cave that she had chosen to be her den. Her cave was far down the range away from where her fellow dark wing kin were nesting. She had almost wanted to walk up to them to see the place but had not done so in the end.

It was better to be on her own.

 _He and Kin-liver were going to be stopping at my cave to bring more fish and tell stories. He said that there were many good things Kin-liver has done throughout her life-flight. I wonder what they are._ _She was the one who helped my wings..._

Further wondering could wait though. There was something far more important to do now.

She hauled herself out of the hot-bubble-water, shook herself dry, and then lay down on the warmed rocks around this hot-bubble-water pool.

 _Almost as if I had flamed this rock myself..._

The sleep that followed was very warming and very deep with no twisted sleep-visions.

* * *

"Will you go first and ask her if it is ok?" Valka whispered.

Yes, he nodded.

Then he slowly strode up to the mouth of the cave.

"Luna?"

A white head and light blue eyes appeared from around the corner inside the cave.

"Shadowwing?"

"It is us. Me and Kin-liver. May we come into your den?"

"Yes."

He nodded at Valka, and they slowly entered.

 _It is a good cave for sure. Rather deep and protected from the weather... definitely isolated._

Luna sat down and watched them both as they walked inside.

"Does she want me to do anything?" Valka whispered.

 _Uh, just stay with me._

He softly shook his head and warbled softly at her.

"Did you bring more fish?" Luna expectantly asked.

"Yes, Kin-liver has it."

He nudged Valka and nodded toward Luna.

"Ok, then," Valka mumbled as she reached into her bag and grabbed a large fish.

Then she held the fish out in her hands. She waited and let Luna approach and pluck the fish out of her hands.

"Heh, Light Furies can be toothless also. Makes sense I guess."

Shadowwing softly chuckled at that.

"Why did you laugh?" Luna wondered.

"You can pull your teeth back like I can. That gave me laughter..." he explained.

"Shadowwing, you are much twisted," Luna chuckled.

"We already knew that..."

"You said that you were going to tell me stories about what you and Kin-liver did, true?" Luna asked.

"Yes, are you ready to listen?"

She curled up on the nearby rocky slope inside her cave. Then he lay down below her and waited as Valka crouched and rested against his side under a wing.

"Kin-liver's life-story starts when another kin, jumps-through-clouds, took her from her home-nest-island."

"That is her... bond-kin, yes?" Luna asked.

"Yes, jumps-through-clouds took Kin-liver to the ice nest where the white great-tusk was the Alpha. And there Kin-liver learned that kin are not bad life. She learned that kin only want food, safety, and to fly. She started living her life as one of that nest and helping to protect kin that would be trapped by thrall-makers."

"And all the kin trusted her?" she wondered in surprise.

"She had the trust of the great-tusk-Alpha. And the other kin saw her helping to free others of the nest. She would fly with jumps-through-clouds, and they would go to where the traps were. She would use her paws to open the traps and free the kin."

Luna then looked at this Kin-liver in a new light.

"And her rescuing of thrall-kin is how she learned to help broken wings?"

Shadowwing solemnly sighed.

"Yes, some traps would break wings. She lived among the kin for two tens of season-cycles and learned to heal wings with much doing of it."

Both Furies then glanced at her wings. Valka noticed.

"Can you ask her if I may check her wings? I want to make sure that everything is going well."

Luna did not object at the relayed request, and Valka stepped over to inspect the stitching. Then Valka gave a satisfied hum of her own and returned to Shadowwing's side.

"They look like they are healing well. None of the threads have come loose."

"What is she saying?" Luna asked.

"She says that your wings are healing well."

"Why did she help me? Can you ask her that for me?"

He glanced around the cave and found a small dirt patch.

 **Why did you help her wings?**

 **She wanted me to ask**

"Tell her that I wanted to help her because it is the right thing to do. No dragon deserves to be grounded. You are great creatures who deserve to be free in the sky and to be able to live in peace with us humans."

Luna heard his translation and grumbled softly.

"The first part of her words have lift, but I do not know about the last. Peace is best if we are apart. There is no hurting or killing that way."

Shadowwing heard her words and winced at them.

"But that is not good or true peace. Separating the nests into kin and two-legs is not a good way to make peace be."

Luna stared back at him with a very level gaze.

"It would be no killing, fighting, hurting, or thrall-making. That would be good," she whispered.

"Do you think so little of all two-legs? Even the ones who only have warmth for kin?"

"Kin-liver did good for me and wants me to be free. I know that and I will not forget it if I do fly again. The others are nothing to me..." Luna hissed softly.

A quiet silence followed until Valka spoke softly.

"Luna doesn't seem happy about something..."

 **She does not like humans**

Valka put a hand on his neck and softly sighed.

"That is fair of her. I cannot say that I blame her at all. I probably would also if I were in her position, caught by Monsters and treated so terribly."

Her words left him with a question though. It was something he had wondered for a while now.

"Luna, do you remember much from before... you were a thrall?"

"No," she softly whimpered.

"Nothing?"

"Very little. Why?"

"I wanted to know how you were caught by the bad thrall-makers."

Luna closed her eyes and looked away toward the side of her cave.

"I know that I flew long over many ranges."

"Why were you flying far?"

"I was looking for... something good and warming... a life-mate," she painfully whispered.

 _Toothless wanted to do that also... His journey went a lot better for him than yours did though, Luna..._

"I do not remember where my nest-range is. But I flew over many ranges and waters for season-cycles in the wild. Then I saw an island that had many kin on it even though there was a... two-leg nest on the island also."

He blinked in surprise.

 _Wait, what?_

"Did the island have many tall ocean-rocks and one mountain in the middle?"

"Yes."

 _Is that Berk?_

"I did not know what to think about it, kin and Monsters so close but not fighting. I went back to that twisted mixed-nest a few suns later, but the nest was empty. There were many water-walkers on the water and thrall-kin in the sky."

She whimpered.

"I saw a great-tusk, and then... I only remember being in the trap where you found me..."

He looked away from her and failed to restrain his angry growl.

"That is the great-tusk-Monster that I and Was-Grounded broke and tore from being Alpha. It will never hurt kin again," he softly snarled.

"That is warming to hear," she whispered.

A silence followed as he considered what she had told him.

 _She was probably caught around Berk when Bludvist showed up there. So they had her for about a year. Gods... it could have been worse, I guess._

"Son, anything I should know?" Valka nudged him.

 _Oh, I will let you know, mom..._

* * *

Was-Grounded woke up to an eager nudge at his side.

"What?" he mumbled.

"The egg!" Green-Wings whispered.

His eyes eagerly flew open, and he turned to look at the egg. It was wobbling and had a large crack as it lay between her arms in the sand. He stared for several moments as great warmth burned hot in his liver. Then he glanced to his side where Shadowwing normally was but was not on this night.

"How long?" he hissed.

"Soon. Why?"

"I want Shadowwing to see this."

She nodded after a moment of thought.

"Be fast."

"I am a Night Fury. What kin is faster?" he grinned back, much to her amusement.

Then he stroked her neck with his tail, spun around, and flew from the den. His flight was very fast as the bright sky-breath was glowing far above with all its colors of red, green, and yellow.

It was very impressive how quickly the two-leg tree-dens went up. There were already more of them than he could count on all his paws. True, they were not as large as those he remembered on home-nest-island, but these were sufficient for the need of surviving the cold-season. Many of the kin were already making their massive piles of like kinds that would help keep them warm as they slept. Other kin were resting in their small tree-dens the two-legs had put up for them.

Down into the nest he flew and quickly spotted the dark bulk resting near a two-leg tree-den. That tree-den, next to which the split-wing jumps-through-clouds was sleeping, was where Kin-liver was nesting for now.

He landed and bounded over to the dozing Shadowwing. His brother had said that he might sleep down in the two-leg nest if he was very sleepy. The hatchling decided that this would be the night though.

"Brother, wake!"

Shadowwing opened his drowsy eyes and yawned widely.

"What...?"

"The egg is hatching!"

Shadowwing blinked slowly for a moment before the words sank into his head. Then he flew to his feet, all his weariness and sleepiness gone.

"What! It is hatching now!"

"Yes, I want you to see!" Was-Grounded's tail thrashed.

This news got Shadowwing's tail eagerly swaying as well.

"And Kin-liver? She would want to see it also," Shadowwing then asked.

Only a brief moment of consideration was necessary.

"Yes, her also. She is kin to us, but no other two-legs."

Shadowwing bounded over to the two-leg tree-den, gave a brief cry, and started making picture-words in the dirt. Kin-liver emerged a moment later, read the picture-words on the ground with Shadowwing's kin-fire giving light, and eagerly ran over to jumps-through-clouds.

The four of them were aloft moments later.

Shadowwing looked up at the brilliant aurora far overhead as he flew. It was the most strikingly brilliant heavenly display that he could remember ever seeing.

 _Maybe the gods wanted to bless this day and make it special. A new Fury is hatching!_

They arrived at the cave after the brief flight and bounded inside. Valka dismissed Cloudjumper, who turned to fly back to Haven, and had a torch lit for her as she entered the cave alongside the other two Furies.

They all proceeded to the rear of the cave where Green-Wings still lay with the egg between her arms. The egg which was visibly cracked and rocking faster in the sand.

"Well, here is a sight I have never seen before. A Night Fury hatching... Just look at it..." Valka gasped.

Shadowwing only nodded as her felt Valka's hand on his neck. His gaze was on the black egg rocking back and forth on the sand. There was a large crack down its side, and a large number of spider-web breaks were clustered closely together on the top half of the shell.

"I have never seen an egg hatch before," he whispered.

"There is little that warms the liver more," Was-Grounded answered from his side before adding a snide remark and a nudge.

"Maybe making the egg warms the liver more..."

Shadowwing snorted openly and rolled his eyes.

"You would say that..."

"What was that about?" Valka asked.

He only shook his head with a faint chuckle and turned back to watch the egg.

They all waited together, Valka occasionally caressing Dawn-Singer's wings, much to his delight, as the egg continued to shudder. All three adult Furies found themselves humming encouragement to the egg.

Then it happened.

The top half of the egg shattered, and a tiny, slime-covered head emerged from within and gasped at the open air. The hatchling's eyes were still closed as it let out a faint cry. Then it thrashed wildly with a burst of strength and broke out from the rest of the shell.

The hatchling lay there motionless in the broken shards of its egg and slowly recovered its spent strength.

Her tiny head had only a few frills and her surprisingly wide open eyes were a mix of green and blue. She stumbled onto her little limbs and wildly thrashed her messy tail. Her head spun around as she looked around at all the voices, eventually settling on one voice in particular.

Green-Wings bent down and started licking her clean while both males hummed adoringly.

"Is that a girl?" Valka gasped.

Yes, Shadowwing nodded and purred.

"Wow, look at that, Dawn-Singer. You have a baby sister," Valka laughed.

Dawn-Singer stared warily at the new little member of the nest. It was not clear if he had any thoughts on this development as he had not yet said anything.

Green-Wings brought up a recently eaten fish for the hatchling, who was immediately taken with the important task of filling her belly as fast as possible.

"Brother, what do you think about giving her a name?" Was-Grounded hummed with a dancing warmth in his liver.

Shadowwing found it hard to think as he stared at the tiny hatchling. At his own niece. She was perfectly black with not even a hint of any color yet. Green-Wings had explained that any coloration would apparently come with time.

And he remembered the most memorable detail about this particular night. Specifically, something beautiful he had noticed on the flight up here to the cave.

"Aurora. It means the brightly flowing sky-light-breath that flies with all different colors above the clouds."

Was-Grounded tested the word a few times as Green-Wings looked up in thought. They both hummed their approval at each other.

"You can make not-twisted names," she chuckled.

A brief moment passed before Was-Grounded then stepped over to properly greet his little one, now with her eyes wide open and fixed on him as she stepped back from the fish she had her nose buried in. He stuck out the tip of his tongue and licked her tiny face.

"You are Aurora, my little one."

Aurora trilled happily at his touch. And then she returned her attention to what truly mattered.

Putting the fish in her belly.

* * *

In her deep but narrow cave, Luna coiled herself up and faced the mouth of her new den. It was very far from the two-legs and let her hide from the other kin also. A couple of them had poked their heads into the cave, but all had turned and fled at her snarl directed at them. Where she was hiding, only a very few knew. It was very sheltered from view and from the cold, biting wind.

While it twisted her liver to do so, she knew that she could not resist Shadowwing's bringing her fish and the promise of fire every sun. The fish were there every new sun outside the mouth of her den. It felt warming in a way for an Alpha to do that for one he had to protect. Not once did he try to enter her den itself after bringing over the pile of downed tree-wood. That was for burning later, as he explained its purpose. At least, he never entered except to provide fire and only when she knew he was there.

 _Fire will help much during the cold-season. Grr, I still cannot make any on my own._

Her upper-belly bones were no longer bulging against her side as she put more fish into her belly every sun and recovered lost weight. The constant pangs of needing food started to recede slightly every sun.

She spent most of her waking time on the two tasks now most at paw in her life-flight. Specifically, working her wings and sharpening her claws.

It built slowly each sun. Holding the wings stretched out longer and giving them more slow flaps every time. Slowly building strength and endurance. Licking the old-fixing hurts and wondering at the small not-vines still weaving through the wing-skin. The wing-skin that truly looked like it was growing again.

 _And as for my claws..._

She again reached out with her forearm and dragged the dull claws against the rock one at a time. Over and over again. Then she inspected the result.

A very thin part of the dull edge of each claw had been scraped away. She clenched each of her short digits in turn and glanced back at the rock. It would be many suns before her claws would be long enough again to make her a true threat and hunter. But it would happen.

She closed her eyes and imagined sinking her sharpened claws and teeth into prey caught completely on her own.

 _Hatchling steps..._

One more glance followed out the cave-den's mouth toward where the skies were starting to rain frozen water. It would be time for the long dark sleep soon. Many long sun-cycles with very little light would pass during which she would fly the hidden skies of sleep-visions while growing stronger in body.

And as she stretched out with a snarl and began sharpening her claws again, she felt that warmth and defiant fire in her liver where there had been only smoldering embers before. That warmth eventually carried her to a sleep filled with her spinning white wings, bright clouds, the sun on her back, wild ranges, and freedom.

* * *

Life paused in the village as almost everyone stayed indoors to avoid freezing to death. Fires were kept roaring, the most defiant and stubborn hunters roamed the countryside during the day, and people told stories and slept late to pass the very short days.

* * *

Shadowwing took one more glance around himself and gave a great, happy sigh from under a sheltering wing. Was-Grounded lay between him and Green-Wings, his wings stretched over them both. She sheltered both Dawn-Singer and little Aurora between her and his brother.

Then he closed his eyes. His last thought before oblivion took him was that it was appropriate that they would all sleep together in this particular cave. It was the same place where he had met Green-Wings and Dawn-Singer for the first time.

It was where he was welcomed into a family that he had never thought he would see.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note - Please check out 'To Fly The Winds Of Life' chapter 6 for a bit more of Luna's backstory.**_


	57. III - The Dream Of Flight

_**Author's Note – I am quite pleased with this chapter as there is some funny family bonding. Kudos to VigoGrimborne for inspiring me to include that specific scene of Hiccup being... Hiccup. Be on the lookout for a hidden Hobbit reference and nod to Warcraft. There is also a scene within for which 'Beyond The Clouds – Audiomachine' would be fitting background music. You will know when. I hope that I did that scene justice. Another good musical score would actually be 'Sogno di Volare' (from where I took the quote) - check it out on youtube.  
**_

* * *

" _Once you have taken flight... you'll decide... Gaze toward the sky, you'll know that... that is where your heart will feel at home." - Sogno di Volare – Sid Meier's Civilization VI_

* * *

The Dream Of Flight

* * *

The cold-season was very cold. The biting winds whipped around the mountain and through the distant sleeping-life trees. The sun-cycles were very short and left much time for sleeping. She remained hidden in her cave almost the entire time.

It was a very simple routine. Wake up, drag a large piece of tree-wood into the place of fire next to her and let the wood gradually burn. It was a very clever two-leg idea to help stay warm even in the coldest of the cold season. The fire still burned as it ate at the dead tree-wood piled together in the den. That fire had been burning there for many of the short suns straight without dying. Even on the few occasions when it had gone out though it did not stay out for long.

Shadowwing came to her den every few sun-cycles to make sure that her fire was still burning and giving her life-warmth. He visited her many times, always bringing fish or other dried meats and stories to tell. The last part, the stories, did help to bring a certain warmth to her liver. She especially liked hearing about little Aurora's and Dawn-Singer's nestmate play. There was something very warming about hearing of the life-stories of little kin who were not broken and in fear of every shadow. And she quite approved that Was-Grounded and Green-Wings were raising their young outside the reach of the two-legs' nest-trap thinking.

She even started to feel a faint warmth in her liver at the thought of the Kin-liver. It was not lost on her that this two-leg had done a much good thing for her by weaving her broken wing-skins back together.

Not that she had ever allowed the Kin-liver to truly touch her in any way that suggested bonding. Never that terrible life-twisting-thing. She would never let any two-leg put its sitting-on things on her back and then claim her back as its own place to put its waste-end.

But if she could ever hold the wind in her wings again, if she could be made not life-grounded, then that would be something that might deserve trust and recognition. That would be almost to mix life-fires, as twisted as it was to think of two-legs as having life-fires. It was becoming harder to deny what her own eyes and liver were telling her though in the case of this one two-leg, of this Kin-liver.

Her tail twitched as she stared into the crackling, warming flames not a short breath away and thought about the one main constant in her life.

 _He has a strong feeling of duty. Maybe that is part of being Alpha._

She closed her eyes when she remembered the first time he had revealed that to her. That time when he had growled in some liver-fire and said that he would bring fish and fire for her even if she did not want it. The power and concern had flared in his liver, and there had been a very faint blue glow that was visible on his back and between his teeth.

It had felt very dangerous and warming with the same beat of its wing.

 _He wants me to grow strong and be free again. That... is good of him._

Sigh.

 _I still do not know what to do in this new season-cycle even if I can fly again. Much hunting, get strong again, and... I will see..._

* * *

Her great sire came to her and bent down to nuzzle her nose. She returned the nuzzle with a happy hum.

"You are most close to my liver, not so little one," he hummed.

"Great sire..."

He sat down before her and fixed her light blue eyes with his own deep blue ones.

"I had a much good sleep-vision of you."

"What was it?" she eagerly bounded around the den with youthful speed.

"You have what would be three season-cycles of living out of the egg and you will be truly nest-fledged soon. You will be free to fly the ranges of the world beyond," he somewhat mournfully hummed.

"Yes, I want to fly far on the winds and under the sky-breath above. And I want to fly with the sky-lights again!" she bounced on her feet.

"And you will. You will fly over many ranges. You will do things that no light wing has done before."

"I like that, sire," she hummed happily.

Then her warm-nuzzle-you-tend-your-egg-sing-to-you dam bounded over to her and softly nuzzled her nose also.

"I had a good sleep-vision also. I saw that you will find a very warm mate and have many hatchlings."

Her eyes went wide, and she gave a croon at the very good thought. That was indeed the reason for the long life-flight beyond.

"How many?"

"More than you can count on both your front paws," her dam answered.

"That is many more than you and sire!"

"Yes. The winds of life will be very warm to you, I know this. You are a sky-light that fell from the sky above into our first egg," her sire stepped forward and proudly announced.

She had always liked being compared to the sky-lights. It was very rare that she ever got to see them. Sire had only led her out of the cave to see the beyond a couple times. Both such times left her liver burning with warmth at how much bigger the world was than she thought it could be.

Sire then put a wing around her dam, and they both hummed at her.

"The mate you find will be most special and should speak most well of the sky-lights and winds that led him to you," dam purred.

"But wherever you fly, you will always remember the one most important life-rule, true?" sire warned.

She hissed even though she had never seen one of these bad-creatures before. The bad things do not live in this safe, much good range. The warning was enough for her to know what to do.

"Two-legs are filled with danger, flee on sight," she answered to a satisfied pair of hums.

She turned for the den's mouth and confidently bounded outside. She looked around the much good range that she knew so well, what with its mountains and great spires, its bright rocks and the light above, the deep pond and waters filled with many fish, and the grassy grove where her sire and dam played much with her and each other.

There were no other types of kin in this range with which to fight for territory or food. There were not even any other pairs of light wings anywhere in the range. That lacking was part of why she wanted and needed to fly again beyond this range that she knew. Flying the beyond might have more danger than flying these ranges, but it would also certainly let her find many more kin in her search.

Then she turned around to glance at the home-cave-den, and she felt a chill creep over her. The home-cave-den was gone and a massive cave mouth stood in its place. A cave mouth that she was now looking out of from within a two-leg trap.

She whimpered in fear as something knocked her over onto her back. And then she froze in liver-freezing terror and beheld the false-kin that had pinned her. A large male kin almost like her only with dark wings made of living shadows. Worse, it had hungry green eyes that delved into hers, saw her fears, and knew her.

"You are weak prey!" it hissed.

It lunged to claim her, held her down, closed its jaws closed around her neck, and...

"No! You promised..." she screamed.

And she scrambled awake with a fearful cry as she caught her breath.

Silence.

Empty.

Her eyes rolled every which way, staring into the darkness of the cave and glaring at every rolling shadow cast by the fire.

 _It felt so real... it always feels real... but that..._

Her cave-den was empty except for her. There were no bad thrall-kin there to claim her. And certainly not...

 _Twisted thought-hunter. He would not hurt me... he promised..._

She turned back to the fire and stared into it.

It chilled the liver to be so defenseless. Once again, she worked the inner air as she crouched over the fire. Only a little of the unflamed fire-air came out without being sparked to life. It slowly spilled from her maw and dripped toward the fire.

Her ears went back a moment before she realized the mistake.

 _Flame my..._

The fire roared to life in a massive white flash, scattering burnt wood and black fire-waste all over the den. She reared back with a bellow and tried to escape the falling cloud, but she failed. The fire-waste fell everywhere including on her white wings and scales.

She glared at each stain. At each tiny badness that marked the fire-waste on her.

"No, no, no, no, no. Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad!"

She dashed out of the den into the cold and pulled up as she again beheld the view through the chill in the air.

White.

Pure white.

Like her.

The frozen-fluffy-water that fell from the sky had covered the entire range in its white. There were no other kin on the wing, nor was there any green except for the distant long-tooth-leaf trees.

Life had paused.

Life was frozen.

Like she was.

She jumped onto her back in the frozen water and rolled wildly, thrashing violently in a desperate attempt to clean herself of the fire-waste. It also felt liver-warming to be in the body-chilling frozen fluffy-water. Almost like playing.

Then the cleaning was finished. There were no black stains on her now.

Once she returned to her resting place and lay back down, she realized that there was something about the sleep-vision that was twisting even before it was fouled by her own thought-hunters. It was a clear, vivid sleep-vision. She could easily remember the look of her sire and dam, both bright white like her, but where it was... that was lost in the shadows.

Where was the great cave that she was hatched in? What was the beyond? Where were her sire and dam now?

That knowledge was hidden.

It was lost.

Like she was.

She sighed heavily inside her cave-den. The fire was still burning brightly and warmly in its fire-place. A stretch of her wings followed along with a tap of her claws on the rock.

 _Where am I from?_

Tap.

 _Why do I not remember?_

Tap.

She blinked in surprise and glanced down at her claws.

The claws were sharp again after many sun-cycles of sharpening them. She was not as defenseless and weak as she had thought.

And her wings did not hurt much to hold out at her side anymore. Maybe she was not as life-grounded as she had thought.

Her warm growl followed as she lay back down and closed her eyes.

* * *

"Are ya sure that we have enough?" Gobber asked Valka.

They were both huddling under their heavy cloaks while inspecting the storehouse. Barely a little of their faces were visible as they sheltered against the wind. The winter was harsher than either of them had expected, and the supplies were being used up faster than either of them cared to acknowledge.

"We should be able to make it. It will be close though," she reluctantly answered.

"The problem is that the dragons canna' help us now. Most of em' are asleep and do not need any food, but they also canna' help us catch anything," he groaned back.

"What would you have them do?"

"I dunno. Help more if they could. I mean... what about the Furies? Can they help us hunt even now in the cold?"

She thought about it.

"Maybe," she answered, "there should be good hunting if they could find the elk and moose in these lands. Even just a couple would help us a lot. I will go talk to Shadowwing."

She roused Cloudjumper from his nap, much to his disapproval given the cold, and got him to fly her up to the cave.

 _Cold wind-burn. Love it._

There were voices coming from within the cave as soon as she arrived. She easily recognized them, similar though they probably seemed to most other listeners.

 _So he is talking to Dawn-Singer. I wonder what about._

The conversation ended as soon as she strolled inside. Dawn-Singer cried out in that way that she always took to mean her and dashed for her. She gave him a wide hug around his back while humming happily to him and scratching his back. His purring of delight was as music to her ears and heart.

"I missed you too, Dawn-Singer. It has been so long since yesterday..."

Shadowwing laughed softly at that while Was-Grounded and Green-Wings rolled their eyes and shoulders.

 _Where could they ever have learned that from? Anyhow..._

"Shadowwing, Was-Grounded, there is something that I want to know if you can do for us."

They both stared intently back at her.

"We need more food to make it safely through the winter. Do either of you think that you could help catch some elk or deer for us? Even only one more would help a lot."

Shadowwing stepped forward to the patch of soil by her feet.

 **I can go look for them**

 **No promises though**

"Can you go look also, Was-Grounded?"

He considered the request and grumbled softly, but he did eventually nod in agreement.

"Good, thank you. How is everything going up here?"

Shadowwing answered for them.

 **Aurora is hungry a lot**

 **And very loud**

Valka laughed heartily.

"Ha, babies do that. That is called life. Be thankful you do not have to clean up after her."

Shadowwing groaned aloud at the reminder of that. While Dawn-Singer was old enough to understand how to properly deal with such natural needs, a new hatchling certainly was not.

Valka then turned to Green-Wings, walked over to her, and softly stroked her neck in greeting. She was rewarded with a very happy thrum and a brief showing of the dozing hatchling at Green-Wings's side. Valka stood there for a long time before she finally sighed and turned aside. Then she turned back to Shadowwing while wearing a more solemn expression.

"What about Luna? How is she doing?"

 **She likes being alone now**

 **I think she likes the freedom**

"I can understand that at least. Do you think that she will ever want to live closer to the village or to you all?"

He said nothing for a long time as he stared at the ground. The silence was quite deafening.

 **Not for a long time if ever**

"Will she... stay here when she can fly again?" she nervously asked.

The silence was again deafening.

"Well, I hope that she wants to stay here by then."

She bowed to each of the Furies in turn, briefly embraced Shadowwing and Dawn-Singer, and then returned to Cloudjumper.

Shadowwing watched her go. Her visits had become more infrequent as the worst of the weather was now blowing in the deep of winter. The last couple days had been a slight reprieve that let her visit more than usual.

 _I hope Luna wants to stay here too._

* * *

All the waking time was spent either on his ventures to provide for Luna's needs every few days, quick sojourns outside to answer nature's call or watch over Dawn-Singer as he did the same, flights to the supply room to get some frozen fish, hunting on the warmer days to aid Haven, or in the various activities in the den, much of which involved sleeping or listening to his brother and Green-Wings talking to Aurora and Dawn-Singer about every topic under the sun.

Play-wrestling was another activity that was especially fun. Such fights with his brother commonly ended the same way, with him letting his brother win the fight in order to teach Dawn-Singer something about such play. Getting pinned did get tiring after a while, and he even managed the occasional pin on his brother as he started getting better at such fights. He always grinned in amusement that even Dawn-Singer was allowed to play-fight on occasion despite their massive size differences.

 _He lets his little son have a chance. That is good of him._

Sigh.

 _I remember when dad would do that with me. Let me grab his beard and shake it and wrestle him to the ground._

He whimpered softly at the memory.

* * *

He found one particular aspect of living in his current situation quite confusing. This confusion stemmed from the approach that Night Fury family dynamics took to the concept of personal space.

It did not exist.

The initial, neat organization of the sleepers at the start of the winter had completely devolved into nothing but a tangled heap of tails, wings, legs, arms, and heads, all to share as much warmth as possible. Given that he was considered part of the family, he was also expected to share the warmth. That had started out quite warmingly, unsurprisingly, to fall asleep covered in Furies, wrapped in wings, and to shared purring.

The situation had come to a head, literally, when he had awoken with Green-Wings partly wrapped around him, her nose against his chest, his brother's belly in his face as he was partly curled in front of both of them, and Dawn-Singer's little rumbling under his chin. All were covered by extended wings that sheltered them all in a very warm tent, and limbs and tails were randomly coiled and strewn about, some in places that seemed a bit personal.

"Brother..." he whispered.

Nothing.

He nudged his brother in the belly several times.

"What?" Was-Grounded whispered back after he woke from repeated nudging.

"I have a problem," he whispered again.

"You have many problems..."

"Thank you for saying that... I do not like all about this... sleeping pile."

A confused warble was the only answer he got.

"Not the pile though, no, it is the... closeness of bodies and the... touching..."

"Those happen in sleeping piles," Was-Grounded hummed in amusement.

Groan.

"But there is a... bad in this..."

"You do not want to be kin to us?" Was-Grounded whispered in slight dismay.

Shadowwing groaned softly and shook his head.

"No, not that... I... I do not want... to be touching her... in a bad way..."

Was-Grounded huffed softly and rolled his eyes at these words. He glanced at Green-Wings, Dawn-Singer, and Aurora, and confirmed that they were all asleep. He still whispered very softly though.

"You are thinking as a two-leg. This sleeping pile is what a Night Fury nest does for warmth. There is no bad in having bodies be very close and touch. She would not nestle with you for warmth unless you were kin to her as one of the nest."

With that warming explanation in mind, Shadowwing closed his eyes and tried to think objectively about it.

"Let us ask her," Was-Grounded then offered.

Shadowwing blinked rapidly in alarm.

"No, no, no, we do not need to..."

Was-Grounded nuzzled Green-Wings's nose, and she arose from her slumber.

"My mate... what?" she hummed drowsily.

"Shadowwing is being twisted."

"We knew that already," she snorted.

"He is twisted by sleeping in the nest-pile."

"What? Why?" she wondered.

"Good question, why?" Was-Grounded grinned at him.

Green-Wings turned to him and blinked, waiting for an explanation.

 _Wow bro, thanks for throwing me under the wagon... you useless dragon..._

"I... feel twisted by waking up with you... touching me... as you might with him..." Shadowwing grimaced.

They both stared back at him, then at each other, and then back to him. Then Green-Wings took a heavy breath and got to her feet.

"Get up Shadowwing, I want to talk," she commanded.

He warily complied and stepped over to her. It was hard to meet her eyes.

"What is twisting you? Do you think that sharing warmth means that we have mating-wanting?" she asked.

"I... no..." he grumbled.

"You are a twisted kin," she huffed.

"I know. I learned much from two-legs when I was little, and they do sleeping-places differently."

"How are they different?" she asked with some interest from how her ears went up.

"They have more care with body-touching because it is... more only what mates do."

"Shadowwing, sometimes I think you think you are a two-leg."

Both brothers could not resist chuckling at her comment.

"You do not need to fear me showing you mating-wanting. My life-mate, would you tell him the mating-wanting ceremonies?" she hummed.

"No!" Shadowwing quickly interrupted.

"No?" Was-Grounded asked.

"I am happy and warm with the sleeping-pile now..."

Was-Grounded and Green-Wings shared a warm glance and purr. And then the warm, purring pile of Furies was made again around the two little ones. Wings sheltered all, and their limbs and tails went everywhere.

And Shadowwing gave a weary sigh as he started to slowly lose himself in the warmth and the constant drone of purring, including his own.

 _Dragons are far more practical about everything. We really have no shame about so much of life. I am being rather silly about all this. This is the winter, so of course we will all want to snuggle for warmth, and if a few limbs or tails get misplaced, who really cares? I will have to get used to it._

He let his thoughts drift to the coming year.

 _Help Luna more with food while she cannot hunt for herself. Check. Help out in the village however they need. Check. Maybe eventually fly to some other nearby tribes and introduce myself to help keep the peace. Check. Keep the peace here as an Alpha. Check. Figure out what it actually means to be an Alpha. Check._

Then he glanced next to himself at the dozing Dawn-Singer. A thought, an idea, began nipping at his tail again. It was a crazy thought.

Dawn-Singer fully understood that Valka could speak and had thoughts just like he did. Dawn-Singer had also started learning some of Valka's words after much exposure.

 _Can he learn writing? He is a fast learner for sure. Toothless did not particularly care for that or learn much. Maybe that is because he never truly wanted to. He did not see a reason for it. Dawn-Singer might. He has only ever known humans, and especially Valka, as being good creatures. That does it. I am bringing this up first thing in the morning._

* * *

"Dawn-Singer."

The young Fury hopped to his feet and dashed over to him.

"Shadowwing, you said my name!"

He hummed back to his nephew.

"Yes, I did. I have a question for you. Will you answer with liver-truth?"

Dawn-Singer purred his agreement.

"You know that I can do the two-leg picture-talking to share my words with them."

"Yes."

"That is how I talk with the two-legs."

"Yes."

"Do you also want to learn that flight of picture-talking?"

Dawn-Singer's wings flopped to the ground, and he stared back with his toothless jaw hanging open.

"You can teach me!" Dawn-Singer exclaimed.

Shadowwing grinned and hummed at him.

"Yes, I can if you want to learn with all your liver. You must want to learn almost as much as you want to fly, and learning this is not an easy flight like flying."

"But I could picture-talk with Kin-liver!"

"And all the other two-legs, yes," he chuckled.

Dawn-Singer looked away from him and glanced at his parents. Seeing no overt disapproval from them, the fledgling then glanced back at him.

"Shadowwing, teach me picture-talking."

* * *

The beat of wings awoke her even over the whistle of the wind. Her gaze fixed on the entrance to her den. It was exactly who she thought it would be, no other would ever fly here, and he had a large, dead four-leg in his arms.

 _Odd, I am not hungry now._

"Shadowwing," she got up and strode over to her den's entrance.

He bounded inside, dropped the prey, and shivered slightly until he stood in the fire's warmth.

"Luna, I wanted to see if you are warm."

"I am. What is that prey for?"

He rolled his eyes at her.

"Eating."

She softly chuckled at that.

"But you brought me much fish last sun."

"This is for the two-leg nest. They need more food for the cold-season."

She took a step back and grumbled at that.

"They are making you hunt in the cold for them."

He groaned softly and winced at what she said.

"Those words are twisted. I want to hunt for them to help them. And hunting is good to do or I might forget how to catch prey," he added with a chuckle.

"Great Alpha that you are..."

He hummed in amusement before glancing again to the nearby fire, the warmth of which he was still basking in.

"Your fire is still burning."

"Yes, it is hot still."

"Is there anything you need?"

"No, sleep only."

"Good, I will take the prey catch to the two-legs now."

He turned tail and flew off with the large prey in his grasp. She watched him as he departed and then she dashed back inside the den.

She curled up and glanced at her claws before returning to sleep. They were not yet as long as they would eventually be, but they were sharp now after many short sun-cycles of rubbing them against the rocks. More time with natural growth from eating and resting well were all that they needed. And both of those were almost assured now.

But she gave a wary hum at the thought.

 _This is dangerous to be so dependent on two-legs and on him. I must be able to hunt alone as soon as I can._

 _The cold-season is starting to warm. I will hunt when it warms and when I have my wings strong again._

She fanned her wings and looked at what was left of the old breaks. The horrible, liver-chilling breaks were gone and the wing-skin appeared whole. The only blemishes at all were the tiny vines, not even as wide as a claw tip, that still wove around where the wings had been cut. Shadowwing explained that those tiny vines would be taken out by Kin-liver eventually.

And she could hold her wings out long without them growing weak.

She folded her wings away after giving them a long pretend flight until they grew weak again. It took far longer than it had in the past. Then she curled up around the small fire and closed her eyes while humming with warmth.

* * *

Flying. The winds stroking her wings. The light bouncing from her as if she was a sky-light.

Peace. Up here in the sky there were no bad things. No threat from two-legs or kin because these skies were empty save for her. These winds of thought were hers only, always safe and unfouled. They were the only sleep-visions which she eagerly awaited having.

She glanced down at the ground far below and saw the swirling darkness of ground-kin and thralls trying to follow after her. There would be no escape from them when she eventually needed to land, which was hopefully never.

Then there was a noise. A rush of wind and wings very near to her.

She pulled up and hovered in place as she wildly looked around for the source of the noise. Was it a flying thrall-kin about to attack her? How could it be anything else?

A dark wing flew up next to her with a loud roar. The chill of fear swelled in her liver as the strange kin neared. It looked so similar to the other one that had claimed her sleep-visions before.

But this one...

He did not move to strike her or claim her in the sky but rather joined her flight at her side even as she shied away from his flight and did not brush his great wings. He turned to look at her, but she turned away and would not look at him. It was merely enough that he be there flying at her side.

His great wings cast their shadow on the ground below, a shadow which seemed to consume the dark ground-thrall-kin that hunted for her. Or at least it hid them from her sight for a moment.

Deep asleep in her cave, with her head tucked at her side under her wings, basking in the faint glow from the fire, and knowing nothing of the cold-season's constant progression toward the new-life-season, she gave a very faint hum at the sleep-vision of flight not on her own.

* * *

The weather was starting to warm as the winter had finally broken. The trees were starting to come alive again as green returned to the world. More people down in the village started emerging and going forth in the world. Dragons started flying more.

But there was a problem with the world at the moment. A tiny and very frustrating problem.

"I broke the tree-skin," Dawn-Singer grumbled.

Shadowwing sighed as well as he looked down on the ripped paper.

 _I should have known. Writing on paper is not going to work. One, there is not enough paper. Two, you have already broken one of the precious pencils. Three, there is not enough paper._

"This has no lift. You need to learn your picture-words with a different flight."

He paced in the den for a moment, deep in thought about alternative ways to learn to write. Then he remembered the very first time he had written by carving runes into fireplace ash.

 _Wait, I got it! Valka and I made a dirt box to write in. That way we never used up anything we could not replace. But where to put it?_

"I do not think they will want a dirt pile here. We will need much ground to do this."

"To do what?" Dawn-Singer eagerly hummed.

"Get the two-legs to make a... thing to hold dirt. Then we can make the picture-words in the dirt and not break the tree-skins."

"Is this like the picture-talking place that you and Kin-liver used at the ice nest?" Was-Grounded spoke up.

Shadowwing hummed in thought.

"Yes, that and bigger."

"Bigger? Hmm, that will be a problem in this den."

"I know, I was thinking about where to put it," Shadowwing clarified.

"And Aurora might try to use it to drop her waste in."

"That would be a problem," Shadowwing groaned.

"How about you make your own den for it? You could fill it with all the two-leg things you need, you twisted kin."

Then there was a sparkle in Was-Grounded's eyes.

"First of my liver, do you know how twisted Shadowwing is?"

"How twisted?" Dawn-Singer eagerly answered.

"Sometimes I think he has the liver of a two-leg..." Was-Grounded grinned a toothy grin.

Dawn-Singer laughed at the tease while Shadowwing huffed.

"If you have flown your fouling flight against me, yes, there are other caves. I could make one a place of learning. I will get the two-legs to help me make it a good cave-den," Shadowwing answered.

Was-Grounded hummed at the idea.

"That would be good. And you could let Luna sleep there also for... warmth."

Shadowwing froze and groaned at the suggestion.

"No, we both prefer to be alone."

Was-Grounded blinked in surprise and soft dismay.

"But that is twisted. You are not alone now when you sleep with us in our den."

"That is different. We are kin to the other. She... she does not want any to be her kin."

"She does not want any to be her kin? That is... very much bad thinking," Was-Grounded exclaimed.

Shadowwing answered with a groan of his own.

"It is what it is. She does not trust much now. That is where the winds of her life have blown her."

"And you?"

Shadowwing sighed.

"I do not know what I want. I do not see the skies ahead now."

Was-Grounded stepped forward and gently butted heads with him.

"We will be flying those skies with you. Always within call of you."

* * *

"Well, we made it! A bit battered and busted and broken up and covered in lots of ice and snow, but we made it! " Thorvald announced to all.

A weary round of cheering greeted him. The men all had their full winter beards grown to help protect them from the worst of the cold.

"This is home! It is our home! Sure it is a bit harsh and tried to kill us several times over the winter. But we are used to that. We are Nords! It is an occupational hazard!"

"This is just like Berk! We are a family!" Skald roared.

"That it is, Skald. And now what are we going to do?" Thorvald turned to the dozens in the audience.

"More building?" Gustav proposed.

"Make that lad an Elder! Yes, we will rebuild and make this just as much our home as Berk and the other islands were. Massive stables for our dragons! Great docks for our boats that we will build! A huge Great Hall large enough for our dragons to join us in! It will be right here in the middle of town and will have perches for dozens of dragons!"

"Sounds like a lot of work..." "I dunno..." "I need to do my axe-returns..."

"What are we waiting for..." Sifa raised her voice over the den.

"That's the spirit. Plus, those not on construction duty are on fish and dung duty!" Thorvald grinned.

"I can do it..." "I guess I can..." "If you want..." "Something need doing..." "Right on it..." "Work, work..."

"Those are the Nords that I know! And, I have even better news for you all!"

That proclamation got the audience's attention.

"We will find the nearest merchants, we will trade with them, and we will bring back the ale!"

A loud roar went up from all the gathered people and there was much rejoicing until the dragons joined in as well, not quite knowing what their humans were announcing triumph over but figuring that it would be good to add their voices to the noise.

* * *

Luna took a deep breath, left her den, and walked long until she rose up the nearby green ridge at the feet of the mountain. The new-life-season had arrived all around the range. None of that and the natural wants that the new season should spark mattered for now. The idea of any male kin climbing on her and embracing her...

Then she arrived at the top of the ridge and paused with her tail twitching as she stared down the slope.

 _This is the sun-cycle when I leave the ground even if only for a few wing-beats._

She slowly extended her wings out to their full length and held them there. Again, she stared at the old healed breaks.

Breaths in and out. Life-fire smoldering and smoking.

And that hated, twisted voice in her own liver spoke again. That voice that had spoken truth for an unknown number of season-cycles.

 _'You are weak prey...'_

Her wings did not tire from being held out as she stood there and soaked in the sun's light on her scales. But standing there was not enough.

She wanted to jump and glide but she felt weighed down to the ground. Her wings slightly drooped as she remembered that the ground was where life seemed safe, though she knew that was not true. It almost felt like being grounded was a part of her life-story and should always be.

 _'You will fly over many ranges...'_

She crouched down on her hind legs while stretching her wings wide again.

 _'The winds of life will be very warm to you...'_

A defiant snarl crept out from her maw.

 _'My sky-light...'_

And she jumped from the ridge.

It was not true flight at all, but it warmed the liver very much to be off the ground as she glided down the ridge. Down toward the flat grass. Then she arched her back and threw out her legs. A heavy landing followed as she ran to a standstill with her wings forgotten at her side and her tail stilled.

Breaths in and out. Life-fire burning brightly.

She glanced over her shoulder at her wings that had held her aloft even for so short a time. Her wings were strong again and had not failed her.

 _'You did it, my little one...'_

A growl of warmth and life-fire burst from her liver.

 _I did it... even if only gliding for now._

And she gazed toward the sky... with wanting.

"Soon."

* * *

"Well, I think that will do. What do you think?" Valka asked.

He closely inspected the handiwork put together on such short notice. A wooden box similar to the old one that they had built before now lay on the flat part inside one of the larger caves a short flight from Was-Grounded's and Green-Wings's cave. More than that though there were several other accommodations that made this place better than a mere cave.

It now had a shelf for storing maps, scrolls, and pencils. It had a rock-contained fireplace constructed alongside the dirt writing box. There were also old, ragged furs to rest on as well as a little ledge that could be a good resting rock. Finally, it had a fur covering set up by the entrance to significantly block drafts.

All considered, it was a rather snug cave in which to eventually teach eager Night Furies their letters. And maybe it could also be a place for him to stay more regularly if there were to be such a need. After all, it was not a nasty, dirty, wet cave, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell.

 **It will work**

 **Thank you for helping make it**

"Of course. I really hope that he learns. That would change everything if a true Night Fury could learn writing."

 **He seems eager and knows a few letters now**

"Already? Wow, he is such a fast learner."

He nodded and hummed at her apt observation.

 **We seem to remember very quickly when little**

 **I did when Toothless taught me to talk**

She shook her head in clear amazement.

"He is not even a year and half old, and he is already fluent in his own speech. The amazing things of youth. Why do I think that he will pick this up quickly too?"

 **He was most excited**

 **About being able to talk to you**

She gave a giddy grin and then beckoned him out of the cave. They walked outside and looked out together over the view which was gradually starting to fill out in green.

"Think about it, son. He will be the first Night Fury to never fear humans. To learn how to write with them. To fly with them willingly not as a mount or a loved pet but as a friend and equal. It is very good."

Then he very gently batted her in the shoulder and bounded back inside to the box.

 **Hey, what about me and Toothless?**

"You two don't count. Well..."

She paused and hesitated.

"Son, what was he to you way back before this happened to you? How did you think about him? Honestly. I don't think we ever talked about this before."

He gathered his own thoughts on the topic.

 **I thought I owed it to him after how I hurt him**

 **He had too much purpose in what he did and chose**

 **I would never have called him a pet**

Then he softly grumbled.

 **Not knowing that he can talk**

 **Would have been sad though**

"I figured that is how it must have been for you two. But Dawn-Singer and hopefully all his brothers and sisters will be different from all that were before. They will never have to see violence at all. They can truly be part of the tribe and accepted as equals."

Then he grumbled as he thought about something that had bothered him in the past.

 **Will they want to stay here?**

 **Or will they want to leave?**

"Why would they leave?"

 **Toothless wanted to leave Berk to find a mate**

She seemed suddenly nervous for some reason.

"We still have a few years before they start having such thoughts. I am afraid that it is too dangerous for them to be wandering in the wild and hoping to find other Night Furies."

He could hardly deny the truth in her words.

"We don't even know if there are any others out there. Did you ask Mimir about whether there were any in the hidden world?"

 **He said there were not**

Her expression seemed to fall further at that.

"He would know. Do you think... would Luna want to learn any writing also?"

 **Doubtful**

 **She does not trust any humans**

Then he gave a wary hum.

 **Except maybe you**

"Well, you might consider asking if she would like to learn. Only when you think she might be ready. It might help her feel a bit more accepted to learn a bit more about us. Her only long experiences with humans being what they were... no one should have to suffer what those monsters did to her."

He did not try to restrain the wrathful snarl.

 **I would gladly kill Drago myself if he were alive**

She put a hand on his shoulder.

"Let's try to let the past be. Accept that it happened, learn from it, and move on. It may hurt all the time, but you eventually get used to it."

He heard her words and knew that they were not only applicable to Luna's situation.

 **How?**

"How? One foot in front of the other. One day at a time. If that is not enough, then from each moment to the next you just keep going. Deal with small problems first instead of the big ones that take a long time. That is the only way that someone can survive what happened to you or what they were doing to Luna. Stubbornness issues..." she solemnly chuckled.

Then he recalled a finer detail that Valka appeared unaware of, at least he had not mentioned it to her before.

 **She said that she never stopped fighting**

"What?" Valka asked in confusion.

 **Luna said she did not let the males**

He growled at the thought of strange dragons being forced to do that to Luna. To climb on her and force themselves on her, all because of Bludvist's desire to add more dragon slaves to his army.

 **Do it to her**

Valka seemed surprised at that and then gave a heavy sigh, clearly on Luna's behalf.

"I am very glad to hear that. She seems to be very strong, unbroken, and wild at heart still, even after everything that happened to her."

 _She is indeed._

* * *

It was a bright, warm, and sunny cycle when she growled at herself, overcome with the wanting, and flew to her feet. A pair of sun-cycles has passed since she started gliding again without her wings ever hurting.

 _I cannot wait anymore... Too many painful and twisting sleep-visions! I want it true and now!_

She bounded out the cave-den and dashed up that ridge again, being unable or unwilling to wait. This time when she reached the top though she spread her strong wings wide and did not look down at the ground. Gliding was something only hatchlings trying to fledge should need to do.

.

She gazed toward the sky and knew that that is where she would feel at home.

.

Among and beyond the clouds, soaring toward the sun and moon, and feeling the stroke of the wind on her wings. In the burning and warming sunlight, on great skies, with no fear of falling.

.

She leapt for freedom.

.

It was as her stretched wings carried her away from the ground, as she felt the wind whip around her, as she spun in a tight loop, and as she looked down on the trees, range, and waters below her, that those most terrible teeth that had been clenched around her liver for unknown season-cycles lost their grip on her life.

Higher and higher into the sky with the wind pushing her ever yet higher.

 _'Sire! I fly now!'_

Up into the white clouds where she vanished. Up and beyond the clouds where she soared.

 _'Yes, my little sky-light...'_

Into the open air with the sun's light warming her wings and scales.

She looked around in renewed awe at the spinning and rolling clouds that stretched out to the horizon like an ocean. And far, far below sparkled the rolling green of the range she knew so well and called her own now.

She pulled her wings in close and spun into the wind.

 _I am a sky-hatched light wing again!_

She threw out her wings wider and angled higher toward the far distant clouds that flew up near the moon and the sun.

And then her joyous flight was slightly fouled by feeling the faint strain in her wings. Despite the flight-joy, she knew that it would not be good thinking to push too hard on her first free flight after so long being grounded.

She glared up at the distant clouds and the white moon.

 _I will touch you one sun-cycle!_

Then she tucked in her wings and let herself tumble from the sky in a weightless freefall.

And as the feeling of her own weight vanished, as the wind whipped around her, as the only noise was the roaring rush of falling, and as the hum of burning life-warmth flowed from her liver, she was filled with only one simple, glowing idea.

She threw out her wings, spun up through a cloud, and filled the sky with her roar.

"I AM FREE!"


	58. III - Wild At Heart

_**Author's Note – In which we start to see the travails of a very crowded village.  
**_

* * *

" _In Wildness is the preservation of the world." - Henry David Thoreau - Walking_

* * *

Wild At Heart

* * *

 _Finally, that is all taken care of._

He gave a heavy sigh and sat down on the comfortable perch to finally enjoy a relaxing moment of...

"Hey! Shadowwing!"

 _Great, now what?_

He hung his head and looked down at another villager shouting up to him.

"Shadowwing, there is a fight by the Agmundsons!" the woman shouted up at him.

Growl.

 _I swear. Nothing happens in this village without me hearing about it!_

He then hopped from the perch. His flight was quick as he spun and twisted through the busy, filled, and very loud sky.

Then he arrived and saw the source of the commotion. A bonded female Nadder was sitting patiently inside its stable while several wild male Nadders hissed and displayed at each other outside the stable.

 _Really? You can see that she is not interested!_

Apparently not, as one of the males decided that it would be best to start flaming stuff to show off how dominant it was.

That involved setting fire to the nearest house.

 _Here we go again._

His own shot flew straight up and exploded in a bright flash visible throughout the village. Then he started counting after touching down and roaring to break up the gathering.

"No fire!"

All the male Nadders grumbled, but they then turned away and flew off to somewhere else.

Snort.

 _Absolutely unacceptable... they were wild ones though, so there is that. The ones from Berk or the other tribes are not so problematic. And twenty five seconds... not bad..._

The fire response team appeared in the air, swooped down, and emptied several buckets of water on the burning house. There were always buckets available and ready for use within about a twenty second flight from any point in the village.

 _Standard fire safety protocol to the rescue... they have been very good after that incident a couple days ago..._

He flew up, landed on the nearest unoccupied perch, and gave a heavy sigh.

 _Finally, a moment of rest. Terrible Terrors are singing from the rooftops and..._

There was an explosion from the other side of the village. He stared, mouth agape, for several seconds before he leapt into action.

 _What in Thor's name is going on?_

* * *

She was hunting again. It was a frustrating and liver-chilling thing in the past, but she now carried more hope in her liver and strength in her wings and sharp claws as well.

The four-leg prey brayed wildly and almost flew toward the trees in its haste to escape. That was how her last hunts had failed. But she was not grounded and clawless now.

She beat her wings and hurled herself through the air. Her claws sank into the prey's hide, and she tackled it to the ground. Her teeth pierced and then snapped its neck. The prey went still in her teeth.

A wingbeat passed, and then she stepped back from the dead prey and caught her breath. The life-water dripped from her teeth and claws before she licked the good taste away. And the growl of triumph burst forth unbidden at the victorious, successful hunt. At her first kill in her new-life memory.

"I am a hunter! You hear me, prey!" she roared to the sky and surrounding forest.

Then she blinked and caught her breath.

"I am not weak prey," she whispered to herself.

There was nothing left but empty bones and the carefully carved off fur-hide when she was finished with her catch. Then she turned for her cave-den with a filled belly and a glowing liver. The flight was slow and relaxing, but she was unconcerned now.

And she remembered her first successful hunt long ago under her dam's watchful blue eyes. A smaller four-leg with sharp hooves had kicked her in the chest as she pinned it, but she still killed it even after losing a few scales. The lost scales grew back in time, but the warmth of catching and eating without any direct help from her sire or dam had reminded her of how much she was growing. That she could hunt and kill even with her color that spoke so loudly to most prey. Being very fast on the wing helped much with the hunt.

She glanced up at the sky above and wondered at where that good world was. Such details were always shadowed in her memory.

 _Where are you?_

That knowledge of where she was from always remained beyond her grasp.

Shadowwing was waiting for her with his two-leg fish-carrying thing when she arrived in the sky over her den. He bellowed aloud in amazement as she approached, and then he jumped for the sky as well and flew towards her.

It was a fast flight straight at her, and for one instant her warmed liver felt a chill. This was the new-life-season, and there was no way to know what fire was burning in his liver. Would he hurl himself at her to claim her? Force her from the sky and onto the ground? Try to make her...

Then she growled softly at herself.

 _No, he promised..._

He angled himself to spin in at her side and started gliding alongside her.

"Luna! You are flying!" he joyfully shouted.

She roared aloud to answer his shout and then started spiraling softly on the warm air. Her full belly and sleep-wanting meant that she did not want to play at all. But there was some liver-warmth to be in the sky with him gliding nearby.

The warm moment gradually passed, and she dove for her den. He landed behind her and eagerly bounded up to her.

"You can fly now!"

"Yes, I touched the clouds again. My false-flying in the cave-den made the wings strong again. And Kin-liver... and all that you did..." she warmly hummed.

He gave her a very warm and satisfied hum, and then noticed something that seemed odd to him.

"Luna, what happened?"

"What?" she happily rumbled.

"You have a filled belly, and there is life-water on you."

She paused at that and blinked in alarm.

"Where?" she hissed.

"On your neck. Right here," he tapped his own neck in a place.

"Grr, I cannot lick that. I will clean it later."

"What was your hunt? You did not eat a two-leg, I hope," he chuckled.

"No, I wonder if they would taste good. Probably not, not much meat on them. At least not on most of them. Maybe I will chase a bigger one."

He quickly gained a slightly worried look as she toothily grinned at him. At least, she thought that is what his odd, half teeth showing and swept ears probably meant.

"Luna... I..." he warily grumbled.

 _It is warming to twist his liver..._

Her tail's eager swaying likely betrayed her.

"No, I do not see the two-legs as food. I caught a no-horn four-leg. A big one. I only left bones and fur."

He hummed at that and was clearly pleased.

"You caught your own prey again. That is very good. How did you catch it?"

She held out her wings and growled.

"You caught it with your flying!" he warmly growled.

"Yes! My wings are strong now, and I can use them in my hunts!"

He did not bother stilling his swaying tail or hiding his hum on her behalf.

"That is very good, Luna!"

Then he grumbled while tugging at his fish-carrying thing.

"You do not need these fish now."

"No, there is no place to put them in my belly. I need much sleep after that good hunt. You can eat those fish."

He gave her another happy hum.

"I will. I said that your wings would hold you in the sky again."

"Yes, you did. What is happening in your two-leg nest?"

He rolled his shoulders and glanced down the ridge.

"Not much. They are living and making. Making tree-dens for themselves and their bond-kin. They are growing plants for eating. They are flying for liver-warmth with their bond-kin."

She shivered at the thought.

"I will never understand how that can be liver-warming," she mumbled.

"The no two-leg bond-kin are also making problems," he added.

"Making problems?" she wondered.

"Fighting with each other for mates and perches. Trying to show others how strong and big they are. Claiming territory using waste and taking food. Making fires of other's dens."

She tilted her head in thought.

"That sounds like they are only being wild, free kin."

He seemed to grumble softly at her words, and then he hummed softly with what to him was clearly an important question on his mind.

"Do you want to go down to the two-leg nest and see it all now?"

"No," she firmly answered.

"No, why not?" he groaned.

She answered with a faint snarl.

"They are two-legs. They are not and will not be as kin to me."

He shrank slightly at that and stared at the ground.

"Why..."

He paused and went silent as he shuffled on his paws.

"What, Shadowwing?"

"Why will you not let any of them close to your liver? They are not all bad."

She narrowed her eyes at him and gave a faint growl.

"Why are you trying to change me and... tell me how to live?" she growled.

"No, I want you happier and warmer. Holding fear in your liver does not help warm you."

She got up and crept closer to him until she could feel his breath. Her eyes never left his.

"How about this, Shadowwing? You have two-legs catch you, hold you as a thrall, starve you, and cut your wings to ground you. Then have the two-legs bring thrall-kin-males to climb on you and pin you and try to force-mate you..."

She softly snarled.

"... and then after you have lived what I have lived and flown my life-winds you can tell me what I should think and do and feel!"

He whined softly and stepped back from her with his eyes downcast. Nothing more was said for a very long time.

"Forgive me, Luna," he weakly whispered.

"You cannot know how my life hurt. How could you understand?" she hissed.

He looked away from her and stared out over the trees.

"I... I understand being chilled and hurt deep to the liver. To have claws of ice tear at you. Not how you were hurt but in a very bad way of my own," he eventually groaned.

Her anger dimmed and was replaced with more confusion.

"How? You are an Alpha of that twisting range and of many, many kin. You were not grounded. You have fire. You have all your nest-kin with you. How are you hurt? What have you lost?"

He stepped further away and fanned his wings without looking over at her.

"Almost everything."

Then he flew off without looking back. She watched his quick departure while complete confusion nibbled at her tail.

 _You lost almost everything? What? I know that you saw much grounding and death at the island with the ice nest, but why do you care about the dead two-legs? What are they to you? What is so twisted about you?_

Her tail slowly swayed behind her as she watched him fly off.

 _There is something about him. I have to know now. Maybe Was-Grounded and Green-Wings know and can tell me._

But she felt very heavy and sleepy after the flying and successful hunt.

 _After I sleep off this hunt._

Even so and after she lay down in her den, there was something twisting in her thinking. There was one two-leg, the Kin-liver, who indeed had done a very good thing for her. It seemed good to do something good for the Kin-liver and to give Kin-liver thanks the one way she knew how.

* * *

Aurora's youthful, hatchling life-fire was starting to become tiring to Was-Grounded. She would spend much time bounding around the cave-den, trying to run up walls, or nipping at his tail and ears. It was tiring but also very liver-warming. She was also very greatly warmed to play-fight with Dawn-Singer. That contributed to Dawn-Singer wanting to be out of the cave-den and learning the picture-talking with Shadowwing. Fortunately for himself, Aurora had burned off much of her hatchling life-fire for this sun and was sleeping snug between his arms and against his chest. This was one of Green-Wings's special suns of not having any little one duties at all.

Then Shadowwing and Dawn-Singer returned from another part sun of learning the picture-words.

"How is the learning?"

"Head twisting..." Dawn-Singer mumbled.

Then he lifted one of his forepaws and wiggled one claw.

"And tiring..."

Shadowwing laughed deeply in amusement.

"He is flying higher at this flight than he says. He has a good head and learns fast, very not like his sire."

Was-Grounded groaned and rolled his eyes while Dawn-Singer blinked in amazement.

"You tried to learn the picture-talking, sire?"

"Yes, but the learning did not stay much in my head, Dawn-Singer."

"Why not?" he hummed.

"I never had a true reason to want to talk with two-legs. Why do you?"

"Kin-liver is part of the nest. And the other two-legs make my liver warm when I see them. Sire, why do the other kin have two-legs on their backs?"

The brothers shared a quiet look.

"Some of them are doing work where they need their two-legs to help them. Others fly to warm their livers together," Was-Grounded eventually answered.

"Why? Do two-legs want to fly much?" Dawn-Singer asked with his eyes very wide in eagerness.

"I will let you pin this question, Shadowwing," Was-Grounded chuckled.

Shadowwing lay down next to Dawn-Singer and put a wing over his young nephew.

"They do. They always look up to the sky and wish that they had wings so that they could fly with the birds and the kin."

Dawn-Singer gave a sad hum before he answered.

"Not having wings is bad. Being grounded is bad. Two-legs must be very strong in their livers to always be grounded and live with warmth."

"They would learn to fly, but they do not have wings. We can help them with that and share our wings with them," Shadowwing softly hummed.

Then Dawn-Singer's eyes brightened and his tail twitched with a clear question.

"Sire, did you ever have a two-leg fly with you?"

Was-Grounded closed his eyes and gave a very happy hum.

"Yes, I did. He was the warmest of all the two-legs to any kin."

"Where is he? I want to lick him!"

The brothers again solemnly looked at each other.

"He is not here now, little one," Was-Grounded whispered.

Dawn-Singer's happy grin and purr faded very quickly.

"He went away? Why would your two-leg go away?"

Shadowwing bent down and nuzzled his nephew's cheek.

"No, he did not go away. He did not... try to leave your sire's life-flight. That would be much bad."

"Then where is he? Two-legs and kin are like nestmates, yes?"

"Mine was," Was-Grounded whispered.

"So where is he?" Dawn-Singer implored.

"He died, my little one."

"Your two-leg died?" Dawn-Singer blinked in disbelief.

"In a way, yes," Was-Grounded shrugged his shoulders.

Dawn-Singer gave his saddest hum yet.

"And you did not want another?"

"No, I do not need or want another. No two-leg could ever take the place he had... has in my liver."

"That is much sad, sire. What about you, Shadowwing? Did you ever have a bond two-leg?" Dawn-Singer slowly looked up at him.

"No, I never had a bond two-leg and I will not. It is different for me. I might share my back and wings with one for a time and for a flight, but none of them will ever be a bond two-leg to me."

"Do you not hold them close to your liver?"

"I do, Dawn-Singer. We Night Furies are not like the other kin. We need more from two-legs than only fish, scale scratching, or places to sleep. We are not kin with smaller heads inside and good but... smaller thoughts."

Then Shadowwing continued the explanation while looking up at his brother.

"Only a two-leg who could look at one of us and see themselves could deserve to have a life-bond with us. One who could see a like-life-flame burning in both."

Dawn-Singer hummed to himself.

"Maybe I will get a two-leg to be like a nestmate, a true bond two-leg."

Was-Grounded spoke up at that.

"Maybe in many future cycles, my little one. Letting a two-leg into your liver is not an easy choice or one you should do without much thinking and trust. Much learning and sharing of life must happen first. Even then two-legs can break that trust..."

"Brother..." Shadowwing began.

A look from Was-Grounded silenced him.

"It is not safe to let any close to your liver, but with the same wing-beat holding no other close to your liver can let rot grow in your liver. You have season-cycles before you must think about such things, my little one," Was-Grounded finished.

"Little one..." Dawn-Singer huffed and rolled his eyes.

"I do not know about little one either. I think you are bigger than your sire was with as many seasons as you have," Shadowwing teased, much to Dawn-Singer's delight.

Was-Grounded only huffed and was about to speak when Green-Wings landed outside the cave and then dashed inside. She spied the four of them closely curled up together and noticed that Shadowwing was immediately available. She deposited a couple fish in the middle of the den and then dashed over to the small group.

"Shadowwing, will you stay here and watch our little ones?"

"Yes, why?"

"The sun is warm, and I am warm with fire in my liver. I am going on a long flight with my mate, if he wants to fly with me," she hummed.

Then she nipped Was-Grounded's ears, stroked his neck with her tail, and dashed away from him with an eager growl.

Shadowwing laughed heartily, knowing easily where this was going.

 _I guess it is that time of the year for them..._

"Go on, brother, you have... flying... to do."

Was-Grounded paused only long enough to carefully set Aurora down on the ground without waking her. Then he hit Shadowwing on the head with his tail as he bounded out the den and took to the sky in his chase after Green-Wings.

"Where are sire and dam going?" Dawn-Singer asked.

 _Uh, I am definitely not having this talk with him._

"They are going flying."

"But I can fly also," Dawn-Singer exclaimed as he shot to his feet.

"Not now you cannot."

"No? Why not!"

Shadowwing carefully got up without disturbing the sleeping Aurora. Then he crouched down and wiggled his hindquarters in play.

"Because I am a hungry Monster..."

He leapt at Dawn-Singer and easily overturned his squealing nephew. The battle was joined as they dashed around the den until he finally pinned his nephew after letting him burn off a lot of energy. And then he was furiously licking Dawn-Singer's belly until the fledgling burst out in laughter and tried to kick himself to safety.

"Mmmonns...terrrr... hhhelllpp...!"

"No, this Monster got you!"

And then he blinked and lifted his head at a surprising pinch on his tail. He spun around and saw little Aurora awake and furiously nibbling at his tail.

"Aurora!"

She hummed and grinned up at him without letting go. And then he felt another, harder pinch on his ear as Dawn-Singer had quickly recovered himself and pounced.

 _Ouch! That one hurts!_

He only groaned as his head was dragged down to the ground to avoid ear injury. Then Dawn-Singer stood on his victim's head and gave a soft roar of triumph.

"Yes, I have grounded the big..."

The paw found Dawn-Singer's chin. The young Fury collapsed on the ground before him in sleepy exhaustion moments later. Then Shadowwing curled his tail around his side and drew Aurora up next to his shoulder.

"Got you, Aurora."

She trilled happily without letting go. The same trick as worked on her brother worked on her, and he had a pair of dozing young Furies at his chest a moment later. He marveled at how fast they had grown. Dawn-Singer was now the size of a small pony and Aurora that of a big dog. He completely lost himself in the sounds of their slow, tired breaths as he covered them both with a wing. They both smelled of dear family, which they absolutely were.

 _I could get used to this..._

* * *

She flew outside Was-Grounded's and Green-Wings's den and landed. She fully intended to call out to announce herself, as was appropriate whenever near another's den, when she heard the sounds of play within. Only a couple voices cried out from within though.

She slowly crept closer and beheld the great battle raging within. The Dawn-Singer fledgling and Aurora hatchling were both attacking Shadowwing in play. For his part he was being very cautious and gentle with them both.

 _Where are Was-Grounded and Green-Wings?_

Then the battle ended with both the little ones being struck down and collapsing at his front. Then he covered them both with a wing, just as a sire would for his own young.

She blinked and looked away as she made the understanding.

 _He does think of them as his own because they are his egg-mate's little ones. He wants the nest to be bigger than only them, their sire, and dam. That is... strange and warming._

She turned to leave.

"Luna?" he softly called out to her.

 _Sky-breath... he saw me..._

She turned around and looked back at him.

"May I... come in their den?"

"Yes, please do, Luna."

She slowly entered and looked around the strange den. Something about it felt faintly pain-giving but also liver-twistingly warm. This was a den that saw life, goodness, play, and liver-warmth. She stopped several paces from him and looked down at the little ones partly hidden under his wing. He moved the wing aside so that she could easily see them both. She had not yet seen the little female.

"And that little one is... Aurora?" she hummed.

"Yes, her name means the sky-breath that is all colors of the sky," he whispered back.

"Does she have any scale or wing color?"

"Not yet. I do not know when she will, but she might be too small for any color now. She has eyes with some blue like you but also green."

She hummed softly at hearing that detail. Then he gave a deep sigh and lay down his head on the ground.

"Luna, I should say with liver-truth that I should not have tried to guide your flight. Your life-winds are yours to fly. I flew much of my life-flight trying to change how two-legs think about kin and that flight has become part of my life-winds."

"What? You want to change two-legs? Why?"

"I... know how bad and good, how cold and warm they can be. Most of them do not know what kin truly are. They think we are only Monsters."

"They would know. I think they only take what is in their own livers and put that rot on kin," she growled.

"What?" he asked.

"The stories you told me in the cold-season. Two-legs think we hunt their female young, take their shiny rocks and fill our caves with it, and they think that our fire breath is something only a Monster would have."

"Yes."

"But I know that two-legs do those things. They take young from other nests or... force-mate other females, they fill their furs with shiny rocks, and they burn or turn their false-claws on their own."

His words of protest died when he realized that all that she said was absolutely true. He remembered the raiders that attacked Halvden's people, the merchant who abducted Toothless to sell, and another case in his own life when someone turned on another family member. And it was certainly true that dragon fire or power in all its forms was terrifying to many and had provoked stories of devils, demons, and various other Loki-spawn.

 _I guess I never thought about it that way before. You might be right._

"Why did you come up here to this cave-den, Luna?"

"I... wanted to ask Was-Grounded and Green-Wings something," she looked away from him.

"What? I can ask them for you when they get back."

"No, I will ask them myself. Where are they?"

 _Uh, they are rather occupied at the moment. You probably don't want to know why._

"They wanted to go out flying for a while, hunting I think, and I said that I would stay here and play with their little ones. Does it warm your liver to see them, Luna?" he whispered as he again moved his wing out of the way.

She looked down at them as they peacefully slept. Dawn-Singer's eyes twitched beneath his eyelids. She knew that the sight should be warming inside, and maybe it was a little.

"Yes, it does."

She slowly turned away toward the entrance to the cave.

"Luna?"

"Shadowwing?" she glanced back at him.

"You can fly well now. You should let Kin-liver take the small not-vines out of your wings."

She quickly glanced at the visible things in her wings. She could barely feel them at all now, but they definitely did not belong there anymore. They were not needed.

"Yes, they should come out soon. Will you bring Kin-liver to my cave-den later?"

He dipped his head to her.

"I will after they get back."

She turned back for the outside, walked out of the cave, and threw out her wings. He could not look away as he saw those white wings flash against the green and blue background as she left.

He still reflected long on what she had suggested after she had left. Specifically, he thought about her words such that when humans were horrified and fearful of dragons they could actually be projecting the worst of their own failings or temptations. It almost felt like a way of putting the blame for their own shortcomings elsewhere.

 _'Us' against 'them' thinking. They need to learn that there is no 'them' and that we are all in this life together. And some people can change. Not all of them though, I see that now. Do I ever. Some do not want to change and become something new._

He stayed there until both Was-Grounded and Green-Wings returned from their long flight. And, just as expected, they bounded over to their two little ones, curled up next to each other, and started nuzzling and licking each other.

Then he had a rather embarrassing idea as he stood nearby them both.

 _I don't actually know how often they... do that... or if they only do that in the sky. Yeah, I might want to start spending more time in my own cave around now just in case. Plus, I am doing more teaching there, and it might be good to actually live in my own cave. It is only a couple minutes away after all._

He glanced back at them as they were busily gnawing on the other's ears.

 _Maybe I could just ask them. I know that they don't feel any shame about it._

"Brother, Green-Wings?"

They briefly looked up at him.

"Are you two going to... be together... as mates... here in your cave-den?" he stammered.

"Yes, we are mates. What twisted thinking is this?" she chuckled.

Then Was-Grounded gave a happy rumble and flashed his teeth.

"Or do you mean to ask are we going to mate in this den while you are here to see us?" he laughed.

"Yyesss..." Shadowwing mumbled.

"Like this?" Green-Wings chuckled again as she launched herself at her mate, tackled him, and they rolled together on the cave's floor.

Shadowwing turned tail on them and departed from the cave so quickly that he never heard two voices laughing wildly together at one more successful tease.

* * *

 **It is time to take the stitches out**

 **Luna is ready**

"Are you sure? If we take them out too soon..." Valka worriedly asked.

 **She already flew**

 **Maybe not the best idea**

 **But yes she is ready**

"Alright, where is she?"

 **Her cave**

"I will get my tools."

He led her and Cloudjumper on the flight to Luna's cave, all the while thinking about how momentous this day would be. Getting the stitches taken out was like getting a cast taken off. A moment of finality and break with the past.

Then they smoothly landed outside the cave. Valka dismounted and gave Cloudjumper a pat on the snout before he left them. Then it was just the two of them calmly walking into Luna's cave.

Luna was waiting for them.

"I am ready. What must I do?" she asked.

"Hold out your wings so that Kin-liver can touch the small not-vines."

"What will she do?"

"She will break the not-vines and pull them out with care."

"Will it hurt?"

 _Good question._

 **Will it hurt her?**

"Maybe only a little bit of a sting. Nothing that I imagine she could not lick herself," Valka answered.

He relayed as much to Luna who then sighed in apparent relief. Then she held out a wing and turned away to not look.

It was slow work as Valka slowly snipped each stitch and carefully pulled each thread out from the fine wing membrane. There were a few times in which Luna hissed in pain or a little blood was drawn. Then Valka stepped back, and he asked Luna to lick the old hurt, which she did. The procedure was then repeated for the other wing.

Then it was finished and Valka was left with a pile of old, bloody string. She still was not entirely pleased with the result of the stitching. There were clearly visible marks in the wings where the old tears had been, and those marks would never go away entirely.

Luna turned away from licking the last of the sting and life-water away and stared at Kin-liver.

It again struck her how different this one two-leg was. Kin-liver moved almost like a kin, could growl like a kin, and lived for kin from all the stories that Shadowwing had told her. Stories about how Kin-liver had saved many kin from the jaws of two-leg traps and even from grounding wounds.

Exactly like her own had been.

"We will leave now, Luna," Shadowwing told her as he and Kin-liver started to depart.

The twisting in her own liver. The doubt. The fear. The anger.

Unknown numbers of seasons as a thrall. Grounded. Starved. Hopeless but defiant.

And now...

"Wait..."

He stopped, and Kin-liver stopped a moment later.

Then she got up from where she sat and grabbed a slightly bloody and ripped hide that had been hidden in a corner of the cave. She slowly carried it over to them in her mouth and dropped it at Kin-liver's feet.

"What is this for?" Shadowwing softly asked.

She looked away from them both.

"This was my first hunt here. I know that two-legs are not warm on their own and need prey hides, so I... cut it with care and thought I would give it to Kin-liver. I have... some warmth for her in my liver because of what she did for my wings..."

He hummed softly at her words.

"I will tell her. But there is something else you could do to show her your warmth now."

"What? Not bonding and... carrying..." she softly hissed.

"No, only a paw touching."

Shadowwing then gently grabbed one of Kin-liver's paws and drew it toward her.

And she stared at the paw. This same clever paw that she had seen stroke Shadowwing many times and had done the impossible and helped to heal her own ripped wings.

Closer she nosed toward the paw as she warily glanced up at Kin-liver.

And she blinked in surprise at what she saw. Kin-liver and Shadowwing had turned away and had their eyes closed, both unaware of the extent of her advance. They were waiting and letting her make the choice to act.

 _They are trusting me..._

Closer until she could smell the paw. The tiny, thin, and completely useless claws on the paw's fingers almost reminded her of how her own had been before, clipped off and worthless for fighting, cutting, or defending.

A nose to paw touching was too much, too lessening, but something else might be more acceptable. Something else seemed to be more respectful to both.

She slowly held out a paw of her own and held it up almost against Kin-liver's paw until only a claw's tip separated them.

 _'You will do things that no light wing has done before.'_

The fear in her liver screamed 'No!' and 'Danger!' and 'Flee on sight!'

 _'My little one...'_

She very gently pushed against the paw with her own.

Both Kin-liver and Shadowwing then stared at her in surprise. There was no sound but their own breaths for several life-organ beats.

Then Luna pulled back from the paw and blinked, slowly catching her breath while gently shaking her head. Touching the paw had not felt good or bad and did not spark any great warmth in her liver, but it was a different experience, a way of showing that there was some trust between her and the Kin-liver. That was something, even if it was only truly a meaningful ceremony to this Kin-liver two-leg.

"Shadowwing..."

"Luna?" he whispered.

"Tell her for me."

Then she spun around and bounded back to the rear of her den where she curled up and vanished under a wing.

Shadowwing and Valka slowly turned away from her and left her cave after he grabbed the messy hide in his teeth. Once they got outside, they glanced at each other but found no words. He merely looked out over the wilderness of Haven, out to the sea a few minutes flight away, and far down the range to where the actual village was being built.

She stayed slightly behind him while still staring at her palm, as if unsure that it had actually happened. Then she took a single step toward him and paused, suddenly overcome with a suspicion. She cast a subtle glance back into the cave to where she could just barely still see Luna's white shape against the dark background. Then she looked ahead to Shadowwing as he calmly stood there while staring out over the wild and holding the piece of hide. He looked quite at peace in this moment.

And she openly thought about it. The possibility of what might eventually be. A nagging question that had been lingering in the back of her mind for many months but she had not given voice to in her thoughts until now.

Only a very brief grin was all she allowed herself before that was thoroughly hidden. And when she stepped forward to get his attention with a hand on his shoulder, she was nothing but a weary mom with a very good suggestion for both of them.

"Let's go home."


	59. III - Echoes Of The Past

_**Author's Note – In which Luna and Shadowwing have their first truly heartfelt bonding.  
**_

* * *

" _Gradually the healing took place, seeming as it always does that it wasn't taking place." - Ursula K. Le Guin - Powers_

* * *

Echoes Of The Past

* * *

"Try your name this time," he wiped away their last writing.

Dawn-Singer growled softly as he closed his eyes in thought. Several moments passed before the young Fury partly stuck out his tongue and turned down to the dirt with a single claw.

 **Dauhn Singer**

Then he eagerly looked up at his teacher.

"That is good. Here is how it should look," Shadowwing hummed.

 **Dawn Singer**

Said Fury's nose wrinkled as he glared at the correct spelling and then gave a confused hum with his ears swept back.

"But that does not look how it should. The w sound is not good."

Shadowwing paused and blinked.

 _Uh, you are actually right about that. Gods, you are a clever one._

"Little one, two-leg picture-talking has rules. The hardest wind to learn about this flight is that those rules are not always good to fly with."

"They are rules and not rules in the same flight?" Dawn-Singer mumbled, his tail frozen in dismay.

A pair of confused grumbles followed.

"Two-legs and their talking are twisted things," Shadowwing grunted.

"How can I learn when the rules are not rules and good sounds are not good?" Dawn-Singer groaned.

Shadowwing gently patted his nephew on the head.

"You will learn this flight. I did."

Dawn-Singer gave him a toothless grin in reply.

"Now, what type of kin are we?" Shadowwing asked.

Dawn-Singer immediately bent down, already knowing this answer.

 **Night Fury**

Shadowwing gave him a satisfied nod and grunt.

"What does it mean? Yes, our wings and scales are dark like night, but what about fury? We are not very angry..." Dawn-Singer innocently asked.

 _Ah, I wondered when this would come up._

"I think we called ourselves dark wings, but Night Fury is a name that two-legs gave us. Our dark color lets us hide in the night. And we get very angry when we attack."

"Attack what?"

"Bad kin, bad Alphas, prey that need hunting..."

Shadowwing chuckled and winked.

"And little fledglings!"

He pounced and started chasing Dawn-Singer around the cave, their lessons done for the day. It was a while later when Dawn-Singer finally lay down next to him with most of his youthful energy spent.

"I am hungry!" he bemoaned.

"We should fly and get fish then."

"Down in the nest with two-legs?" Dawn-Singer's eyes went wide.

"Yes, fly with me."

They eagerly bounded from the cave, flew down to Haven together, and set their sights on the nearest fish station. They landed nearby and then the swarm descended.

"There they are!" "Dawn-Singer!" "So cute!" "He will be my dragon!" "Gods, he is growing!" "Is that Toothless?"

They were swarmed by adoring kids and young adults not a moment later. Dawn-Singer soaked up all the attention and stared back at them with his eyes very wide and nonstop humming of delight. He let them pat his head and carefully stroke his wings while Shadowwing supervised the introductions.

But Shadowwing found something about the meeting slightly off. While Dawn-Singer did not seem to care about the treatment, there was a hint of belittling treatment in how the young people patted Dawn-Singer, said 'good boy', and made remarks about who was going to be his rider one day.

 _That is not how it works..._

"Why are they so warm to see me?" Dawn-Singer asked once he pulled himself away from his adoring audience.

"Because all Night Furies are very close to their livers," Shadowwing answered.

"Should I picture-talk to them?" Dawn-Singer glanced at the dirt.

"Not yet. You should learn more before you picture-talk. And," he bent down to his nephew's ear, "you probably know more picture-talking than many of them."

"I do?" Dawn-Singer exclaimed in amazement.

"Yes, it is not a flight that they all want to fly or know how to fly."

That left Dawn-Singer's eyes wide open in awe and his shoulders a bit higher than before.

Then they walked over to the fish station. Shadowwing did not need to ask before he was handed several large fish for himself and a couple smaller ones for his charge. They both quickly secured the fish in their bellies and then began to walk throughout Haven. Dawn-Singer enjoyed seeing all of it, hearing the sounds of activity, and seeing all the different humans and dragons.

"Kin-liver!"

Dawn-Singer noticed her and dashed for her with great haste. Valka bent down to catch him and only then seemed to notice that he was almost as tall as she was when he stood upright.

"Oof!" she collapsed as she was tackled onto her back.

And then she was savagely attacked in the face.

"That... does not... wash out!" she groaned.

Dawn-Singer laughed deeply and pounced back to avoid the retaliatory finger to chin attack, having learned to avoid that exact attack many times before. He could not avoid the licking from his uncle though and was left rolling on his back in laughter.

"Shadowwing, you have no idea how happy that makes me," Valka laughed.

He abandoned his attack and turned his attention to her. Dawn-Singer recovered himself and sat down next to him to watch as he wrote.

 **I was thinking about the dragons**

 **They are flying far for fishing and hunting**

 **We should fly to the nearby tribes**

 **And let them know that we mean no harm**

"Hmm, I suppose that we can. It might help them to know what they are dealing with as long as we don't let them know where exactly we are. How is his learning coming?"

 **Quickly**

 **He noticed places where Norse does not make sense**

She turned to Dawn-Singer, looked into his deep green and very aware eyes, and gave him a bow.

"Did he now? Well, I look forward to seeing it when he is ready. That will be a pleasant surprise for everyone when they see it. Uh, where is everyone else?" she warily glanced around.

Shadowwing started in surprise and gave her a guilty half-grin.

 _Oops, yeah we are a bit late getting back..._

"Come Dawn-Singer, we should fly to your sire and dam's cave-den."

"Must we? There are so many two-legs and Kin-liver is here," he looked around with eager anticipation.

"Yes, they want to know where you are."

Dawn-Singer reluctantly grumbled but followed him into the sky and back to home. Both of his parents were outside when they arrived back. Little Aurora was perched on her father's back and was going on short hop-flights to build up her strength.

"Where were you both?" Green-Wings grumbled.

"Getting fish and playing with Kin-liver!"

"You were down in the Haven-nest?" she exclaimed.

"Yes dam! Shadowwing thought it would be good to get fish. I was hungry."

 _You traitor..._

"I was with him all the time we were down there, and he was very hungry," Shadowwing explained himself.

"And I am not a hatchling now! I want to play with the two-legs," Dawn-Singer objected.

Green-Wings gave a soft grumble.

"As long as one of us or Shadowwing are with you..."

Shadowwing winked at Dawn-Singer most conspiratorially and gave him a happy rumble.

 _That can easily be arranged._

* * *

"Are you sure that you do not mind?" Chief Thorvald asked for the fifth time.

 **As I said the first four times**

 **Someone must plow and the other dragons**

 **Are not as good at following instructions**

"That is a fair point, but it still feels like we are using you and I do not..."

The Chief was shut up by the soft snarl and furious scribbling.

 **I will stop plowing**

 **If I am being treated as cattle**

 **You would know**

 **Now if you do not mind I have work to do**

Chief Thorvald relented and departed to deal with other, real problems. Problems like figuring out how a village's morale could survive without ale.

Shadowwing patiently waited as the farmers fitted the various straps and braces around his shoulders and across his chest.

 _Gods, I guess after this I will have some idea what it was like for Toothless to have a saddle and rigging. There is that at least. I wonder if I should talk to him about it._

Snort.

 _Actually, he would just tease me about it causing an itchy armpit or something._

Then the giant plow was fully strapped to him, and he fixed his gaze on the point across the field.

 _A straight line now. How hard can it be? And I need to ask Gobber how he managed to forge a plow. That is not exactly the kind of thing you can just strap onto a dragon and have them carry for a couple days over an ocean._

Getting to the point across the field was very simple. He did not run into any rocks underground or have any problems with keeping the plow in the soil.

 _Who would have thought that there would ever be a place for farming Nords or farming dragons? Sure, breadmaking, smithing, fighting, even some doctors, all of those have a place, but farming was never really encouraged as a career path._

Groan.

 _And I can do the work of six men easily. We will have this field tilled and planted in no time at all. I am sure that they cannot wait for more potatoes. Me, I will stick to my fish, thank you very much. Some salmon and some nice Icelandic cod._

It was on about the tenth pass when he realized something slightly amusing. Mulch and Bucket, who had somehow managed to get assigned the responsibility of overseeing this plowing mission, were arguing with each other over something. That was not terribly abnormal. They were quite intensely shoving at each other, pointing at a map, and then rotating the map in various directions while pointing in all directions.

He stopped before them and gave them a clearly questioning look.

"Ach, you see Shadow... we waren't sure s'actly which d'rection the plowin' should go. I think it shuda been that way..." Mulch pointed perpendicular to the direction the current rows were being tilled.

He stared back at them in confusion and then disbelief.

 _Wait, you mean to say that all that we have done... that all I have done so far has been going the wrong way!_

"Oh, come on!" he roared aloud.

Then he grinned when he recovered himself. And he started walking to continue the next passes exactly as he had been before, even after Mulch and Bucket shouted at him and each other.

 _You can explain how the field got turned around, unless you want to plow this yourself... you useless humans..._

* * *

"Get those beams higher!" Gobber roared.

 _On it! I'd like you to put your wings into it though. Oh, that's right, you can't because you don't have any!_

He beat his wings and gained some height while the other dragons tethered to the log followed his lead. The large ceiling beam was guided into place down below by several of the younger workers who were less afraid of heights. Then they got to work hammering the beam into place after unstrapping the dragons' ropes.

Then he turned and flew back to the ground, leading the other dragons with him. A glance at the village going up around him followed on his way down. It was quite impressive.

A number of basic homes had already gone up in place of the simpler huts and tents that had sufficed for much of the winter. There were pens for the domesticated farm animals and stables for the dragons that lived in the village. Stations had already been built to hold the catches of fish for the day. A large pile of dragon armor taken from the number of Drago's slave dragons that had joined Haven lay abandoned on the side of the village. No one had a great use for any of it yet, so the consensus solution was to leave the armor there until a solution presented itself.

And then there was also the new Great Hall as it slowly began to go up. It would be smaller than the one back on Berk had been. While somewhat smaller it would be more designed with all the essentials to accommodate dragons; reinforced perches, a wider entrance, and a bit more general fire resistance.

 _I really do not know how we have managed all this already. Pure force of stubbornness probably. Though dragons do help in major construction projects._

He spied Was-Grounded off in the distance floating over the village to help keep the peace. Their arrangement had more or less been that Shadowwing would be the main Alpha in the village so that Was-Grounded could spend more time being a good father to his children. He completely understood the importance of that, given his own experiences with a father not being there as much as he should have been because of work. This naturally left him with more time in the village himself, confusing though that was with the occasional problems that flared up.

The main problem at this point was actually the dragons. There were so many of them that there was now almost a permanent flock flying over Haven. This new reality led to the key issue which he was spending more of his free time thinking about and that everyone was spending more time fretting over.

There was not enough food for them all right here. There had already been several incidents with the newer dragons from the ice nest or from Drago's army terrorizing the chickens and the goats. And as for fish, the waters were filled with fish but not necessarily enough right here off these shores to satisfy everyone. Even the wild herds in Haven were becoming thinner. He was still reflecting on this puzzling problem as he dove down to the clearing forest to haul some more lumber.

 _They have to fly further down the coast or deeper inland to hunt. That could cause problems for anyone else who lives around here. True, there are not many tribes or villages that I can recall seeing around these parts, but there could still be some incidents._

He gave a hum as he looked around and waited for the next log to be hauled over.

 _We just need someone to go to the other tribes that are around here and let them know what to expect. This project for me and mom will definitely help. And maybe along the way I can help with more mapmaking since we have none for this area._

He got closer to several of the other people who were busy felling trees and carving them into useful logs and planks. The work went very quickly with Tembra's Timberjack eager to help out by doing what it seemed to do very well, cut down trees with its impossibly sharp wings. He was sitting down on his belly and resting in a break between hauling when he overheard a couple of people idly talking.

"Did ya hear the news? What the Chief wants to do?" Bard muttered.

"Nah, what's he thinking about now?" Merla answered.

"A way to celebrate them both," Bard replied.

"Stoick and Astrid?" Merla asked.

"Yep, both of em. I say Stoick should be left out because of how he turned on them..."

"Come on Bard, he redeemed himself you know. Anyone who dies in battle for their own is in Valhalla..."

Shadowwing stopped listening and turned away from them. And he stared at the trees as he felt it swell in his heart again.

The terrible uncertainty mixed with resignation at what must have happened. They never found a body in his case, whether because of a hungry dragon or because of the tides or flames. But Astrid's ship and the faint glimpses he had thrown toward those spiraling flames...

He could still feel it all in that moment. The loss, the pain, the shame, and the emptiness always lurking under the surface and threatening to rear up from the darkness whenever he stopping doing other things. It did not feel so bad when he was playing with his still living family, but he still had no idea how to actually move on.

That pang in his chest remained there even as he worked throughout the day.

* * *

Warmth.

Cleanliness.

Relaxation.

She floated on her back in the warm, bubbling water and delighted in the simple pleasure of being.

 _This is the best place in the range. Quiet, alone, warm._

Then her belly growled at her.

 _And hungry. Sky-breath, I wish I had some fish. Four-leg prey gets old after many sun-cycles. But catching fish usually needs fire._

Then she rolled in place and hauled herself from the very good, warming water.

 _I know where I could go get fish, but I do not want to go near that place._

A wary hum followed.

 _Maybe I could see what that nest looks like now. I might understand better why the other kin are so warm around two-legs or let themselves be life-thralls._

Her mind made up to do this safely, she took to the sky and flew down the range toward the spiraling mass of kin. She was quite surprised at what she saw as soon as it became visible.

The two-legs had built many tree-dens since the last time she flew over them. Some of them even looked big enough to shelter kin, and there were indeed kin roosting inside some of them. There were also clearly visible several places where kin gathered closely together on the ground around what looked like feeding places. Feeding places in which she could see many fish.

And then she clearly saw them all again. Riding-things on the backs of kin. Kin were being made to carry around two-legs for only the sky-breath knew what reason. Some two-legs were softly roaring at and shaking their paws at kin for having done something not what the two-legs wanted.

 _I will never let that happen to me... Foul my own back with a two-leg's waste-end..._

She gave a soft growl as she passed on above the nest without landing. Then she pulled up midflight and froze in place when she saw something outside the nest among the trees.

A pair of spine-tails were on top of each other and very busy with making eggs. It was the new-life-season for them.

The bad, twisted memories of vivid sleep-visions were stronger than her hunger for fish. She turned from the nest and departed for the wild further up the range.

Then she was back in the comfort that she knew, and she curled up alone under a thin-tooth tree. Her strong white wings wrapped around her and hid her from all the outside world.

And she was joyfully running through a strange, dark forest with bright flowers and tall plants. Twisting, darting, dashing, and laughing as something big bounded along after her. A shadow with wings and bright green eyes was chasing her and getting closer. Then she jumped out into a grassy clearing in the strange and familiar forest. The place felt very much good for some reason she could not remember.

The shadow crashed into her from behind, pulled her down onto her back, and then pinned her. It felt good and warming to see that much-close-known like-kin playing warmly and roughly with her and to be pinned by him.

Then his eyes narrowed, his teeth appeared, and he growled as all warmth departed from her liver.

"Weak prey!" he snarled.

She gasped and gave a cry as she woke up, safely wrapped in her wings where none could hurt or claim her. But the bad-wrong feeling from the twisted-thought-hunter did not leave.

 _Bad thought-hunter... lies..._

* * *

Stoick was fighting like a madman. His eyes blazed with fire and his axe flew back and forth, hewing armor, blades, and heads. And then dozens of dragons hovered in the air all around him, all their mouths glowing with fire.

Stoick fixed his eyes in defiance at the Night Fury placidly sitting nearby and watching.

"Where were you, son? Why were you not here? You could have..." Stoick's panicked shouts died in a stream of dragon fire.

Astrid was falling from the cliff after hurling Drago to his death. Her arms were held aloft, ready to be caught and carried to safety. And she looked up at the Night Fury as he hovered afar, aloof and unresponsive.

"We needed you here! Why did you betray us? You left us to die... die... die!"

Shadowwing bolted awake with a roar and a sob. His heart was racing, and he was panting heavily. He took several deep breaths and looked around his cave in a panic before laying back down.

 _Just a bad dream…_

He curled his tail around and covered his head with his tailfins as usually worked when trying to fall asleep. The night was very peaceful and warm. He closed his eyes to try to go back to sleep but his thoughts immediately went back to the dream and to how real it seemed.

Could he have ever actually forgiven his father for what he had done to Toothless? Could they have made peace? He would never know now because they had lost the chance to reconcile. There would never be true closure for that wound.

 _I could have been there to stop it. I could have saved them. I could have stopped all the bad that happened._

And then Astrid...

 _At least it was honorable. She always joked about dying gloriously in battle._

He tossed and turned on his furs for a while before admitting defeat.

 _I cannot sleep like this._

His mind was too restless to allow for sleep, so he got to his feet and walked to the entrance of his cave. A brief flight always seemed to help him relax after an especially trying day. It looked like a good night for it too since the moon was full, there were barely any clouds in the sky, and the warm breeze was out of the south.

He was aloft moments later and turned to face into the wind so that he drifted higher with minimal effort. He took a deep breath of the clear, crisp night air and looked out at the vista beneath him. The village was visible a few minutes flight away. Torches and fireplaces illuminated the homes and stables which were interspersed with each other. The feeding stations were sure to be empty at this hour.

Absolutely nothing was stirring down below. Everyone was safe and sound asleep in trust and peace.

It was moments like this that made him question the need for his essentially self-imposed exile. He was always welcomed and accepted by everyone. Neither was it truly difficult sleeping outside the village considering how long he had lived away from human villages and also because his brother, Green-Wings, and their children were only a short flight away. They also made it clear that he was always welcome in their cave whenever he wanted.

Valka had even agreed that he needed time to heal from the aftermath of the battle. There was no telling how long that would take, and having a place of refuge and quiet away from the activity of the village always helped those who were most unsettled.

A patch of darkness caught his eye. What was odd about it was that the darkness seemed to be moving. He looked more carefully and saw the beat of wings. He silently banked toward the dragon, curious as to why it was out in the middle of the night. The shape was peacefully gliding along, oblivious to his presence, and resolved itself into a very familiar figure, that of something very like a Night Fury. The particular beat of its wings, size of its body, and now rather bright color left no doubt as to who it was.

 _I wonder why she is out tonight._

He bugled a greeting to Luna as soon as he thought she could hear him. She visibly jumped in surprise and glanced around, looking for the source of the voice. She relaxed slightly when she saw that it was him and that he was flying in alongside her. They both glided silently with the wind for several moments.

"Shadowwing, you scared me."

"I tried not to."

She adjusted her flight and banked toward the cliffs. She backwinged, delicately landed on a clearing right at the top of the cliffs, folded her wings away, and moved aside as he came in to land as well. They walked right up to the edge of the bluff. She lay down on her side and curled her tail around herself with her tailfins resting on the ground near her head. He settled for laying down on his belly several paces from her.

The roar of the sea breaking on the rocks below made for a very soothing melody. They lay there together, simply listening to the crashing of the waves and the sounds of the night for several minutes before he decided to broach the question. There was something about her appearance that was more unsettled than was normal.

"You feel sad, Luna. Do you want to talk about it?"

She glanced at him and then looked up at the sky.

"I had bad sleep-visions," she whispered.

"I have them also. Do you… want to talk about them?"

He had his suspicions about what was bothering her or what her nightmares could have been of, but he figured that it would be best to hear the truth from her if she wanted to talk.

She seemed surprised by his question and craned her neck over to look at him again.

"Licking hurts makes them better. Talking about bad sleep-visions makes them better, I think," he explained.

She hung her head again and moaned softly.

"I was on the bad island with the Monster two-legs. I was hungry again. My wings were broken again."

He moaned softly in sympathy. He could still remember everything about the day that they had found her. However, he was surprised that she continued.

"The two-legs had their hurting things and were laughing. Then they took me to the other bad-thrall-kin males..."

Her voice died away as she shuffled herself and curled her tail in tighter to her belly. He closed his eyes as well as this was the first time that she had ever voluntarily spoken of it.

From the little he knew of dragon mating practices, different types of dragons did not try to cross. For one there were irreconcilable size differences in many cases. No one had ever seen hatchlings that looked like mixes between two types of dragons or a pair of mates that were different types.

"Do you know why the other kin would try to… do what the Monster two-legs wanted? Why would they hurt you that way?"

She said nothing for a while. He knew that it was a difficult question to ask her since it involved details she certainly would rather forget.

"No," she muttered.

"I know why the rotten-waste-livered two-legs wanted it to happen."

"Why?" she asked.

"Eggs. We are the most special of all kin. They probably wanted kin like us to be in their thrall-flight."

"But no kin can make eggs with a very different type of kin," she objected.

"No, but the rotten-liver two-legs probably did not know. Was there anything about the thrall-males that you remember? Do you know why they would try..."

"Do you mean like being thralled to a great-tusk?" she warily hissed.

"You know about that?" he groaned.

"Yes," she mumbled without saying anything more.

 _She did say that she was caught by seeing that Bewilderbeast..._

There was an embarrassing question he wanted to ask because it might help him figure out this mystery. It was only by reminding himself that dragons apparently did not know shame that he finally worked up the nerve to ask.

"Was it… the right time for them to… want to mate? Were you… ready to make an egg?"

"Yes, I could," she whispered.

So that part of their actions was somewhat understandable. But there was another question which naturally followed from the previous one.

"And did you? Did you ever… make an egg?"

She snarled and looked up at the sky.

"I never let any of them join with me. Even if they had fouled me, I could not get an egg from any of them. They were all... very different."

A bit more reflection let him have an idea of what might have happened. The only difficulty was how to explain it to her.

"Do you know that our two-legs drink much... happy-water?"

"Happy-water? What?" she replied in confusion without questioning why he brought it up.

"A little drink of the happy-water makes their bellies and livers feel warm. Sometimes they drink too much of it and it makes them do... twisted things. They do not even remember what they do when they have too much happy-water. Some of the two-leg mate-pairs started that way."

She raised her head in interest and gave a very faint murmur at learning something new about two-leg ceremonies.

"I think the bad two-legs did something like that to the kin males. Gave them bad happy-water or something like it so that all the males knew was that you… were ready to make an egg."

She thought about it for a while.

"That holds wind," she finally admitted, "if an Alpha can thought-control kin, why could there not be something that makes kin lose control. Like bad-wrong-snake-fish," she proposed.

 _Eels…_

"I know what you mean. I once ate some of that," he groaned.

"You did what! You ate bad-wrong-snake-fish! Why would you do that?" she exclaimed in alarm.

"I was only a hatchling, and I did not know what was in the food."

"You did not know what was in the food?" she chuckled.

"It was food made by a two-leg. I did not know what was in it until after I ate it and it... came up."

She warbled long in confusion but seemed satisfied by his answer and then looked back out over the ocean for a few minutes. The moonlight glistening off the water showed the regular pattern of the waves.

"Shadowwing, you said that you had bad sleep-visions. Will you tell me?" she softly asked.

 _What can I tell her? I do not want to lie._

"Before we found you, there was a large fight of nests. You saw what happened at the last island we were on. The island of ice."

She hummed, remembering what he was referring to.

"That battle was between a bad flight of two-legs, thrall-kin, and a very bad great-tusk-Monster all on one flight and the white great-tusk-Alpha, free kin, and kin-two-leg bond-pairs on the other flight. Some of the survivors live in the mixed-nest here," he gestured with a flick of his head.

"There were two two-legs I knew who died in the fighting. One was a female. She was the Alpha of the flight that came from the nest where Was-Grounded and I were hatchlings. The other two-leg was a big male. He was…"

 _My father… my protector… a betrayer… redeemed... fallen..._

"...the one who protected me and Was-Grounded when we still lived in our egg and when we were hatchlings. He gave us food and protected us from many dangers when we were hatchlings. In my sleep-vision, I see both of them wanting to be saved, but I cannot save them."

She blinked when he finished his story.

"Dying happens in big fights. Why do you blame your own flight?" she asked after a few moments of thought.

"I am the reason they are dead."

"What? How?"

"I was not there to save them. I flew out to the water-walker that had the two-leg Alpha of the bad flight."

"Why?" she exclaimed in obvious disbelief.

"I wanted to picture-talk with the Alpha and stop fighting and dying from being. I was liver-twisted and did not think well. The great-tusk-Monster made me a thought-thrall. I do not remember anything until Was-Grounded saved me."

He paused before continuing.

"He freed my thinking, and we joined into one flight. We defeated the great-tusk-Monster together and drove it away. All the kin made us Alphas by bowing to us. But the other deaths already were. And there is something else..."

"What?" she hummed.

 _I... oh, why am I even telling her this?_

"It is something that happened on the ice nest island when I was a thrall. I... almost... killed... my nestmate Was-Grounded."

She blinked and gasped in horror.

"What?"

"Yes," he sadly hummed, "he told me that the thrall that was me attacked him and almost killed him. He had a clawing in his belly when I... remembered myself. And there was life-water on my claws. His life-water. I became a Monster," he whined.

"No, it was not you..."

"Yes, it was. I think there is something dangerous in me. It feels like a dark, twisted kin is living in my scales and liver and might make me a Monster if I get angry or feel much."

"You would not..." she started to object.

He spun around with a faint snarl and stared at her, silencing whatever she was going to say.

"You were not there. I was. I saw his life-water and his belly-hurt. I licked his hurt clean. I tasted his life-water. I..."

He groaned and looked out over the ocean.

"I do not know what I am. Alpha, Monster, or both. Warm or cold in my liver. I am lost even though I am here. I am... filled with danger."

She got to her feet and stepped over to him.

"Shadowwing, you are not a Monster," she softly answered.

"I do not know if I believe that," he grumbled.

"Your life-breath is making you feel like you killed the two-legs you held to your liver?"

"I did by not being…"

She softly growled at him.

"No, you are not why they are dead! Those bad-Alphas were. They caused all the death."

He shook his head at her words.

"It is more than only those deaths that happened. There were other mixed-nests that lived in peace. They all joined into one great nest on that island. But the bad great-tusk made almost all kin thought-thralls and turned their flights against all two-legs, even their own bond two-legs. The other two-leg nests that lived threw all kin out of their livers in hate."

He gave a very weak sigh.

"I lived much of my life to make peace between kin and two-legs. That peace and bonding was, and then it was almost all flamed. There is no peace and bonding now except for this small mixed-nest."

"I do not know what to think about that. Two-legs being false-livered flies with what I know of many two-legs, but the great-tusk was also a bad kin," she eventually whispered.

He continued after a moment of reflection.

"I think about how many kin and two-legs we saved, but it does not help me feel better though. Much that was good and warming is dead now. How do you stay strong, Luna? You have survived much worse than I have."

She thought for a while before replying.

"It helps that I am here and am free now. I can fly and hunt alone now. I will not let any two-leg or kin use me for anything again."

She looked away from him and out over the ocean while saying this. Then she gave a soft and confused hum.

"You seemed to speak of the dead male two-leg like he was your sire."

He stiffened slightly at how apt her comment was.

"He was in a way. He provided for me and Was-Grounded from the egg. I had no kin sire or dam."

"You mean you never met them. You must have had a sire and dam to make and sing to your egg."

He saw no need to correct her and merely inclined his head toward her. They both looked out over the ocean for a while in silence.

"What about your life before? You have never said anything about the time before the two-legs caught you," he asked.

"I do not remember very much from back then except for a few stories and memory-flashes. It was long ago. I remember many mountains, lights, and a deep, warm cave. There were a couple other little kin like me. I was from the first egg and my nestling-mates liked to try to eat my ears and tail. The second one was also a female. I called her Ear-Biter. We played much."

She rumbled softly at that memory, and her eyes seemed old beyond her time.

He chuckled slightly.

"Two-legs have a word for those. Males from the same sire and dam are brothers and females are sisters."

"Brothers and sisters," the words rolled off her tongue, "I remember the one you use for Was-Grounded. Why do two-legs have more words for nest-mates?"

"Because the words mean more than only being like each other and from one nest."

"I do not understand."

"It means… that they lived together, learned together, struggled together, and hold the other close to the liver. I do not think that male fish from the same sire and dam think about each other. They would not be brothers. Another male Night Fury would be my kin, but he would not be my brother. Only Was-Grounded is my brother. We want to fly the winds of life within each other's call."

She was quiet for a while as she heard and reflected on his words.

"You are a twisted kin, Shadowwing. I have never known a kin that thinks like you do."

He shrugged and chuckled in amusement.

"I am different because I was raised by two-legs. I think some as they do. Do you think that is a bad thing?"

She thought for a moment.

"It is strange and some twisted, but it is good in your life-winds as you are living them," she eventually answered.

Another brief lull in the conversation arose, and he relaxed again, happy simply to be resting on a warm night and with good company. He almost started to feel sleepy when she asked another question.

"How did you learn to talk if you never knew your sire and dam?"

He blinked and paused, not knowing how to respond.

 _Why are you so smart?_

"Was-Grounded and I... have good heads and think well. Maybe my sire and dam did talk much to us when we were... in the egg."

Fortunately for him, she seemed satisfied with his answer and even chuckled a bit at something.

"And is it truth that you can understand two-legs because they... raised you from the egg?"

 _Technically, yes..._

"Yes."

"And you can make the voice-pictures to talk to them because they taught you?"

 _Yep, in another life..._

"Yes."

She shuffled slightly and looked uncertain about something.

"Could you… teach me how to make the pictures?"

 _Yeah, I could... wait, what?_

He could barely contain his excitement and did not even bother stilling his tail.

"Yes! I am teaching Dawn-Singer now and I can teach you also."

"I would like that."

"There is so much you can learn from talking to them! And they want to know what you have to say!"

She warily hummed at that.

"It is not for all of them. I would only want to share words with Kin-liver. None of the others. Why is Kin-liver filled with an always-chill?"

His ears fell at that as he again tried to consider how to explain it to her without a blatant lie.

"She left her home-nest-island two tens of season-cycles ago, and she stopped flying the winds of life with her life-mate and little one then. Then she lived in the ice nest for all the season-cycles as one of the kin because she wanted to protect them and keep them free. She had a good vision-hope that two-legs could change and be warm to kin, but much fighting and two-legs not listening made her think that peace would not be. Then all the dying happened at the ice nest, and her old life-mate died in the fighting after she found him again."

Luna softly and sadly hummed.

"What about her little one?" she asked.

"He... was lost to his nest many season-cycles ago. I knew that two-leg well. He was much like Kin-liver and did not think of kin as life-thralls."

"I almost wish that I could have also known that two-leg. Sharing words with Kin-liver would be good," she sighed.

A brief moment of silence arose as he thought about the prospect of teaching Luna how to write. He had no idea how effective it would be since she was a truly wild adult dragon. Dawn-Singer was still young enough that he could learn such things quite quickly with his youthful enthusiasm.

"Do you want to start learning the picture-talking this next sun?"

"Yes, how will I learn?"

"Come to my cave. That is where I have been teaching Dawn-Singer. Maybe you can both learn together."

She slowly hummed in agreement.

"I will come to your cave when the sun first flies."

"I will be there."

She got up and walked over to near the cliff's edge. When she finally spoke again, her voice was far more solemn.

"Shadowwing, you said that the bad two-leg Alpha had thrall-kin. Did he get the thrall-kin from the thrall-makers, from the two-legs with water-walkers and traps?"

"I think so. That is also what some of our two-legs have said."

"Do you think the bad two-leg Alpha is still alive?"

He breathed very heavily and steadied himself to answer.

"No, our female two-leg Alpha killed it with her last strike. They died together."

"She sounds like she was a great fighter to kill a male Alpha, that most bad one."

"Yes, she was," he moaned.

Luna turned to him, hesitated, and then spoke.

"I never told you how I got my wings cut, did I?" she nervously asked.

"No, you did not," he kindly answered.

"I do not remember much from when I was a thrall, there was not much to remember, but there was one sun that I almost escaped. The two-legs took me out of my trap and led me out to a two-leg Alpha."

"The Alpha... did it have a long-tooth-stick in its paws and have dark skin burned by the sun?"

"Yes," she growled.

"That is the most bad one that is dead now. What... happened?"

"I bit off the paws of the thrall holding me and I escaped into the sky. I was flying again, free in the sky where no two-legs could catch me. Then I saw a great-tusk like the one that was dead off the ice nest island, but not that one. It was the same one from before, it saw me, and..."

He closed his eyes, knowing well what she was going to share.

"Then I woke up in my trap... with my wings cut so that I could not fly again..." she whimpered.

He growled.

"Both of those Monster Alphas, the great-tusk and the two-leg, are gone now. The two-leg is dead, and the great-tusk lost its life-fire and is not an Alpha now. They will never hurt any more kin, and you will never be grounded again."

"That makes me feel warm to know that they are grounded or dead," she softly hummed.

He turned to her with a question nipping at his tail.

"Luna, may I ask about your old past? About before you were a thrall?"

"Yes, but I do not remember much about it."

"Do you know where your home-nest range is?"

"No. Where it is hides from me. I do remember a story that my sire told me though," her ears lifted slightly.

"Will you tell me?" he eagerly asked.

She hummed and looked up at the moon.

"My sire was alone and flew many ranges to find a life-mate, but he could never find one. He said that he asked the sky-breath and the moon to guide his flight. That night he had a sleep-vision when the moon spoke to him. It said that he had a choice. He could find a mate but would fly himself into danger by doing so or he could have no mate but he would live long. He chose to not live a safe life and flew to a place he did not know. He found my dam, and they had my egg, but there was something bad with me."

"Something bad? What?" he softly crooned.

"Yes, he told me that I was very small. I... could not break out of my egg on my own."

He gasped in shock as she went silent and closed her eyes.

"I would have died in my own egg, but my sire helped me break my egg. I was weak and small, but he and my dam nuzzled me, licked me, fed me, and stoked my life-fire even so. I grew fast and stopped being small. I always tried to fly on my own after that to show life that I was not weak. My sire also told me many stories about the sky-lights, the moon, and the sky-breath."

She gave a puzzled growl.

"I was always confused by much of what he told me. I do not now know why, but I think it is because of that story that I was always warmed much by seeing the moon."

"Maybe you will remember where your sire and dam are and you can fly to them. You could tell them about this range here and let them know that it is good," he proposed.

"I will fly that flight when I get to those skies," she answered.

They lay there next to each other in silence as they listened to the soft wind and the distant waves. It was a very peaceful night.

"I think I will try to sleep now. My head and liver are quieter now. I am warmed by sleeping under the sky or in my own warm den," she announced after yawning widely.

He looked up at the heavens as she did the same and stretched her limbs and wings.

"I like to look up and see the sky-lights, moon, and sky-breath. Why do you sleep far away from the mixed-nest that you are warmed by?" she wondered.

"Because I still hurt from what happened. I am also warmed by having my own cave, and it is very close to my brother's cave where all my nest-kin are."

"You should not ground your own life-fire much," she softly hummed.

"I do not try to, Luna. It hurts to remember what I had and to know that it is gone now."

She stepped over to him and gently nudged his shoulder with her nose.

"Be warmed with what you have now. That is what I am trying to do. My wings are strong, I am not always hungry, I know a good two-leg, and I know kin who have my life-fire now."

 _That is easier said than done..._

"Sleep well, Shadowwing. No twisted sleep-visions."

She spread her wings and jumped from the cliff. He watched as she gracefully soared higher on the ocean breeze and then smoothly banked on the wind to fly deeper inland.

 _Good night, Luna._

He waited a few more moments before he too got up, stretched his legs, and flew back to his cave. He curled up on his stone bed after warming it up as he always did.

 _She is right. And mom has already told me several times that I cannot blame myself for what happened._

Hearing the words from Luna somehow gave them a bit more force. She had endured truly terrible experiences that were far different from his own, but she still remained hopeful and did not want to give in to despair. She remained defiant and strong. If she could endure despite what happened to her, then he had no excuse to not try to do the same. Even so there were still scars on her, visible and invisible, that may never go away entirely.

 _'You get used to it eventually. It changes you into someone new.'_

He remembered Valka's words as they rested on that desolate island on the journey that would eventually lead to Luna's discovery.

 _I guess that there will always be bad days, and maybe the best way is to accept them as truly part of life. Maybe getting over the past is the wrong way to think about it. Like trying to outrun my shadow._

Sigh.

 _I am not who I was._

He closed his eyes and waited for the nightmares to return. But this time they did not. Peaceful sleep claimed him instead. His dreams were of white wings spinning through the sky alongside a joyful cry.


	60. III - New Horizons

_**Author's Note – In which Shadowwing and Valka get to go on an adventure. This chapter has a bit more involvement from Green-Wings. She also finally learns the truth about Shadowwing. Pay attention to the voices in the crowd if you want some humor.**_

* * *

" _You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore." - William Faulkner – Three Famous Short Novels_

* * *

New Horizons

* * *

True to her word, Luna arrived at his cave entrance just after sunrise. He was already prepared and eager to begin. Several runes were already carved into the dirt off to the side where no one would step on them by accident.

"Shadowwing?" she called.

"Luna! Come in my den!"

She happily bounded inside and walked up to him.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"Yes, I want to learn."

She settled down in front of him and gave him her full attention. He hummed happily and began.

"Two-legs talk to each other just like us. You can learn their spoken words if you listen much to them talking to you. Kin-liver would help you with that also."

"That would be good," she nodded.

"Two-legs also make these shapes to talk for them."

She followed him over and looked down at the already drawn symbols.

"Each shape means a sound. Many shapes together mean sounds that sound like what they say through the air," he explained.

"I understand that."

"Good, look at this one."

He indicated the first small string of symbols that he had carved. She glanced in confusion at the odd and mysterious scratches.

"This is the two-leg way of making your name in pictures. Luna."

She lowered her nose to the shapes and inspected them far more closely. The shapes flew in her thoughts until she could easily see them with her eyes closed.

"And each of these shapes is a sound?" she asked.

"Yes."

He spent a few minutes explaining each of the sounds that went with each shape. It should have been a rather frustrating exercise having to teach like he imagined would be done for a child. Doing so with Dawn-Singer was quite appropriate, but this was a bit odd in her case. Instead, he found it enjoyable helping Luna to learn. It also helped that she never took offense at how carefully and simply he tried to explain everything.

Then it came time for the tedium of memorizing and practicing in the dirt, which she also took to without complaining. He stood there and watched over her shoulder as she scratched out letters over and over, only occasionally having to correct her on the shape of a new letter.

 _You are doing a good job of remembering. I think you really want to do this._

His thoughts were broken up by the arrival of another pair of smaller wings.

"Shadowwing!" Dawn-Singer cried as he bounded into the cave.

"Dawn-Singer, what are you doing here?" she asked.

Dawn-Singer blinked in surprise when he saw her there.

"Luna! You are learning the picture-talking also!"

"Yes, little one. It is very head-twisting."

He stuck out his tongue at her.

"You fly over that quickly when the pictures get in your head!" he answered.

"Why do you want to learn this flight?" she wondered.

"So that I can picture-talk to the two-legs!" he bounded on his feet.

"But why?" she grumbled.

"Why not! Talking is very good. Two-legs are good and warm to us."

She looked away from him without answering on that point.

"Why do you want to learn, Luna?" Dawn-Singer eagerly asked.

"I might want to... picture-talk with Kin-liver. She is not a true two-leg."

"I want to be able to talk with all of them!" Dawn-Singer eagerly announced.

She turned away from him and slowly shook her head, either in amusement or exasperation it was not clear.

"That is... good for you, little one," she rumbled.

"Shadowwing, I wanted to tell you that my nestmate sister Aurora is trying to fly now!" Dawn-Singer eagerly exclaimed.

That got all three tails swaying in excitement.

"She is? We should go watch!" Shadowwing answered.

"Yes, and we can laugh at her falling!" Dawn-Singer snickered.

 _Oh really, what are brothers for if not to tease..._

All three of them took to the air and flew toward the other cave. Was-Grounded and Green-Wings were both sitting outside down on the flat plain and were watching Aurora's attempts at flight where the grass grew long.

Was-Grounded glanced up at the approaching flight and grinned to himself that they were arriving together. It meant that Luna had been with his brother for some reason.

 _I am not teasing them about this. It is definitely too early for them to think about flying those life-winds, and it is not the new-life-season. Still, the more time they have together... the more likely that they fall into the good life-trap._

All three of them landed and bounded up to him and Green-Wings.

"I brought them!" Dawn-Singer hummed.

"Yes, you did," Green-Wings greeted him with a lick to the face.

Was-Grounded hid the faint grin that he had as he slowly walked up to them both and then sat down.

"Luna, I did not think you would be there. I thought that only my brother would be there."

"He is teaching me two-leg picture-talking," she answered and nodded at Shadowwing.

Was-Grounded blinked in surprise.

"I did not think that you would want to learn that flight."

"Kin-liver healed my wings. I would learn this so that I could picture-talk with her."

A faint squeal echoed out as Aurora lost her grip on the wind and fell face-first into the long grass. Was-Grounded bounded after her and chuckled deeply when he saw her. She was on her back with her tail curled up over a shoulder and her wings flailed out wildly. She was staring up at the sky in frustration while faintly growling.

"Little Aurora..." he hummed.

"Baaadddd!" she barked.

He blinked and stepped back in surprise.

"Did you say bad?"

"Sssirrrree!" she hissed up at him.

"Aurora!"

Then he bent down and started licking her exposed belly until she was completely defeated and lost to her thrashing and high laughter. Then he looked back at the other three adults who were looking at him in bewilderment, confusion, and amusement, as though he had tied his tail in a knot.

"She is trying to talk!"

Green-Wings gasped in amazement and darted over to them both.

"Were you talking, little one?" she asked.

Aurora only looked up at her, blinked, and licked Green-Wings's nose. A few wingbeats of time passed.

"I think you are hearing twisted whispers in your head, my mate," Green-Wings groaned as she stepped back.

"Dddammm!"

Green-Wings froze with her eyes very wide and turned back to her hatchling in surprise.

"You were saying?" Was-Grounded happily growled.

Green-Wings pounced on him with a happy snarl and tackled him. He made no attempt to resist her attack and let her pin him. Then Dawn-Singer hop flew over and started chasing Aurora. She eagerly flew to her feet with her tongue drooping from her mouth.

The flying lessons had almost instantly devolved into a wild frenzy of play, family bonding, and general silliness.

Shadowwing laughed aloud and felt a distinct warmth in his heart as he watched them playing with abandon.

"Look at how warm they are, Luna."

Luna gave a soft hum of her own as she watched Aurora chasing Dawn-Singer's tail and Green-Wings and Was-Grounded rolling in the grass while playfully snapping at each other.

And she closed her eyes as she felt something warm in her liver. A glow that had not been there in a very long time. She remembered seeing Green-Wings tenderly nibbling at Was-Grounded's ears or nuzzling his neck. She remembered how her own sire and dam would play much together even when not filled with mating-wanting.

"Yes, they are very warm to each other."

* * *

"I am sure that you all know why I called this meeting," Chief Thorvald announced to all gathered.

"The dragons, eh?" "A marriage?" "Who we fightin?" "I need an extension on my axe returns."

"No. More important than all of those. I need volunteers for a mission. Who is with me?"

Crickets.

"Don't everyone volunteer at once. We only need about a dozen to crew the ship. After all, how are going to go trade for ale without..."

"To the ship!" "Off I go then!" "If you want!" "I guess I can!" "Anything for ale!"

"I thought so..." he chuckled to himself.

Families and friends were already patting each other on the back at the mere thought that the ale would be back soon. Half the village had volunteered. Gobber came up to him after selecting the crew from among the eager volunteers.

"So Chief, you sure that you are not going with them?"

"Yep, the wife made it clear that I am not leaving her alone with Ysmir and little Theron unless I want to sleep outside in the stables for a year."

"Yeah, that sounds like her. Skald will manage this I'm sure. He has a way with the seas," Gobber added.

"I trust him to get the job done while making sure that the men don't drink everything on the way back. You'd only pick the reliable ones to go with him."

Gobber grinned at his remark.

"I'd never thought I'd say this, but yer shapin up into a fine Chief. Knowing when to rely on others is something that Stoick could have done a bit better," he solemnly added.

Thorvald shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm doing what I can, Gobber. All I can do is try and listen to those who know better than I do. Which is most people."

* * *

They stood by the shore and watched as the ship sailed away, laden with eager men and plenty of space in the hold for the all-important barrels of golden treasure that it would bring back with it.

"Well, they're off on a grand quest," Valka chuckled.

He snorted in response.

"Nords without ale for too long. That is a recipe for disaster. I guess we might do our part as well to help keep the peace."

He understood what she was referring to and nodded in agreement.

"Are you ready to do this?" Valka asked.

 **Yes, we should go now**

 **The sooner the better**

"Ok, just let me get some supplies and then we can be off. Think I should bring the full flying gear?"

 **Makes for a better first impression**

Then he lifted his eye-ridges and rumbled in amusement.

 **Though we might be giving them**

 **A bad idea of what Haven is like**

 **They might think everyone**

 **Looks like you**

"We wouldn't want that now would we? Can't have them thinking we are all crazy, feral, vigilante dragon-people!"

They laughed together.

"At least we wouldn't seem boring. Have you told the others how long we will be gone?"

 **I was going to before we leave**

"Ok, Cloudjumper and I will see you down at the south side of the village."

He nodded and flew off for the caves to share the news.

 _Not sure what they will think of my being gone for a while. It is necessary after all to help keep the peace. We have too many dragons to support right now._

There was something surprising though as soon as he arrived back home at his cave. Luna was already there and waiting for him outside his cave as he came in for his landing.

 _Perfect, I can let her know that I will be gone for a while._

"Luna!"

She sat down at his approach and gave a soft hum of welcome.

"Shadowwing, warm winds to you."

"They are, and I will feel more of them soon. I am flying far from this range."

She blinked in surprise.

"What?"

"Yes, I am flying with Kin-liver to other two-leg nests around this range. Someone must tell them that the kin who fly these skies are not Monsters."

"You will be flying into strange two-leg nests!" she grumbled.

"Yes, but do not fear. I have done this before, and I know what to do."

Her ears fell slightly.

"What do you do?"

"I sneak into their nest in the night and write out my picture-words to say my greeting to them. They find it and know that I made it. Then I meet them the next sun. It will be different with Kin-liver flying with jumps-through-clouds."

She grumbled a bit.

"That is still liver-twisting. What if they are false and trick you? They will ground you or worse..."

"I think that I learned from that mistake before."

"What happened?"

His ears fell at the memory.

"It was that bad two-leg Alpha that I told you about. I gave it trust when I should not have. My thinking that I could change the liver of any two-leg was much twisted then. I am careful now to always be able to fly away if I need to."

She snorted and chuckled at his words.

"You are very twisted, Shadowwing. Sometimes I think that you have the liver of a two-leg in you..."

He rolled his eyes.

 _Luna, you have no idea..._

"How long will your flight have you away?" she asked.

"We do not know. Maybe a pawful of suns and maybe half a moon-cycle. You may stay here and take my cave-den for more picture-talking while I am gone."

She slowly hummed in agreement.

"I can do that."

"You might get Dawn-Singer to teach you some more. He has been learning for more suns than you have," he grinned.

She huffed at that suggestion.

"Me learn from one who is flying on his third season-cycle... so twisting. But he has a good head and learned much from you. When are you flying?"

"As soon as I tell my brother that I will be gone."

She almost looked like she wanted to say something but then paused and inclined her head.

"Smooth winds to your flight, Shadowwing."

He bowed his head to her.

"And to yours, Luna."

Then he turned from her and flew off toward his brother's cave. Unsurprisingly, all of them were asleep together in a warm, snug heap of tangled limbs and wings. It was still early enough in the day that he had managed to catch them on one of their slower days at getting up.

He chuckled happily to himself with his tail swaying as he walked up to them and nudged Was-Grounded awake.

"Brother," he whispered.

"Grrrr, what is it?" Was-Grounded groaned.

"I am flying with Kin-liver and jumps-through-clouds to other two-leg nests."

"You are flying from this range, why?"

"To tell the other two-leg nests to not fear the kin that fly from this range. The other kin are flying more from here for fish and prey."

"Yes, I know. There are too many kin here in this one range now."

"You must keep the kin and two-leg peace down in the nest while I am gone."

"Grrr, I am an Alpha, so I must..."

Was-Grounded then yawned widely.

"Keep safe your flight, brother."

A brief nose-nuzzling followed.

"Grrrr, you smell like a kin..." Was-Grounded softly laughed.

He got slapped in the face by a tail as Shadowwing spun around and left the cave with a laugh of his own.

Shadowwing turned his flight for the distant village where he saw a larger dragon hovering in the sky. That was sure to be Cloudjumper.

He threw one glance back toward his own cave where he saw a flash of white. And for one moment he felt unsure about something. A stirring that was shoved down before he was even sure what it was. He had a mission to get to and purpose to focus on.

 _Alright, time to get to this. This is what I am good at. Mostly._

He flew up next to Cloudjumper and saw Valka on his back in all her wild attire, her staff in hand.

Then he gave her a glad roar which was echoed by Cloudjumper as they turned for the south. That was where the nearest villages that would see dragons were sure to be.

 _And she gets to see what it is that I was doing before. This should be fun._

He still turned back one last time and glanced toward the village and where the caves lay hidden against the mountains as they faded from view.

* * *

She watched as Shadowwing and the split-wing flew off down the coast. Then they were gone over the distant horizon.

She sighed and bounded inside his den. Despite being invited to stay there and practice the picture-talking in the dirt, it still felt odd being there. It was not her den and smelled heavily of him. Not that the scent of the place was unsettling though. The number of two-leg things was far more liver-twisting.

But now she had a chance to inspect it all without him being there.

First, she nosed at the roll of tree-skins that had shapes and picture-words on them. He explained that some of these had picture-images of the surrounding range and ranges nearby. Apparently, two-legs did not remember ranges of the world as well as kin do.

Next, there were several of the pouches that he used to carry fish in almost an outside belly.

 _I do not understand him. Why does he try to live as if he is a two-leg in some ways? True, he was fledged in a two-leg nest from a hatchling, but his nestmate was also and he is not so twisted. Was-Grounded does not have a bond-two-leg like many other kin or try to learn picture-talking._

Then she blinked and shivered.

 _But I am becoming more like one also by learning the picture-talking. Grr, I must be careful or I will become as twisted as Shadowwing. Never that height of twistedness._

Then she bounded back over to the dirt pile and put a single clawtip to the soil. She started by practicing the two most important picture-words she knew even though she knew them well enough by now.

Two names.

* * *

Stalking the prey. This was something that she rarely needed to do anymore. Her most-liver-warming Alpha life-mate particularly enjoyed hunting for her and bringing back catches for her and her little ones to feed on. Sometimes it was a catch from the four-legs in this range and sometimes it was a mouthful of fish from the mixed-nest.

But she was a wild, free dark wing in her liver, and that meant that she needed to hunt to stoke her life-fire. Even if the most-bad hard-hunting in her far away not-now range had somewhat chilled the pleasure of the hunt. The hunting was not that hard-empty now in this home-range.

Her tail swayed behind her as she crept between the bushes and close trees. The large buck four-leg was upwind from her. She readied her fire as she had seen her life-mate do many times before, though she had never quite relied on it for hunting in the past. Teeth and claws had always been her preferred way of hunting and killing.

And she darted for it with a snarl. The prey turned tail and ran with great leaping strides toward the deeper forest. Her fire flew toward it and missed, but did drive the prey in fear toward a more open clearing where her claws and teeth could...

A flash of white darted in from the side and tackled the four-leg to the ground. Then she leapt in with a snarl toward her prey that she had been stalking.

And she and Luna stared at each other as the white light wing held a paw down to the downed prey. Both of their tails swayed as they glared at each other and down at the prey that they had both been stalking...

"Green-Wings..." Luna hissed.

"Luna..." she hissed back.

"We were hunting the same prey," Luna then answered.

 _You were hunting my prey..._

"Yes, we were."

A quiet, tail-swaying moment passed.

"Would you... share the catch?" Luna asked.

"Why would you share it?" she tilted her head in thought.

"Your fire drove it to me, and I do not have my fire. But I did catch it with my claws and teeth."

Luna's ears then went up as she softly hummed while the prey still struggled.

"We both eat. Fair?" Luna asked.

She purred in agreement.

 _Your thinking is not rotted, Luna._

Luna then bent down and snapped the prey's neck to silence it while she calmly walked up next to the light wing. Then Luna used a sharp claw to slice off the prey's hide. Then the feeding started.

 _You are a strong, dangerous hunter. You will be a good mate and dam, if you want that..._

Luna swallowed a large chunk of the prey's belly and then stepped back after nudging the prey with a forepaw.

She took that as the invitation to feed as well and she did so, digging around in the belly until she found the liver. Her favorite part tucked away in her belly, she then sat down and calmly regarded the light wing. Luna did the same to her.

"You know some of my life-story, Green-Wings. I do not know any of yours."

"There is little to say of it before. I was hatched to a good sire and dam, very much far toward where the sun hatches. Two-legs were ranging closer to the cave-den. I flew from the nest and followed the sun's flight. Then I found my range where I could fly on my own."

Then she grumbled.

"It had little prey, but there was also no danger from two-legs."

"It sounds like a very good range for you. A place for a true hunter to live," Luna answered.

"I was warmed by that range for season-cycles until I found a male dark wing. It was... very wild and strong."

Luna hummed softly.

"Was-Grounded is a good life-mate for you."

"No, it was not him. It was another male bigger than Was-Grounded. I... was very warmed to find a... kin... like me," she growled in anger.

"Why do you have anger?" Luna warily asked.

"It did not stay with me after we mated. I... could not catch enough prey for me and my hatchling. My first little one died without enough food. Then I knew that I would never have any eggs again with that monster. I hid from it every new-life-season."

Her faint snarl gave way to a soft purr.

"Then, one life-slowing-season, I found another, true dark wing in my range. He talked to me, hunted for me, and looked at me with much warmth in his eyes. He was very different from the other one. Still a hunter and wild in his liver, but warm and other-thinking with very twisted thinking about two-legs."

"Egg-mates... they are twisting in many ways," Luna groaned.

They both purred their agreement about that.

"But he did teach me things about life that I would not have known. I thought of two-legs as food before, and he told me stories about good two-legs with liver-warmth for kin. He also taught me to growl at and shake the neck of what was because we wanted something new or different to be. He made me a stronger kin. And now we have a nest and little ones."

"Your Dawn-Singer and Aurora are very warm fledglings. They have no fear of... life," Luna sighed.

"What about you, Luna? You are strong and are not life-grounded."

Luna shuffled on her paws and did not look up at her.

"I still remember much bad from two-legs... and from kin."

She got up from where she sat and walked over to Luna. The light wing shrank back very slightly at her approach.

"But not from us. We have not hurt you, and we will not. You are... kin to us."

Luna froze and glanced up at her as her white ears lifted.

"You would name me your kin?"

"You have a liver with no rot. You are not a life-thrall to two-legs. My little ones are warmed to see you and play with you. And we can share words with you, something we cannot do with the other kin. Yes, you are kin to us."

Then she stepped back from Luna.

"The catch is yours, Luna. I was hunting less for eating and more for knowing that I can hunt. I can get fish from the mixed nest. You may fly to my cave-den when you want to play with my little ones. And if you try to impress my life-mate from me, I will eat your liver."

Green-eyes delved deeply into light-blue eyes that returned an even, steady gaze that did not blink.

"I will not do that. You should know that, Green-Wings," Luna answered.

She only grinned a toothy grin and hummed in satisfaction as she turned tail and flew off to leave Luna to the prey. She turned her flight back to her cave-den where her life-mate was surely tending the little ones or out playing with them.

 _She has a steady life-fire in her liver. Hmm, I wonder how much she has warmed to Shadowwing by now._

* * *

The flight of three passed several dragons lazily flying or otherwise lying on the ground as they themselves flew along the coast. It was a rather warming sight since they both knew how rare dragons were in the world.

 _To see more of them living freely here is very good. But there will be more tensions with the other people in this area._

Then the first village eventually came into view after much flying.

 _I did not visit this one before. Wonder how this meeting will go. We can probably try to make this faster than how I did it before._

He flew up alongside Cloudjumper and waved at Valka with a beckoning nod. Then the two of them dove down toward the central square. Valka stood aloft on Cloudjumper's back the whole time and did not even need to brace herself as the great Stormcutter backwinged and settled down on the ground. Then he dove as well and landed at his side.

There was a great deal of confusion and screaming all around as people ran back and forth. Several dozen men ran out with spears and shields, though they were quite reluctant to advance.

Valka was aided down to the ground with a wing and then turned to the soldiers. She removed her helmet.

"I would speak with your Chief!"

The men gaped at her in amazement and did not move for several stunned moments.

"Well, get a move on, or I will have this Night Fury eat every chicken in your village!"

He turned to stare at her and gave her a confused grunt.

"Oh, come on... I know you like chicken!"

They both stared at each other for several moments and then broke down in laughter. His throaty peals carried over the village. Even Cloudjumper joined in a moment later in his odd way.

That seemed to break the moment all around.

One of the larger and better-dressed men slowly stepped forward while holding his shield and a spear.

"What is this!" he roared at them.

"Are you the Chief?" Valka asked.

"I am. What is with these dragons you have?"

Shadowwing then stepped forward and put a claw to the ground.

 **Greetings Chief**

The man gawked in disbelief.

"What trickery is this? Loki is at work here!"

Valka stepped forward while leaning on her staff.

"No Loki here. My name is Dragonheart. My dragon is named Cloudjumper. And the Night Fury is named Shadowwing. He knows his words as you can see."

"Impossible!"

 **Improbable**

 **There is a difference**

The Chief stared in evident confusion, clearly trying to process what he was seeing as compared to all the stories that he certainly knew.

"How... how can this be?"

 **Dragons are not monsters**

"I don't... what?"

"What is your name, Chief?" Valka asked.

"Vilgar."

Valka and Shadowwing both slightly inclined their heads.

"What!" Vilgar exclaimed.

"We wanted to meet with you to explain something. You and your people might have noticed a lot more dragons recently."

"Yes, we did. It all started earlier this spring. They started flying down from the north and snatching up livestock."

She winced slightly at the confirmation and glanced at Shadowwing.

"They didn't hurt anyone, did they?"

"Not yet, but there have been close calls. Why are there so many dragons now? They were gone for years and that was good. We had peace," Vilgar groaned.

"A lot of them were slaves that had no choice but to fight. They are free now and want to live in peace. But there..."

"Peace! They hound our fishing boats and attack our cattle. What is peaceful about that?"

A chorus of muttering went around through the gathered audience.

 **Many of them were slaves in an army**

 **They do not know better**

"Even if that is true, that changes nothing for us. They are still dangerous."

Shadowwing hung his head as he thought about this dilemma and how to convey what was needed without saying too much.

 _No one is truly at fault here. The dragons need to fly further for fish and other food and that puts them in this tribe's territory. They are not trying to hurt anyone. And these people already know that we are somewhere up north._

 **The dragons that we freed must fly for food**

 **There are too many at our home now to provide for**

 **They do not mean any harm**

"Well, tell them to leave us alone!"

 _If only it were that simple. I cannot control them or even truly talk to them._

"We only wanted to let you and the other tribes around here know that we mean no harm. There are also some things that you can do to help defend yourselves without violence," Valka offered.

"What? Anything you can share would help," Vilgar warily acknowledged.

Valka waved a hand at Shadowwing, having discussed before some possible advice they could share.

 **Most dragons do not like eels**

"What? Eels?" Vilgar exclaimed in confusion.

"Yeah, only one type of dragon that we know of will eat eels. The rest will stay far away if they see any eels or even smell eels."

"That is a crazy idea... How will that help with our livestock?"

"You can also always keep lookout in the early afternoon. That is when dragons tend to range farthest from their homes," Valka offered.

"None of that helps us though. What if they attack? How can we defend ourselves?"

 **You could befriend them**

Chief Vilgar's eyes bugged as he looked at the words.

"What!"

 **Become dragon riders**

"No, no, no. We only want to be left in peace."

"We are glad to hear that. We will do what we can to keep the peace, but we cannot guarantee that nothing will ever happen..." Valka reluctantly granted.

"I must do what I can to keep my own people safe. You understand that, yes?" Vilgar replied.

She nodded.

"I... thank you for telling me, Dragonheart. Please leave us in peace."

 **We will**

 **Thank you for understanding**

Vilgar slowly nodded while staring back at the Fury and then stepped back. The Chief had kept his wary and appraising look to him throughout the entire discussion.

Valka vaulted back onto Cloudjumper's back, and the two dragons left the ground a moment later. Shadowwing grumbled to himself as they put the village to their tails.

 _Well, that was mildly disappointing. Good to hear that it has not come to actual violence for them._

* * *

They crowded close around the campfire as Cloudjumper lay asleep coiled around them. A pair of fish were roasting in the fire as Valka rested against the Stormcutter's side. Shadowwing lay next to her and stared at the fire, his head on the ground.

All was peaceful.

"Well, that last one was... disturbing..." she softly spoke.

 _Tell me about it..._

"Why they thought you would want to eat someone as a sacrifice, I do not want to know..."

He only shook his head at the reminder.

"At least they had not seen much from the dragons after all. I really do not know what we are going to do about them. The dragons from the tribes are all well enough behaved for the most part. It is the ones from Drago's army and from the ice nest that do not know so well how to behave. They've got a bit more violence and wildness in them."

 _I know. We are still having issues with them relieving themselves in the village._

"But we will figure something out. We always do."

She pulled the finished fish from the fire and ate them. More quiet and peace followed afterwards. The only sounds were their breaths and the crickets in the darkness.

"Son?" she whispered.

He slowly lifted his head and turned to face her.

"How are you?"

Fine, he nodded and rumbled.

"How are you really?" she asked again.

He sighed, closed his eyes, and then slowly wrote in the dirt patch they had cleared.

 **It does not feel that bad now**

 **But I do not feel much of anything anymore**

He wavered before continuing.

 **Like I am sleepwalking in life**

"Always?"

He hummed softly for a moment and gradually let it roll into a soft purr.

 **Not when with the other Furies**

 **They are almost all my living family now**

 **But down in the village, being Alpha**

 **That all feels more empty**

 **Just a duty that I must do**

 **It feels like I am being pulled**

 **Away from everything I knew**

"Responsibility can feel like that, true. That is part of growing up and letting go."

He gave a whining sigh.

 **I miss them so much**

 **Dad and Astrid**

"I know. I do too. I know what it is like to miss someone you love... do I ever..."

She wiped her cheek with a sleeve.

"But all we can do is celebrate them. The best way to honor them is to remember them and keep alive the world that they built and... died for. To give up on that world would mean that the fallen died in vain, that they died for nothing."

Then she paused before warily continuing.

"I've been meaning to ask. How is Luna? How is she doing now?"

 _She definitely seems a bit better. Flying and hunting on her own definitely helps._

 **She is learning well**

 **Maybe enough to talk to you soon**

"But what about outside of writing? How is she really?"

He closed his eyes as he thought about what to say.

 _I do not know if she will ever move on entirely from the past. She might never be able to trust humans as a whole now._

 **She is more free now**

 **I tried to push her into the village in the past**

 **I will not do that again**

 **It is her choice if she ever wants to trust humans**

Valka glanced one more time at his words and then pulled her blanket over herself.

"I hope she does."

He stared up at the stars as the light from the fire slowly faded.

 _As do I._

* * *

Luna stared up at the sky-lights as the evening light faded.

It was a comfortable perch indeed up here on the highest peaks that overlooked the Haven-range. On her tail side of the rock lay the total wild and unknown. An expanse of trees that stretched out to the horizon. The other side of the rock sloped down into the range she knew. The range with the two-legs and other kin. The range that she had been in since the previous life-slowing-season.

Now she was ungrounded, free, and able to go where she wanted.

 _Where does my life-flight go now?_

Several glances followed between the wild and the Haven-range. The wild called to her liver. To hunt on her own, catch her own prey, rely on no other, fly the winds back to wherever her den would be, and curl up there in...

Silence...

Alone...

She reflected on the life that Green-Wings had lived before finding Was-Grounded.

The idea was not as warming as it had once seemed.

 _My wants are flying apart from the other._

Her gaze went up to the mournful, ever-flying moon bright above.

 _What would you do? You fly alone high in the sky._

And a liver-warming idea filled her with wanting.

 _Maybe this is the night I tag you now that I am very strong._

So she launched herself from the rock and began the spiral upwards, easily losing her waking thoughts as she ascended the sky. Up past the lowest flying clouds and higher still. She even left behind the heights that she had flown on her first restored free flight.

All the while the far high flying clouds rolled and closed on the moon, threatening to block out its white light. The cold grew greater. The sky itself started feeling thinner and gave her wings less lift with each beat. Breathing became hard and brought less relief.

And the moon seemed to come no closer in all that time.

 _How high do you fly? You and the sky-lights. Are you not part of this world-range?_

Still she flew on higher, determined to reach that lofty goal. Her head started hurting and the world started spinning as the chill closed around her. Her weary eyes closed as she weakly sighed.

 _'Remember that you must always think ahead when diving into deep water, little one.'_

 _'What do you mean, sire?'_

 _'You want to dive deep and catch fish, yes?'_

 _'Yes, sire.'_

She sat down and looked up at him as he spoke wisdom and life-guidance.

 _'And you must turn back for the air long before you feel your need to breathe. By the time that you know you must get air, it is too late to start kicking for air if you are deep under the water. Do you see the life-lesson?'_

She blinked and thought about the liver of what he was saying.

 _'Know what I can do and what I cannot do?'_

 _'Yes, my sky-light...'_

Her weary eyes opened as she felt the spinning wind and heard the roaring rush around her. As she weightlessly tumbled back into warmer air.

 _What? Where am I?_

She blinked wildly and shook her head to get the twisted, confused thinking out.

Falling. That is what she was doing.

A quick spin followed and her wings carried her aloft on the dark winds again. A few wingbeats passed before she recovered herself and mournfully looked up into the sky.

The moon was hiding fully behind the distant dark clouds. The high sky had fouled her attempt to fly to it. It was a flight that was not good for her.

Then she gave a short and sad cry at realizing that her old vision-hope of touching the moon one future sun would never be. They were flying in completely different world-winds.

Down from the sky she then flew toward the mountains far below. Lost in her thoughts about a flight that would never be flown, she flew down the side of the mountain and started looking for the caves.

But the caves were all gone. Nothing was familiar at all about the range now.

Then she pulled up away from the mountain and growled at her own lack of care and confusion.

 _This is the wrong side of the mountains. What was I thinking..._

Back up and over the peaks she swiftly flew, this time taking note of the fire-lights from the distant Haven-nest and the familiar shapes of the rocks and the distant ocean. Down the range her flight took her until she dove down toward her own den, landed, and eagerly bounded inside.

The familiar comfort of the place wrapped itself around her like warm wings. Her smell that claimed the cave-den and marked it as hers. Her shed scales shoved into a corner against the rock wall. The quiet peace and silence.

Alone.

And there was something wiggling in her liver. A wanting that was barely noticeable and which her life-flame shied away from without her knowing-thoughts seeing the choice. That future was flying in a dark cloud which she could not see into. Two different life-paths, poised between them and not knowing or feeling how to choose which one to fly.

But aloneness was not so warming now.

* * *

Was-Grounded was flying back to his cave-den, Dawn-Singer at his side after grabbing some fish together, when a flash of white caught his attention in the early sun's light. He saw Luna dive down the mountain and alight outside his cave shortly before he himself did.

 _What are you doing here?_

"Was-Grounded," she nodded respectfully as he touched down beside her and sat down on his rear.

Dawn-Singer spared no formalities and bounded up to her with a happy hum.

"Luna! Are we going to do more picture-talking this sun?"

"We can later young one. You can help teach me more."

"Is there a flight you are flying, Luna?" Was-Grounded kindly asked.

Her light blue eyes stared back at his green ones.

"A flight, yes... I remembered how alone we are as kin in all the ranges of the world. I... want to be around my... kin more."

He hummed warmly, still trying to figure out her true meaning behind her words.

"We are the almost the same kin, but are we kin to the other? Are you kin to my nest, Luna?"

"That is a silly, twisted question, sire. Yes, she is our kin!" Dawn-Singer eagerly declared.

 _That depends on how she sees herself and us, my little one. If all were so warm as you are now._

Green-Wings and Aurora slowly exited the cave-den as well and came over to him.

"Luna!" Aurora hummed.

Then the now-fledgling dashed over to Luna and started prancing around her. It was not lost on them that the fledgling was loudly declaring them both as known to the other.

"Little sky-breath one..." Luna softly hummed.

"Bright wing! Bright wing!" Aurora jumped to bat at Luna's folded wings.

They all laughed at the fledgling's antics.

"Luna, you still seem to carry a chill with you now. Is something hunting you?" Green-Wings observed and asked.

Luna looked up away from Aurora and glanced toward the mountains.

"I was thinking much about this range, the two-leg and kin mixed-nest, and... my life-winds."

"What about them?" he wondered.

"I see that I do not see clearly. I think I want different things that cannot both be."

"Do you want to stay here in the wild of this Haven-range?" Green-Wings asked.

Luna paused and grumbled softly. She threw a glance up toward the peaks of the mountains before answering.

"There are no other ranges to go to that I know of. This one has good hunting. The two-legs here are not much rotted kin-hunters, even if I will not let them touch my liver. I should stay here long."

Was-Grounded and Green-Wings shared a glance.

"That is warming to hear. If you are going to be staying here, will you make a nest of your own?" Green-Wings asked.

Silence followed.

"I have my own cave-den already," Luna warily answered after several twisting moments.

"That is not what I..." Green-Wings was silenced by a subtle nudge from Was-Grounded.

"What?" she hissed.

"I will tell you later..." he answered.

Then he turned back to Luna.

"Will you watch Dawn-Singer for us as you learn more picture-talking?"

Luna hummed and turned to Dawn-Singer.

"Let us fly to Shadowwing's cave and fly more of the picture-talking flight."

Dawn-Singer happily growled, and they both leapt for the sky.

"Me fly also!" Aurora hummed.

They both followed Aurora on the ground to watch her as she flew. She only had a pawful of suns under her wings and was a bit clumsier than her older nestmate still. But she was learning as she got stronger, and she had the same flight-joy as she beat her small wings and spun up above them.

"What was that about?" Green-Wings asked with a hiss.

His ears went back, and he gave a wary hum.

 _I guess it is finally time to fly the truth with her._

"You were going to tell Luna to take Shadowwing as her mate, truth?"

"Yes, that would be good for them both," she confidently replied.

A soft growl of his own followed.

"Do you trust me, my mate?" he asked.

"Always," she rubbed his neck for emphasis.

"Then do not talk to them about that. I do hope that they will fly together as mates, but we should not talk to them about it."

She grumbled in confusion.

"Why not?"

"My mate, will you say on your wings, your liver, and your life-breath that you will not tell any other what I will tell you now?"

Her eyes narrowed in consideration as she gave him her fullest attention.

"And on our being life-mates, yes," she declared.

"There is something about him that I have not told you. You will not think it possible."

She rolled her eyes and huffed in his face.

"Coming from a twisting kin like you... Try to surprise me."

"He was not always a kin like us. He was once a two-leg."

Her mouth fell open in confusion, and she was about to speak when he continued.

"You remember what I once told you about a two-leg who was my kin, who has a place in my liver?"

"Yes."

"That was him. He was the two-leg male who had a chance to kill me and make his two-leg nest speak well of him. But he did not do it. He freed me, brought me fish, and… became as a nestmate to me."

She eventually closed her parted jaws and blinked very rapidly at him.

"That is... I do not know... what to think..."

He swung his tail around in front of him and stroked her nose with the left fin.

"I was grounded then. I lost this fin to a... two-leg trap."

She stared at the restored fin, licked it once, and shivered at the thought of it being lost.

"He built me a two-leg not-tailfin thing to fly in the place of the lost one. That was how I was made not-grounded the first time. We learned to fly together with him on my back and helping me with the new tailfin. We killed a nest-Monster and freed a nest of kin, but we both were hit by its tail-spikes."

He hung his head and whined at the memory.

"I knew that he was going to die and I was also going to die in my fall, so I used my life-will-power on both of us. I did not know if it would do anything and heal him since he was a two-leg, but I asked the great sky-breath to heal us both, to save both our life-breaths. The next thing I knew was that I had hatched out of a new egg. I could remember everything about my life-flight. I had a new and good hatchling body with both tailfins. And there was another hatchling with me."

"Shadowwing?" she gasped.

He hummed, pleased that she understood.

"His life-breath was saved, even with his two-leg body being made not. My liver-bond two-leg became my egg-mate that sun. Or, to use the two-leg word he taught me for what we are, my brother."

He finally stopped speaking and looked at Green-Wings to see her reaction. She seemed completely stunned and struggled to say anything for many wingbeats.

"I never would have thought that. He has always been very strange and twisting for a kin, but that is the most twisted thing I have ever heard. It does explain why he does many two-leg things and knows their words and picture-talking," she eventually mumbled.

"You see why we should not push them to fly together?"

"Because he was a two-leg once?"

"And because of how much he lost at the ice nest. He needs many suns for his liver to heal from all the death and grounding."

He growled as his eyes narrowed slightly.

"And the winds of Luna's life were not warm to her. The idea of having a mate, of having a male be one with her, might still hurt her liver. We should let them both grow together with many sun-cycles on their own."

Green-Wings glanced up at the spiraling Aurora up above.

"Luna does feel warmer now than she was when I first saw her. Then she was chilled only by seeing us and how warm our livers are," Green-Wings remarked.

"Her life-winds will not be grounded long. Her scales already shine bright in the light. Her tail is long and her wings are strong. She is free now of the badness of two-legs, and she is wild at liver. Any mate of hers would be very warmed by her," he hummed.

Then jaws closed around his neck as he was tackled to the ground. Green-Wings hopped onto his back and roughly sat on him.

"Grr, why did you do that?" he groaned.

"You are mine," she growled down at him after releasing his neck.

He twisted under her, rolled to spill her on the ground, and completely pinned her as though to claim her then and there, though she barely fought back and was clearly pleased to be so pinned. Then he nuzzled her nose and purred deeply to her.

"And I will always be yours. What? Do you think I would go join with her when I want her and my brother to become mates? You twisted she-kin!"

She had no chance to freely retaliate because Aurora landed and hopped up to them. She chirped in confusion and then struck as well.

"Play-fight!"

And she was nibbling on an ear a moment later. He fell to the side as his fledgling struck. Then Green-Wings struck from his other side and nibbled on his other ears.

Defeated.

"You win! I am grounded!" he bellowed in amusement.

"No sire, you are Was-Grounded!" Aurora yelled after she released the ears.

Both females laughed deeply in their livers and smugly purred to themselves at their triumph. Then Green-Wings fell in at his side and wrapped her tail around his.

"You did not doubt me, did you?" he warily hummed.

"No, I only wanted to twist your liver."

He sighed softly.

"Luna is warming to look at, that is truth. Maybe I would have been a good mate with her in a different life-flight. But I do not have for her the warmth that I have with you."

He softly nudged her side.

"You saved my life before when you chose me and helped me kill the thought-rotted male. You have given me two little ones and another egg in a few moon-cycles. And there will be many more in all future season-cycles."

They both lost themselves in their trusting croons and tender nuzzles.

"Will they become mates?" she eventually asked.

"What do you think?" he raised his eye-ridges at her question.

"Their life-winds are flying closer every sun. Yes, they will," she declared after a moment of thought.

They both purred at the idea. Aurora joined in from under his wing where she liked to snuggle.

"I agree. He is still some twisted in his liver at past hurts, but he is warming to her. His ears always go up when he sees her. And he looks long at her without knowing it," he chuckled.

Then Green-Wings huffed.

"The more season-cycles they wait though the longer the wait is for our little ones to get mates here," she bemoaned.

"True, but I would not have fear for them."

Then his ears went up as he gave a soft chuckle and looked down at the clearly confused Aurora.

"I have an idea. We can help guide their flights together..."


	61. III - Declarations

_**Author's Note – This chapter has a few important talks as the title should give away. There is a nod to the trailers, and we also hear the first echoes of the bells of fate.**_

* * *

" _To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark." - Victor Hugo_

* * *

Declarations

* * *

Shadowwing roared with relief when Haven finally came into view again on the horizon.

 _Finally! I wonder what disasters befell everyone while we were gone. The Great Hall is still going up. There are no signs of any fires. Plenty of dragons are on the wing. Yep, everything looks good._

He dove down toward the main clearing and finally realized something.

Not everything was good.

Dozens of dragons were crowded around the fish stations and were violently shoving each other out of the way. All the perches were occupied, which forced dragons to sit on houses which were not built to support such weight. There were places where there was not enough room to push a cart down the road. There was a lot of noise from roaring and shouting. Several people were only making their ways through the crowded streets by jumping from dragonback to dragonback.

He finally spotted a small clearing over near the forge and deftly backwinged as he landed. Gobber was in the forge and hard at work at something. And then he spotted why there was a clearing near the forge.

Gobber had pinned a dead and very evil-smelling eel over the entrance to the forge.

 _Clever, clever..._

He snuck into the forge after growling at the foul-wrongness of the eel. He was better able to maneuver around this forge since it was much bigger inside than the one on Berk had been, and he crept up behind the dear blacksmith.

"Boo!" he cried.

Gobber leapt in surprise, lost his balance, tumbled to the side, and fell into a pile of weaponry hanging from the wall and on the list to be sharpened. Swords and spears harmlessly fell flat onto the man's back.

"I'm ok!"

A large axe started to shift on the wall and looked dangerously close to falling.

The tiny bolt of glowing fire flew forth before either of them were aware of it and struck the axe full on the heavy blade, knocking it safely back into the corner of the forge.

"Ah, whad'ya do that for? I had my hand on the situation," Gobber groaned.

Shadowwing huffed and rolled his eyes.

 _Sure, whatever you say..._

He held out a paw for Gobber, and the blacksmith groaned as he was easily helped onto his foot.

"Odin's eye, I'm not as young as I once was. I really need ta get a new apprentice."

 **Why have you not?**

"Well, my... retention rate... with apprentices has nae been the best. I think the parents think that someone cursed the position."

 _Fair point, that has been a very bad run of luck._

Then a truly crazy idea entered his thoughts.

 _No way this works. But this is so crazy that it almost makes sense._

 **Could I help at all?**

Gobber looked at him as though he had sprouted another head.

"Huh? What? You want to take over the forge for me?"

 **Take over no**

 **I could help though**

Gobber then rubbed his mustache in thought.

"Well, be honest now, do you think you could hold everything and work all the tools?"

A faint purr echoed as they both looked over everything in the smithy.

 **Using many tools would be hard**

 **But other things would be easy**

 **And it is harder for me to get burned**

"That is true. Bit more fireproof on the outside this time, eh? I guess that ya would also already know a lot more than any new apprentice. And ya'd never have a problem lightin' the forge now would ye?"

They both chuckled at the comment.

 **Very true**

"Imagine it. Metal forged with a Night Fury's fire. Well, it is settled then. I will go talk ta tha Chief about it. You will be tha first dragon blacksmith in the history of eh... forever... I guess."

They both laughed deeply at that.

 **How was everything else while we were gone?**

Gobber groaned and collapsed in his chair at the question.

"Don' get me wrong now, I like the peace as much as any other Nord here but... there are too many dragons."

 **Is this not a dragon-Nord utopia?**

"Your utopia maybe. Mine is less crowded and more sanitary. Did ya know that I had ta clean up a pile of dung from the roof the other day? It was... pungent."

They both winced at the thought.

 **Occupational hazard?**

That at least brought a hearty chuckle to them both.

"Yeah, and we found a Terror swimming in one of tha cauldrons of soup a couple days ago!"

 **Was it fish soup?**

"Dunno, I dinna try it."

Then Gobber sighed.

"I'm probably overreactin', but it has been hard tha last couple weeks while u've been gone. So many incidents, unexplained fires, sheep going missing, and the little fishing boats being hounded."

 **Is it that bad?**

"Well, no one's been hurt yet, but m'fraid it's only a matter of time."

 **Has Toothless been helping?**

"Oh yeah, he's down in the village almost every day ta help with the challenges and fights. It's always the new dragons though. The ones from Drago's army mostly since they are more used ta violence, I guess. Even the wild ones from the Bewilderbeast's nest are a bit much. There just is not enough here ta provide for everyone. Oh, I forgot ta ask, how did it go out there with ya two?"

Shadowwing groaned and slumped to the ground with a great sigh.

"That bad huh?"

 **Frustrating**

 **Some of them seemed to listen**

 **I think**

Gobber then roughly got up and patted him on the head.

"It's alright. Ya were just doing that ta help them anyway, ta help em' know what to expect."

A sad warble followed.

 **It hurts to see how little they want to trust**

"Whell, not everyone is like us now. I guess we got used ta having dragons around in some way aft'r generations. That made it easier for us ta change after we learned another way from you. But it is strange for the peoples on the mainland ta see dragons again after not seeing them at all, I think..."

Then Gobber turned for the door.

"Whelp, I'm going ta go tell the Chief about our arrangement here."

 **This is only temporary**

 **Don't forget that I am an Alpha to the dragons**

"Aye, what does that mean though, you being Alpha?"

 **Basically like a Chief**

 **Help protect them**

 **And break up the worst fights**

"Never thought I'd live ta see the day. Hiccup muscling in on fights..."

They stared at each other. Gobber blinked. Shadowwing blinked.

Then they both gave a confusing sigh that turned into chuckling.

"Well, that is one more reason why it would be good to have you here in the village a bit more. Though..." Gobber frowned and paused.

 **What?**

"I dunno. It seems ya have a lot ta do already, what with teachin' the other Furies and bein' a dragon Chief. I wonder if..." Gobber sighed.

Shadowwing gently nudged his shoulder.

"Are ya tryin' ta go back ta yer old life even now?"

Shadowwing hung his head and softly grumbled.

 _Uh, I don't think so. I might have wanted that in the past, but that is not really me anymore._

 **No Gobber**

 **I only want to help and**

 **Be around a friend**

Gobber looked down at the words for a moment and then lay a hand on his neck.

"Ok, I believe ya. In that case I am glad ta have tha help."

Shadowwing nodded and followed Gobber outside. Then he took to the sky and observed all he could see of Haven.

 _What am I doing? They all need to know that I am home!_

He immediately turned for the mountains and found himself outside the cave seemingly moments later after an eager flight.

And he heard snoring from within.

 _Oh, you poor dragon, being Alpha is that tough, huh? Well, I was not here to help so..._

He strode inside and walked over to the snoring Fury. Was-Grounded had his head hidden under his tailfins and looked very exhausted. And he was a perfect, unknowing target.

 _Should I or should I not? Nah, he looks very tired._

"Brother..."

Ears twitched.

He stepped closer and carefully tickled the ears.

The ears twitched more, and there was a faint grumble.

"Brother..."

"Grrrrrr... Shad...wingg..."

"What is with you? Did you eat something rotted?"

Was-Grounded slowly lifted his head and stared at him with very bleary eyes that struggled to focus on him.

"The other kin... they are almost as liver-twisting as you."

Shadowwing sat back on his haunches and gave him a sympathetic grin.

"What did they do?"

"Chase four-leg thrall-prey animals, chase the fish-bringing water-walkers, drop their waste where feet walk, mark territory with waste-water, fight for territory... grrr... and the two-leg Alpha and Kin-liver come get me to fly over that nest and stop the fights... All when I have my own nest and little ones to protect and play with. I want sleep..." he yawned.

"Hmm, I can help keep peace now that I am back."

"That would be good. How was the flight to other nests?"

Shadowwing gave a deep sigh.

"We said what we needed to say, but I do not know if the two-leg nests wanted to hear."

"So, they are normal two-leg nests?" Was-Grounded laughed.

"Thank you for saying that. Where is the rest of your nest?"

"Flying up to the frozen-fluffy water in the highest mountains. The little ones wanted to play up there in the cold. You might want to fly to Luna."

"Why?" Shadowwing blinked in surprise.

"She has warmed to my little ones much. She does not sleep here in the den, but she let Aurora sleep on her head."

"Did she? That is good. I will go find her now," Shadowwing hummed before he turned and bounded out the cave.

Was-Grounded remained where he was resting and watched his brother go with warmth in his own liver.

 _You go find her. Take all the suns you need. You will fall into her good life-trap._

Then his tail started swaying as he had an idea for a very subtle nudge that could be given. It was one that he and Green-Wings had already spoken about in their planning about how to guide Shadowwing's and Luna's life-flights together into one. He flew to his feet and bounded out the cave, forgetting his own tiredness for the moment as he turned for the coldest of the mountains.

* * *

There was a flash of white inside his cave.

He pulled up for a moment before entering and merely watched as she remained bent down toward the writing dirt.

 _I wonder how much she has learned in the last couple weeks._

"Luna!"

She stiffened and lifted her head to turn toward him as he bounded inside.

"Shadowwing! How was your flight?" she asked.

"Some chilling. There was ice and not-trust in the livers of many two-legs out there. But we told them that the far-flying kin mean no danger."

"Will that help?" she hummed.

"I hope it will. Your learning?"

They both turned back to the dirt where she had been busy writing, clearly with Dawn-Singer helping in the past. She probably did not actually know the language yet, but she had apparently learned the specific words that were needed to get across what she wanted.

 **Dragonheart you help wings**

"Very good, Luna," he purred happily at seeing her progress.

Then she chuckled and bent down to write some more.

 **Two-legs thingking twisting**

"I will not fly against you on that."

 **Shadowwing thingking twisting**

"What!" he groaned.

She laughed openly at him.

"Very funny, yes, laugh at the kin who is an Alpha," he grumbled.

"May he never step in waste..." she solemnly professed.

He blinked.

 _Did you just make a joke? You wit..._

Her grin steadily faded into something more solemn though as something else seemed to drift into her thoughts.

"Shadowwing?"

"Yes, Luna?"

"I am ready to go down into the two-leg nest."

He froze and held his tail very still.

 _Wait, what!_

"Is that liver-truth, Luna?"

"Yes, I want to see where they roost. Only if you will walk with me though."

"I will, Luna. They say many warm things about you and wish that you would roost with them."

She hissed and growled softly.

"No, no roosting or sharing that nest. But I will walk in their nest and see the places with fish for eating."

He nodded and walked outside with her following him. Then they took to the sky and turned their flights down toward Haven. They landed on the outskirts of the village where they were likely to get less attention at first.

That did not happen.

Nearly a dozen dragons turned for them as soon as they touched down. All of the dragons bowed their heads and wings slightly to him as their Alpha. Then they turned to Luna, eager to greet, smell, and nudge the newcomer.

She shied away from their eager advances. He flared his wings wide and snarled softly in warning to them. They quickly backed down and went on their own ways, clearly somewhat confused but not going to challenge or disobey him.

"What was that?" he softly asked.

She stared at the ground.

"I still fear the other kin, especially males."

"They will not hurt you. They are not Monsters."

"Any of them could be one which... tried to hurt me before."

He hung his head for a moment. It was a very fair point on her part.

"True, but they would have been thrall-kin, yes?"

"Maybe..."

"Their livers were not in what happened. They might not even know that it happened, if they were thought-thralls. And I would not let them hurt you if they tried," he growled.

She warily hummed at that and then stepped away from his side.

"It would make me feel warmer if I had my own fire," she then sighed.

"What happened to it? You have fire-air, yes?"

"Yes, I have fire-air but no spark. It was hot white fire, almost like the color of my wings. I think it died when I was thrall for long," she sadly explained.

He stepped closer to her and softly nudged her shoulder without thinking anything of it.

"If it helps you feel warmer, I could not make any fire until the same sun I and my brother became Alphas. You did not think that you would ever fly again. I think that you will learn your fire."

Then he stepped away and gestured deeper into the village.

"Follow?"

A hesitant moment passed and then she stepped forward and slowly followed him as they walked together through Haven. She frequently glanced all around her and was clearly very wary of her surroundings.

"Look at all the perches and the tree-dens," he offered.

"I see them."

There were many occupied perches on the houses and stables that had been built. The stables tended to have the more domesticated dragons and those with young still under their care. The wilder dragons reclined wherever they wanted to on the ground through the countryside.

Plenty of the village's humans saw their passage and waved or tried to approach. He gently held out a wing or a paw to give them an obvious sign to keep a respectful distance. Some of them needed more convincing than others since they were Nords after all and were not the most perceptive of people.

"Look at 'em!" "So sparkly!" "Nev'r seen one like 'er." "Are they a pair yet?"

He froze in his steps and blinked as the last thing that he heard echoed in his head.

 _Uh, no... no... no... no... you've got this all wrong! I do not want anything like that and neither does she! We are not even the same type of dragon._

 _Nope... never... not. So that is... that._

"Shadowwing, why are you not walking?"

He shook his head and caught back up with her.

"Twisted two-legs..." he grumbled.

Then they both arrived at the largest fish station. It was also the one which always had the most dragons perched around it as they waited for the daily deliveries.

"Do not fear them," he whispered.

Her only answer was to walk a little closer to his side.

"The two-leg who stands at the fish-place will give each kin a few fish and will make sure that no kin takes too many fish," he explained.

Then they both saw something that made them both hum with warmth.

"Kin-liver!" Luna cried.

Sure enough, Valka and Cloudjumper flew in, and she deftly lowered herself to the ground with Cloudjumper's much-practiced assistance.

"Luna!" Valka smiled.

Shadowwing hummed in happy surprise when Luna bounded up to Valka and quickly sat down before her.

"I want to picture-talk to her."

"Are you ready to picture-talk?" he wondered.

"I remember how to make what I want to say. Dawn-Singer helped me learn this."

He stepped forward and flamed a small patch of trampled grass to write on. Then he nodded at her and stepped back.

Luna fixed Valka with her light blue eyes and deliberately bent down to the ground.

 **Dragonheart**

Valka smiled very widely at the writing.

"Luna, you can write."

Luna hummed softly and bent back down.

 **You help wings**

"I would do the same for any dragon. Do you understand me, Luna?"

Luna blinked and grumbled softly until he relayed what was said.

"Do you think I can learn to hear the two-leg voice-talking?" she asked.

"Yes, Was-Grounded and Dawn-Singer already know much of it. Kin-liver would teach you, if you want."

Then he wrote.

 **Can you teach her to understand spoken Norse?**

"Yes Luna, I will," Valka eagerly answered.

Luna hummed in pleasure of her own, completely able to understand that response without any aid.

They got no further in the discussion because four shapes appeared in the sky and flew down at them. All four of the inbound Furies landed rather nearby in the clearing. There was a moment of peace and quiet.

Then Dawn-Singer and Aurora dashed to attack Valka, Green-Wings and Was-Grounded bounded over to Shadowwing and Luna, dragons perched all around started bellowing for no apparent reason beyond the fact that both their Alphas were present, Tembra, the attendant on fish duty, started whispering to an attendant while waving her hands wildly, and a veritable crowd of adoring humans began rushing toward them all. It was chaos.

"Brother, Green-Wings!" Shadowwing bellowed over the din of dragon voices.

"Can they be..." Was-Grounded's voice died off as he paused and took a deep breath.

Then he roared louder than all the other dragon voices combined.

Silence followed.

"That is better," he then mumbled and turned to Luna.

"Green-Wings and I are going to go flying to hunt fish. Will you shelter our little ones with your wings while we fly, Luna?"

"Me? Why not Shadowwing. He is of your nest," she nervously mumbled.

"You are a Light Fury, a light wing, of this range. That makes you as kin to us also, as we already told you. Dawn-Singer, Aurora!" Green-Wings answered.

They extricated themselves from Valka and bounded over to them.

"Do you want to play with Luna?"

"Yes!" "Yes!"

And Luna could not help but find herself humming as well at their young eagerness.

Then Green-Wings slowly strode up to Shadowwing and sat down. She stared at him for several moments, clearly deep in thought.

"How was the flight to the other two-leg nests?" she rumbled.

"I do not know if our words of peace stayed in their heads," he grumbled.

"But you understand two-legs better than any of us do. Are you sure that a two-leg female did not sit on your egg and sing to you? Are you sure you are not a two-leg in your liver?" Green-Wings innocently grinned.

Luna laughed aloud at that.

"Shadowwing is much thought-twisted," Luna then chuckled.

"Thank you both of you for saying that," Shadowwing sighed.

Both females laughed softly at his expense.

"You both should watch and play with our little ones for us. We will bring you a big fish if we catch one!" Was-Grounded hummed.

Green-Wings and Was-Grounded then turned aside and flew off toward the ocean without another moment of delay.

"They are twisted kin," Luna mumbled.

"No, they are trusting kin. Aurora, ride?" Shadowwing hummed.

She hop-flew up onto his back and perched between his shoulders.

Valka crossed her arms and looked at the sight while wearing a very happy and probably silly grin. Shadowwing and Luna were standing side by side with two young Furies, one at her side and one proudly sitting on his back. It was a striking and heartwarming image.

And with the gathering audience it was a perfect opportunity to do something else for the first time.

"All right, you little ones, think it is time to show them what you know, Dawn-Singer?" she asked.

The Fury eagerly bobbed his head and bounded over to her side.

Valka then raised her voice and got everyone's attention.

"Everyone, I and the Furies want to show you something."

Indistinct but excited muttering followed. The crowd came closer while Luna backed away from them.

"Dawn-Singer," said Fury held his shoulders proudly at hearing his name spoken, "has been learning his runes. He can talk now like Shadowwing."

Eyes went very wide around the assembly as Dawn-Singer extended a claw and bent down to the dirt.

 **Hello**

And Shadowwing remembered quite fondly how it had been for him the first time after his father had allowed him to write in public. The rest of the entire dinner had been spent answering questions from eager people and especially from an enthusiastic Fishlegs. It seemed to be no different for young Dawn-Singer. He twisted and spun to greet each new hand and quickly answer every question possible while only occasionally asking for help on translations. His ears remained high all throughout and his tail never stopped swaying.

 _You are such a lucky one. This is what I always hoped to see._

And he heard a soft growl from behind his head.

"What, Aurora?"

"He can picture-talk! But not me!"

"Do you want to learn?"

She ran partway up his neck to get a better look.

"Yes!" she barked into his face.

He hopped over to Valka so that she could take Aurora, which she did.

 **She wants to learn also**

"Why not! Ha, at this rate you Furies will be better at writing than all but the Elders and the Skalds," she laughed while cradling the purring Aurora on a shoulder. Doing that would not be so easy before too long.

Then he hopped away from her and walked over to Luna. She was now openly looking around what could be seen of the village. Even so, she had made a bit of space between herself and the gathering around Dawn-Singer. She also visibly shied away whenever someone else from the village tried to get close.

"Luna, are you afraid of something?"

She softly sighed and closed her eyes after glancing at him.

"I think I see some of the warmth in this nest. None of the kin have any fear of two-legs. Having already caught fish is good for those who cannot hunt well. This mixed-nest might be safe and warming for most kin... but not for me."

He almost recoiled in his alarm.

"No?" he gasped.

"I do not clutch anger at them in my liver. I know that I should not fear ones who have not hurt me, but I only see thrall-makers in the big males and all the nest. Even if the thrall-making and life-dimming is slow and hidden. Living in a nest like this makes life smaller," she explained.

"Why do you think that about this place? Why do you think it makes life... smaller?" he weakly asked.

She turned and looked up at the mountains.

"I am a kin of the wild beyond, not a weak-life-fire kin like these ones that would wear two-leg holding things and give away their backs. Kin and two-legs are different life. We should be free to fly on our own, hunt as we want, and nest as we want. But two-legs are all forced rules and work and bonding."

"You say bonding like it is a bad thing. I think that living with two-legs makes life bigger. There are more ideas that you can put in your thinking. Stories and warming things that make life more than surviving only from one sun-cycle to the next cycle," he countered.

A moment of silence passed as she considered her words.

"I do not think that two-legs and kin will always fly in life together. This," she looked around her, "may last for many seasons, but it always ends in kin dying."

"You do not know that," he whispered.

"No? Is the past of this nest that of fighting because two-legs hate kin for being kin?" she objected.

He barely restrained the growl of frustration.

"You think that it is strange and twisted that a new way that has not been before could be made true? That because you have not seen many warm two-legs before these ones probably are not and this is empty. Because it is not... how life normally is?"

"Yes."

"Is it the normal way of life for a weak hatchling that cannot break its own egg to live?"

She blinked in surprise at having her own life-story turned on her.

"Your sire changed the normal way and made something new because he wanted it. Because the normal way would not be good. Because he said no to bad things! We are trying to do something new also. Look at Dawn-Singer."

Said Fury was furiously scribbling away to answer Skald's questions in front of a crowd of about ten people. The young Fury's tail was still swaying.

"Seeing this, do you think that these two-legs have rot in their livers for us?"

"It is not them having rot or not having rot in their livers," she answered.

"What is it then? Please tell me, Luna."

"Even if your words are truth about all the two-legs here in this range, there are other ranges and bigger nests than this one. Do you think that you can change all their livers? Do you know what is in the liver of every two-leg?"

His own words spoken in frustration nearly a year ago came back to him.

 _'Because I have always changed them. Making peace is what I know how to do. That is my life-flight.'_

"I do not think that there can be lasting peace. Kin and two-legs are different life and do not see themselves in the other's eyes," she added.

"They can. I know they can. I knew a two-leg who did. You know one now!"

"Shadowwing," she sighed, "we already talked about this. One two-leg alone can be warm to us and can have the liver of a kin. I know that good truth. But two-legs as nests, as group-flights, are different. They stop thinking well. It only takes one of them to break the peace, crack the shell, and kill the hatchling within this... egg that you are sitting."

"Even if true, I do not... will not let go hope. The world can be made better," he sighed.

She softly hummed and glanced up at him after several moments.

"You lived as a hatchling among them. You flew different life-winds than I did. Kin are fewer in number in all the ranges of the world from what I do remember. I think that two-legs from beyond will come here to fight this range because they can. Because we kin have done the wrong of being kin, having wings, and having fire-breath."

"And we will stop them if they do. We will burn their water-walkers and defend our own nest and range!"

She blinked and softly growled.

"How much life-water will be spilled? How many kin will be grounded and die? What will you be willing to lose to have that world be?"

He got no chance to answer or seriously consider the objection because Dawn-Singer had finished with his talking, bounded over to them both, and stood at his shoulder.

"They are very warm to me! They said my head and picture-talking are better than most of them in their own nests!"

Shadowwing forced back a smile and happy hum.

"Still thinking about getting yourself a bond two-leg, little one?" Luna laughed.

Dawn-Singer returned the question with a considerate hum.

"Maybe not what the other kin have. But there are some of the fledglings that were very warm to me and I might hold close to my liver with more season-cycles. I might want to live here near them when I fly the den-nest."

"You hold that thinking close to your liver, little one," Luna hummed.

She turned away and briefly paused next to Shadowwing.

"I do hope that I am wrong, and that he lives long in warmth as one of this nest," she whispered.

And then she walked over to Aurora without glancing back at him. He watched Luna while feeling a pronounced emptiness in his chest.

 _I do not know what to make of her. She does not seem very afraid, not like she was before at least. Does she truly not think that this is good?_

Then he lay down and groaned deeply.

"What is twisting you, Shadowwing?" Dawn-Singer happily asked.

"Life," he eventually answered.

"All twisting is part of life, yes. I will go play with Aurora and Luna now! I can twist their tails!"

As he watched them playing together with Valka and as Luna warily stood nearby the two children, he reflected on the fateful meeting long ago that led to all of this.

 _Toothless did not truly know humans before he came to Berk. Yes, he lost his family many years ago to them, but I was the first one he knew up close. It would have been very different if he had been a prisoner and been... tortured. He probably could not have trusted me at all._

He again closed his eyes and imagined Luna flying off into the wild here. Unable or unwilling to see the world that she could be a part of if only she wanted it. The same world that Dawn-Singer was eagerly embracing. There was also something a bit different in this second major encounter between his nephew and the village. There were no people he could hear who whispered of Dawn-Singer being someone's future dragon this time. That was definite progress.

But her words of warning that there could be a future threat to this world certainly rang true.

 _We will defend it! They may have armies and they may have armadas, but we... we have the dragons!_

And he imagined hearing a whisper on the wind.

 _'What will you be willing to lose to have that world be?'_

* * *

They lay down in the sunlight on a warmed rocky cliff above the crashing waters. They had both caught a few fish, but they had mostly flown for the sole reason of flying together without any sire or dam responsibilities. There was also something liver-warming about catching their own fish with their own teeth, claws, and fire that was far more warming than only filling their bellies from the fish-places in the mixed-nest.

As for now though there was nothing in their world except for the warm feeling of their mate at their side, the comfort of their wound tails, and the warmth of the sun on their backs. This was their first chance in many suns to do absolutely nothing.

"Do you think it will help them?" Green-Wings softly rumbled.

"Will playing with our two little ones together help melt the ice around Luna's and Shadowwing's livers? Yes, it must," Was-Grounded gently answered.

Then she snuggled a bit closer to his side.

"That is all still hard for me to believe about him. How could your life-will-power change him from a two-leg to a kin?"

"I only wanted him to live, his life-breath be saved, and have his hurts be not."

His ears fell slightly.

"As for myself, I hoped that my hurts could be not also, my broken wing and lost tailfin. Maybe both savings could be only by making us both new-hatched Night Furies. I do not know or care. That life-almost-ending gave me a brother, an egg-mate, and the new tailfin that let the winds of my life fly me to you."

"And I am always warmed that they did, my life-mate," Green-Wings hummed.

Then she grumbled softly.

"You still think that we should not tell Luna or Kin-liver that I know?"

"Not now, let Shadowwing be the one to tell her or you. I do not want the knowing about our powers flying far from us and to other two-legs by accident. We do not know enough picture-talking to tell Kin-liver on our own without having Dawn-Singer talk for us."

"Why should we keep that hidden?"

"Because two-legs fear what they do not know. Powers make us Monsters in their thinking, I think. No, it is better for us all if no others know what happened to him, not even our own little ones. Let them always know him as their own... larger-nest-kin, as my nestmate only."

"He will always be that for them and for all our little ones. And hopefully he will be a... second sire to them through their own future mates. It is very twisted to know that Kin-liver was his two-leg dam, and that he never knew her. Wait..." she softly whispered.

Her eyes narrowed on him.

"I remember now! That is what you were talking about season-cycles ago when you were talking about a two-leg being more like his dam than his sire!" she grinned.

He only bowed his head slightly.

"Your thinking is very strong, my life-mate."

Then she shoved his shoulder before laying down on her side and facing him.

"I will twist his tail more though with teases about him being a two-leg in his liver," she added.

"You would fly those flights," he chuckled.

Then he smugly purred to himself and nudged her lower belly with a paw.

"And talking about flights... do you know yet?"

The warmth in her eyes and deep purr were almost answer enough.

"We flew well, my life-mate. I wonder what this next little one will be."

Then she closed her eyes and hung her head slightly. She was clearly being moved in the liver by something.

"Green-Wings?" he softly hummed.

She looked up and out over the waters toward the horizon.

"I am... very warm always now... I think about life many season-cycles from now and all the eggs and little ones we will have."

She wound her tail around his again.

"And I remember how warm the winds of life have been to me. I... hope that you are as warmed with me as I am with you..."

Words failed him for many wingbeats. It was not like her to show this vulnerability and... softness. He shuffled closer to her side, put a wing over her back, and lay his head on her green neck. Then he purred softly to her. His voice was soft but filled with feeling when he finally spoke.

"You do not know how many season-cycles I flew alone, never thinking I would ever see another Night Fury. Thinking I would never find a mate, fly a sky dance, or have any hatchlings. Never to do what I promised my sire I would do and what I wanted much."

He paused and nuzzled her neck.

"Then I found you. And for now I want a sun of no little ones and no being Alpha," he chuckled.

"What do you want?" she hummed.

Then he yawned.

"Sleep with you."


	62. III - Sympathy

_**Author's Note – In which a certain trading mission returns, Haven throws a celebration, and someone finds that they need help to get through a tough time. VigoGrimborne will now be beta reading my posts.**_

* * *

 _"It's been four years to the day since Weathertop Sam; it has never really healed." - Frodo - Return of the King (film)_

* * *

Sympathy

* * *

Two sets of sails were visible on the horizon. One of them was familiar.

 _Odd, I thought they left with only one ship._

He angled his flight and flew out over the approaching vessels. Sure enough, one of them was the same former trapper vessel commandeered nearly a year ago. The other one though was completely foreign despite being crewed by several from Haven.

Many voices were joyfully raised at his approach, and he greeted them with a roar of his own as he hovered nearby, inspected the ships, and followed them back to shore.

 _Well, there are Skald and company. And they have a filled hold with lots of barrels. I really wonder what those could be..._

 _And those are our people on the other ship as well. They certainly seem like they will have a story to tell._

* * *

"What in Thor's name is going on here? Well, you look like you have a story to tell," Thorvald laughed at the sight of two ships in the harbor and the disembarking crews.

Shadowwing laughed as well as Skald approached.

 **Please do tell**

Skald chuckled, briefly embraced Vistra and little Faen, and turned back to his Chief.

"Well, Shadowwing, Chief, the trading went just fine. We've got thirty barrels of the finest southern ale and even something else they called wine. That's all in the hold of our ship."

"What about the other one. I may not be very clever, Legs, but I did not send you all on your way with two ships."

Skald laughed out loud at that.

"Well, you see Lout, we were on our way back when another ship comes up next to us and flies a peace flag. We thought we might trade with them for news or see what they have."

"Seems reasonable," Thorvald granted.

"They were dragon hunters and proud of it."

Thorvald groaned and put a hand on his hip while Shadowwing softly growled.

"Even so, you took the ship? That is risky."

Skald grinned.

"They said business was bad, something about no dragons to hunt anymore, so they were going into the transportation business instead. They had a hold filled with barrels of ale."

Thorvald's eyes went wide.

"Wait, so the other ship is also..."

"Yup. The entire hold is filled."

A moment of amazed silence followed.

"It's a sign from the gods! Odin, it was rough! May He be praised!" Thorvald roared.

Skald slapped his shoulder.

"That is what we said. So we took the ship and put the hunters on a small raft in the middle of..." Skald stroked his mustache, "actually, I am not sure where. Somewhere between the Desolate Isles, Freezing To Death, and Shipwreck Rock I think. And no one even got a scratch, at least not on our side! The promise of more ale gave us all plus ten to stamina and combat!"

"Wonderful! Wonderful job! I knew that I could rely on you! Everyone!"

All shiphands and gathered villagers turned to face him.

"Did you hear the good news? The ale is back!"

The resulting roar had to be louder than most that the dragons could summon.

"And we just completed the Great Hall also! I call for a feast to celebrate that we brought the ale back! Oh, and that everyone got back safely!"

Shadowwing rolled his eyes and laughed along with everyone else.

 _Typical Nords with their priorities. At least they know what matters..._

* * *

It was not a very big feast as measured by food consumed. By ale imbibed though was a different story. They drank as if there was no tomorrow, which many of them might wish tomorrow.

And two Night Furies watched the comings and goings from the completed Great Hall.

"What is wrong with them? Why are they forgetting how to walk?" Dawn-Singer hummed in wonder.

"They are having a ceremony," Shadowwing answered.

"A falling down ceremony?"

"No, a drink-as-much-happy-water-as-they-can ceremony. And then some falling down after that."

Dawn-Singer hummed at that.

"Why are they all walking out behind the bushes?"

"To... drop their waste-water. They are drinking much."

"Does the happy-water make them happy?" Dawn-Singer's ears lifted.

"Yes, and very silly and thought-twisted. And spinning in the head."

"I want to see this twistedness!"

Dawn-Singer got to his feet and trotted toward the Great Hall with Shadowwing following closely behind. They nosed open the front doors and beheld the revelry within.

People were dancing, singing, laughing, and fighting, all with mugs in their hands. Couples were spinning each other around while children punched each other and wrestled on the ground. Some of the ladies were fending off the advances of the clueless young men. A roaring fire in the center of the Hall warmed everyone on this early autumn evening.

"Look!" "It's Dawn-Singer and Shadowwing!" "Ale!" "The Night Furies!" "Get down!"

"You two! Get up here!" Thorvald yelled over the din.

They both walked over to him where he stood next to a large table that had a lot of paper and a dirt box nearby on the ground.

"What do you think, Shadowwing? Will this do for you all? Dragonheart helped us make it herself so that you Furies could join us."

He briefly inspected the table and writing box, much to his satisfaction.

 **Yes, it is good**

"Excellent, you are all welcome in here at any time of course. Do tell the other Furies that, will you?"

Yes, he nodded and hummed.

 _Well, this is a pleasant surprise. I did not know that they were making a custom table for us, complete with a writing box too. Almost reminds me of... Berk._

And his ears slightly fell as he looked around at all the singing and dancing. They were all so happy.

"Shadowwing?" Dawn-Singer sadly hummed.

"Yes, Dawn-Singer?"

"You feel sad now."

 _Very perceptive kiddo..._

"I remember another island, the good place where I hatched and lived as a hatchling and fledgling. There was another great-cave-den like this one that had many ceremonies done in it. Many warming memories."

"What happened?"

"It burned into dirt."

Gobber then approached their special table. Approached might be a generous description for whatever the action was. But he managed to stay on his feet and not spill his mug. He got to the table and flipped the mug upside down as he slammed it on the table. The mug was already empty, explaining why it had not spilled anything.

Dawn-Singer's ears went up in amusement.

"Ach, you two! Perrfect! You can drrink with ush!"

"What is his name?" Dawn-Singer purred as a hand stroked his neck.

 _Hmm, time to make a name that means nothing to him..._

"He is... Gobber. He... works in the fire-cave where two-legs make things."

"What happened to his other arm and leg?" Dawn-Singer glanced at the missing limbs.

"Bad kin bit them off."

Dawn-Singer blinked and recoiled with a wary grunt.

"Bad kin? What!"

He gently nudged his nephew's shoulder while putting a wing over his back.

"Be warmed that you live in a good range and nest with peace and together-living between kin and two-legs. Life was not always this warm."

Dawn-Singer looked down at his claws and solemnly crooned, clearly deep in thought.

 **Thank you Gobber, but we will pass**

 **Need to be able to fly him home safely**

"Meh, yer losh thenn aaand my gaaiin. More fer me ta duhrrink," Gobber stepped back from them both.

 _You do that, Gobber. You certainly need a bit more. Actually..._

 **How many have you had?**

"Eh, who'sh countin?" he wandered away to refill his mug.

They watched the celebration in amusement for a while during which they were brought several cooked fish. Valka eventually came over and stood between them with a hand on both their necks. She seemed oddly solemn for some reason after conferring with Chief Thorvald.

 **What is the matter?**

She only shook her head and whispered.

"Wait..."

Then Thorvald rang a great gong to get everyone's attention.

"Everyone! Gather around. It is time for something special!"

They all did, though some of them had to sit down on the floor. By necessity.

"About a year now we have been here. A year to the day since the great battle and since we lost both of our beloved Chiefs that were before."

Shadowwing froze and closed his eyes, trying to not think about everything in that sudden moment.

"They both fell in battle against many foes and against the great foe himself. They both feast in and battle in Valhalla now!"

The cry was echoed throughout the Hall.

"We will remember them both always. They had their faults and made mistakes, but they both died with honor while fighting for their tribe. Gobber..."

Gobber tugged on a rope and pulled away a pair of coverings that hid two tapestries on the wall. Massive Stoick the Vast with his full red beard held a large axe in one hand and a Night Fury hatchling in the other. Astrid the Dragon Whisperer, clad in her blue Nadder-scale cloak, held out her sword against a massive, menacing shadow-man.

Shadowwing stared at both tapestries as all air seemed to depart from the Hall and something sharp and cold plunged into his chest.

 _I was too proud, too arrogant, useless as a father..._

 _Beast! You will not take my son from me..._

 _I'm not sure that Toothless is dead..._

He gasped for air.

 _And thanks for... this, whatever this is..._

 _I wanted us... to be a family again..._

 _May the Valkyries welcome you..._

Shadowwing slowly, as calmly as possible, turned away from the dual reminders of his own stupidity and arrogance.

"Come... Dawn-Singer..."

He almost ran out the Hall, ignoring all the cries of those around him to stay and join in the party. Then he dashed out the main doors and ran away from all the light, only slowing down once he was in the shadows near the edge of town. Only there did he catch his breath.

"Shadowwing!"

He stopped and waited for Dawn-Singer to catch up with him.

"You feel very chilled now," the young Fury moaned.

"Those words are true. I am."

Dawn-Singer walked around in front of him and looked up at him.

"Do not be. It does not help you fly the winds of life."

 _If only it was that easy, little one._

Then Dawn-Singer looked up at the clouds.

"I think rain will fall soon."

Shadowwing sighed as he looked up at the impending rainfall.

"Yes, I will fly you home now," he then sighed.

They both flew back through the night toward the mountains. All the while, he tried to lose himself in the repetition of flight and the occasional sightings of dragons down below.

Then a soft and relieved roar went up from the cave as Green-Wings noticed Dawn-Singer winging in to land.

And Shadowwing was left alone in the sky with his thoughts. Something felt wrong about being back in his cave right now. He wanted to be completely alone now and would not risk anyone finding him on a random visit or by-the-wing lesson, unlikely though it would be now at night. Instead, he turned for the mountains and ascended toward the peaks. Then he landed on an isolated, rocky slope and partly vanished under his wings, such that he could see out over Haven and all the surrounding lands but would also be sheltered somewhat from the incoming rain.

The chain of thought that he tried to avoid was all too evident to him in that moment.

 _If I had been there, I could have helped... fight off the other Bewilderbeast... helped the King win his duel. The ships would not have landed. The beach would not have been fallen. None of the dragons would have turned. None of this would have happened. Being willing to fight would have brought the peace that I wanted. So many would still be alive. And we would still have found Luna on that island and rescued all those trapped there._

Haven, and especially the Great Hall, burned bright in the darkness far away. It was civilization. It was warmth and family. It was his old tribe and what was left of the world he wanted to see grow strong.

 _It hurts to remember all that. I don't know if that Great Hall will ever be a warm place to me now. They mean well and those are good tapestries, but still..._

Another glance followed at the approaching clouds. Then he curled his head inside under his wings and completely sheltered himself from the outside world.

And he was flying around the beautiful and stunning island with its glorious white spires. Dragons spun on the wind all around while giving their joyful cries. Fledglings followed their parents through the skies in search of the updrafts.

It was life in all its colors.

He turned and dove inside the great nest. It was oddly silent and empty, save for one great figure within. The white, majestic King inside turned to him and spoke to his soul.

 _Dark wing, you will change the world. That is who you are._

The King blinked.

 _Will it be change for the better?_

He pondered these words, turned aside, and flew out the nest through the familiar passageway. And he immediately pulled up in shock and horror.

Hundreds of human bodies lay on the beach. Dozens of dragons with ripped open bellies and torn wings lay motionless on the rocks.

And a single dark shape stood on a large ledge in the middle of the beach.

He dove and landed next to the great and terrible man, ready to claw him to death. But Drago already had a massive dagger in his neck.

"Fool! Why do you think I hate dragons? Your kind does not belong in our world!"

Drago cackled madly.

"There will never be peace now! Control was the only way! I was your last chance!"

Then Drago leaned back and fell from the ledge.

Shadowwing looked away, not wanting to see what he knew was at the bottom of that fall. He flew down to the shore, landed there, stepped into the cool water, and sighed weakly as he stared out toward the peaceful ocean. A glance back toward the fallen nest followed.

But it was all gone.

The water lapped at his feet as he stood on the shore of a green country under a swift sunrise. Golden fields of grass lay before him and swayed in a warm and comforting wind. Countless birds flew high with the clouds above the distant fields. The fields were ringed by a white rock wall that had one massive entrance. The central mountain far off in the distance seemed to grow higher into the sky without end beyond the clouds.

And in the entrance to that meadow filled country stood three beckoning figures. Slowly and warily he walked forth to them in a mix of confusion and fear.

His own father looked very different from how he remembered him. His beard was shorter and neater than he recalled it. The carelines on his brow were gone, and he looked very young, maybe thirty years old.

Astrid was glorious in her blue cape. All the carelines she had acquired in her time as Chief were gone as well. She also looked older than he remembered.

But the third figure, and the one who was holding Astrid's hand, was... himself.

Hiccup stared back at him with the same vivid green eyes that he remembered having. He had the same wiry build but was also taller with somewhat broader shoulders, had a dark beard, and also looked roughly the same age as the other two. He was also wearing a massive cape that would be fitting for a Chief.

"Shadowwing," Hiccup chuckled.

"Hiccup?" Shadowwing gasped.

"Learn to fly the winds of life without me. Do not forget us, but do not try to be me," Hiccup answered.

"But I am you."

"No, you have done things I never did or could do. You are different," Hiccup whispered.

Shadowwing could not answer himself.

"Son?" Stoick groaned.

"I am... sorry, dad..." Shadowwing eventually mumbled.

"I am too... my son. You need to forgive yourself."

"How do I do that?

"You can only try and keep going every day."

"I am sorry that you died... dad."

"I died fighting for a friend, for family. You know that. There is no better death if one is not to die of old age."

Shadowwing slowly nodded and warily looked up at Astrid. She warmly smiled at him and spoke only one word. One word that seemed to carry much bittersweet meaning behind it for her.

"Go."

He turned aside and retreated several steps. Then he paused and looked back at them and at the distant, radiant country behind them. In that moment, he realized that the countless birds in the distance over the fields were not birds.

He then glanced up at the bright sun and closed his eyes. It was all gone when he opened his eyes again.

The rain fell steadily outside his living shelter, though his tail, rear, legs, arms, and belly were quite soaked already. So, basically everything.

 _Gods, this was a bad idea. Must have fallen asleep. What was I thinking?_

A glance down toward Haven showed that all the lights were out and everyone had to have gone to bed. And then his memory of the dream returned.

 _Yep, definitely fell asleep. And that dream... seeing them both makes sense I guess, but myself? That was strange..._

Moan.

 _I am not the same person I was. Almost like Hiccup is fading now. That's definitely true._

He groaned as he got to his feet. Everything hurt a bit but especially so his belly.

 _It is rather cold up here, and I was probably out in the rain for a few hours. That shouldn't matter to me though._

He spread his stiff wings, stretched them, and then glided down toward his cave. The flight home was rather uncomfortable through the cold rain with his belly aching the whole way.

 _Ugh, this could be a bad night. Strange, I definitely did not eat any eel._

The landing was rough, and he trembled where he stood. Every joint felt stiff as he dragged himself inside the shelter. He had only just settled down on his bed when he felt the terrible tingling deep in his throat.

 _Great... just what I needed._

* * *

She hauled herself out of the warm-bubbling water and shook herself dry. That place always filled the body with warmth and sleep-wanting while also helping to keep clean. Then she took to the sky to delight in another sun of doing...

Whatever she wanted to do. Go hunt four-legs up the range, dive deep underwater to hunt fish, fly up to the peaks and roll in the packed-fluffy-water, search for more groves of long-tooth-grass, or play with Dawn-Singer and Aurora. All were good flights to fly.

 _I wonder what Shadowwing is doing. I have not seen him in a couple suns now. Off to his den then._

The flight was as peaceful and relaxing as most were early on a sun-cycle. Down outside his cave she flew and landed.

"Shadowwing!" she called.

There was no answering call from within. On a tail-pricking feeling, she crept closer to the cave's mouth and peered inside.

"Shadowwing?"

And she spied the dark mass in a rear corner of the cave. It was definitely him, but something felt twisting about this. He would normally answer her even if he was awoken by the greeting.

Closer she crept until she saw that he was not moving.

He had not drawn a breath.

He was silent and still.

Then his back slightly rose as he inhaled and then slowly fell as he exhaled.

And warmth returned to her liver and to the world as she bounded toward him.

But then she smelled it all and stepped back in alarm. Belly-water and partly-gone fish from his belly was spilled around him.

 _Shadowwing, what happened to you?_

She carefully approached, stepped around all the badness and lost-food, and nudged him awake. He groaned very heavily and blinked rapidly as he tried to recover his awareness.

"What happened?" she softly hummed.

His eyes were very tired, weak, and struggled to focus on her. Then some comprehension of the situation seemed to spark to him because he lifted his weary head and glanced around himself at the visible mess.

"Ughrh, Llunna, yyou sshouldd nnott be herre."

"Did you eat something bad?" she hummed in worry.

"Nho, nnot ssure. Plleassse go."

"Why? You are weak. You had a belly-badness."

"You sshould nnot have to ssmell thiss."

She backed away from him, appreciating how liver chilling it must be for him, for an Alpha, to be seen by another in such a weak condition. A glance toward the den's mouth followed.

And she remembered how he brought her fish and fire in the cold-season even when she told him that she did not want any help.

"No, you need help, and I will give you help. What do you need?"

He weakly grumbled for several wingbeats.

"Llunna, go..."

She hissed softly.

"Bite me. What do you need?"

He softly moaned for several more moments.

"Kin-liverrr, waaterr..."

She turned and flew from the cave without a moment of delay.

 _I need to carry water to him. Kin-liver will have something I can use to hold water for him._

A wary growl followed. She knew where Kin-liver roosted in the mixed-nest. Getting Kin-liver meant going down into the mixed-nest alone.

She flew there without stopping or turning aside. Over the twisting-nest she soared while looking for the split-wing named jumps-through-clouds and thinking about the necessary picture-word shapes.

 _Where are you?_

Then she arrived over the small tree-den that she knew was Kin-liver's. The jumps-through-clouds split-wing was napping at the tree-den's side.

 _She is here._

She dove down onto the ground where she settled down. Kin all around peered down at her. Two-legs pointed their paws at her. She ignored them all as she bounded up to the closed mouth of the den.

"Kin-liver!" she shouted while pounding on the den's mouth.

It opened, and she saw the liver-warming two-leg within.

"Luna?" Kin-liver asked in clear surprise.

 **Shadowwing help**

Kin-liver stared down at the picture-words without seeming to understand.

"What he help?"

 _No..._

She pointed at her own belly, made fish-bringing-up noises, and then collapsed to the ground where she moaned weakly. Then she got up and stared plaintively with wide eyes at Kin-liver.

Kin-liver pointed a paw at the Shadowwing picture-word, at her own belly, and the mimicked the belly-badness sounds. She clearly understood.

 _Yes! Good thinking, Kin-liver! Now he needs water..._

 **Water**

Kin-liver stared down at the new picture-word and seemed to understand. She vanished back into the den and emerged with a very big... what was it called? A big thing that could hold water in its belly.

 _Where did she get this? It will work._

She grabbed the large holding thing in her paws and took to the sky with her flight toward the stream. She filled the holding thing with water and then carefully flew up to his cave-den while holding the thing to not spill the important water. Jumps-through-clouds was already there when she got there, which meant that Kin-liver was there also.

Her landing was as smooth as possible while holding the thing and not spilling the water. Kin-liver had been helping to clean up the worst of the mess, thus explaining the foul smells on the air. And he was vanished under a wing and clearly trying to sink into the rock wall, if such a thing were possible.

 _He looks so small, so hurt..._

"Shadowwing?"

He visibly stiffened even while partly hidden from her. Reluctantly, he emerged from hiding and weakly looked up at her.

"Luna? Why're you herre?"

"I have water for you."

She stepped closer to him and set the water holding thing down before him. He blinked rapidly at it for several moments and grabbed it in his paws to start drinking from it. The water was all gone in moments after Kin-liver helped to pour the water out of the holding thing and into his mouth.

"Do you want more water?"

"I'mm well nnow."

She huffed in his direction and glared at him. He withered under her stare.

"Sstill have thirsst," he groaned.

"You have rock-head problems. I will get you more water."

She grabbed the water holding thing and flew again from the cave.

* * *

He blinked and looked down at the fish. They did look quite appetizing, two large cod and one salmon. Well, appetizing except for one slimy detail considering that they had been in her belly moments before.

She looked down at the fish and nudged them toward him again.

"You should eat."

"I do not know if the fish will stay in my belly," he grumbled.

"Then have one fish only. Put something that is not water in your belly."

Then he decided that a little slobber did not truly matter as he selected one of the fish.

 _Why do I always get fish from another dragon's belly? Not that I do not like fish, but... could have used a bag or something else... What am I thinking, I really shouldn't care by now..._

Then his selected fish was quickly disposed of, and he settled down near the fireplace. Valka had left after a long, messy, and thoroughly embarrassing day for him. But they had gotten the worst of the disaster taken care of.

Luna came over and lay down next to him.

"How are you now, Shadowwing?"

"I feel like a pawful of rock-bellies sat on me. My belly hurts, my tail hurts, everything hurts."

"Do you think you got all the belly-badness out?"

"I hope so," he groaned.

Then he hung his head and continued.

"But I do not think it is only a bad food I ate. I think some of the badness is from my liver."

"What?" she gasped in confusion.

"Yes, it is one season-cycle since the big and bad fight on the ice nest island. Remembering all the bad death there gave me a bad feeling in my liver. And maybe in my belly."

He took a moment to weakly nudge another log into the fire.

"Your life-fire will burn hot again, Shadowwing."

"How do you know that?" he whispered.

"I know it. You knew that I would fly again."

Then she softly crooned.

"You have never told me where your hurt-marks came from. On your front and on your knee. They must have been fights you won. Talk to me."

Groan.

"The chest was a long-tooth-stick that a bad two-leg shot me with. I dug the biting end of the thing out with a claw. The knee was... worse."

"It looks like a kin-bite," she remarked after glancing at it again.

"Yes, it was. Was-Grounded bit me."

She blinked and gave a confused grunt.

"What?"

"It was in the fight when I was a thought-thrall. He had to bite my leg to stop me from flying away, I think. He did not want to ground me."

"Does it ever hurt?"

"Not now. My walking was bad when it was a new hurt."

She softly chuckled.

"I remember that you looked like you were leaning much to one side."

"Yes, I have one more hurt-mark."

"What? Where?"

He tipped back his head to show her the tiny scar on his throat.

"What did that?" she wondered.

"A prey-horn."

She blinked and gave him a very amused croon.

"A prey-horn gave you, a great Alpha and grounder of a great-tusk-Monster, a hurt mark?"

They stared at each other until he gave her a half-grin.

"When you say it that way, it does sound twisted. That was many season-cycles ago when I was not a good hunter. What about you, Luna? Do you have... good hurt marks?"

She looked down at her claws without answering for a while.

"There are some small scratches on my side... from claws... but no good hurt marks from a won fight."

He yawned widely and lay his head on the ground after staring into her eyes.

"Yes, you do, Luna."

She blinked and slightly recoiled with a very confused grunt.

"Where? I do not see any."

He weakly shook his head.

"No, not on your body."

"What?"

"The Monster two-legs tried to break your life-fire... you did not break. You won that fight," he sighed.

"It does not feel like I won a great fight..." she grumbled.

His weary eyes struggled to focus on anything.

"You did... I see it..."

And he was deeply asleep with his head on his paws moments later, clearly very exhausted after all that had happened to him. She stepped back and looked around the cave-den. Something felt not good about leaving him in this weakness.

 _He was there for me many suns when I was life-grounded._

She settled down on the ground across the fire from him and watched him as he slept. There was still a smell of badness on the air and would probably be so for many suns. Even with that though this cave-den had many good memories of him and young Dawn-Singer teaching her.

 _I should do the same for him._

* * *

Valka and Was-Grounded arrived at dawn this time. They both paused at the cave's entrance when they glanced inside and saw them both asleep. He took a moment to hum softly to himself at the sight.

Luna lifted her head at their approach.

"Luna, how is he?" he asked.

"He sleeps still. Do you have fish for him?"

"Yes, we brought fish. Kin-liver has them. Is his belly-badness all out?"

"I think so. He did not bring up any more from his belly," she hummed.

Then she stepped over to the sleeper and nudged his shoulder.

"Hrmnh, whrut?"

"Wake, Shadowwing," she commanded.

His weak eyes went wide in surprise.

"Luna, why are you... brother..."

"We wanted to see that you are well," Valka explained herself after he settled back down.

He got up and slowly hauled himself over to the writing box.

 **Getting there**

 **Still weak**

"Shadowwing, do you need more water?" Luna asked.

"Yes..." he weakly hummed.

She grabbed the bucket and disappeared from the cave.

"It seems you are in good hands... paws... here," Valka chuckled.

He was thankful that he could not blush.

 **Thanks for yesterday**

 **The cleaning up**

"Don't mention it. I have had to do some things and clean up messes at the ice nest that I would rather forget ever happened. And I did have a baby once... Are you sure that you don't know what it was?"

No, he shook his head.

"Well, I hope it is over. These things are normally quick, maybe a day or two at the most and then you feel better."

She departed with Cloudjumper a moment later.

"Are you sure you did not eat anything bad?" Was-Grounded asked again.

"No bad-wrong-snake-fish or anything else that is bad for our bellies. I think there was a badness from remembering."

"From remembering?" he grunted in confusion.

"All the death at the ice nest. It is one full season-cycle after all that now, and the two-legs made... pictures to remember both dead Alphas from our old nest."

There was then nothing but a soft and comforting crooning in the cave.

"Brother, you lost much then. You still have us and always will. Why do you let the past bite you deep?"

Shadowwing hung his head and sighed.

"I do not know. I... cannot stop thinking about all the dying. All of it to change the world and make something new and good be."

Then he absentmindedly glanced out the cave.

"I fear what else I might lose. I hope this peace lives long."

* * *

She waited for him to get back from relieving himself properly in the trees. With good winds blowing on him, he would likely be strong again in a couple suns only at most. But he was still weak now, and that was clear from how slowly he walked back.

"I brought you a fish."

He hummed his thanks to her and almost inhaled the large fish she brought up from her belly for him. Then he followed her back inside the den and lay back down by the fire.

"Shadowwing? May I ask you a question?"

"You did. You may ask another."

She rolled her eyes and huffed at him.

"It is about two-legs. Many of the kin down in the nest want bond-two-legs. You hold two-legs close to your liver, but you do not have a bond-two-leg. None of the Night Furies do. Why not? You never said before."

He took a moment to compose his thoughts.

"We are not like the other kin. For most of them it is enough that a two-leg feed them, stroke them, warm them, and clean them. Those are good, but those are not enough for good, filled life for us. And two-legs do have problems seeing other life as the same as them in thinking, in life-fire," he added with a groan.

"What are you saying?" she asked in confusion.

"As I told Dawn-Singer, a two-leg could only have a life-bond with one of us if they could look into our eyes and see themselves. See the same life. That is not a flight many two-legs can fly because it means throwing out of their head and liver much of their own thinking of themselves as more than all other life."

"Why do you not go and... get one? You are warmly thought of down in that nest."

"I will not take a life-bond two-leg, Luna. My life-bond is to my brother Was-Grounded. That is liver-truth."

She hummed to herself for several moments in thought.

"That is good thinking of you. You are both very warm and strange nest-mates, different from other nest-mates that I had and from how other kin think."

"Maybe we are, but our life-story is also far more than most kin have."

"What is much more about it?"

"We were... very different once. And then we saw how we were very like the other. I saved his life, and he saved my life several times."

He stared off at the cave wall in silence and then lay his head down with a weary moan.

"You should sleep, Shadowwing. You will be stronger with the new-sun."

He curled his tailfins up and covered his head before closing his eyes. He was quickly fast asleep in the fire's warmth.

She remained sitting on her haunches while looking down at him. That moment a pair of sun-cycles ago when she had walked into the den and seen him lying motionless was more chilling than anything she could remember.

The song came forth from a deep water of memory, and she filled the den with its calming warmth. A song that her own sire had hummed to her long ago and put deeply in her life.

"Rest now little one... make not a sound... you will fly above the ground. Small you are now... you will grow and see... how great you will be. Moon of mine... dance and play... all your chills away. Rise and hunt... laugh and sing... then sleep under my wing. Strong and free... you will fly high... with the clouds in the sky."

He did not move from his peaceful sleep undisturbed by any sleep-visions. But he was now humming softly when before he had not.

And she remained staring at him.

Something about him, about the lift that he had for two-legs and the liver-warmth that he had for all his fellow Night Fury kin, was alternatively twisting and warming. He held Dawn-Singer and Aurora as though they were his own young, and that was very good.

But for all that warmth, he had not committed his life to one set of winds. He was trying to fly in in the worlds of kin and two-legs at the same time as much as he could.

Her confused croon filled the den as she lay down next to him and vanished under her wings.

 _Shadowwing, what will you be? What is most important to you?_

Sigh.

 _Maybe I am wrong and both winds can fly together. He has seen the good they can be and I have seen the bad._

* * *

"All right, show me what you got..." Valka chuckled.

Aurora bent down and put a single claw to the sand. Furious scribbling ensued.

 **Dragonheart**

Then she looked up with her eyes wide and ears up.

"Aurora... give me a hug!"

Valka threw her arms out wide and was not disappointed when the yearling leapt at her with a happy growl. And she held Aurora fondly in a hug.

"You are so smart. Smarter than your brother I would say," she added with a whisper.

They both laughed, Aurora because she understood the tease and Valka mostly at the licking attack and swaying tail that followed.

Was-Grounded also trotted over to the sand.

"Why are you laughing?"

"We are talking about my good thinking," Aurora happily hummed back.

Was-Grounded chuckled as well.

"That comes from me," he slyly remarked.

"What?" Green-Wings asked from far back in the den.

"Nothing!"

"Sire, where is Shadowwing? Is he better now?" Dawn-Singer asked as he came up as well.

"Ask Kin-liver if she knows," he replied.

 **Is Shadowwing better?**

"Yes, he is. He is better and should be flying soon," Valka answered.

Valka glanced again toward where Green-Wings lay and then walked straight over to her. This was the real reason why she had come here this morning. Green-Wings extended her neck and nuzzled her as Valka patiently stood nearby. Then Green-Wings removed her tailfins to show Valka what she wanted to see.

Valka sat down on the ground and slowly reached out to touch the black sphere partly buried in the warm sand, all while Green-Wings watched. The egg had no streaks of color in its shell but did have that faintly blue, misty coloring.

"The egg is perfect, Green-Wings," Valka said.

The Fury gave a questioning hum and looked over at Was-Grounded and Dawn-Singer.

"She says the egg is... very much good," Dawn-Singer explained.

And Green-Wings bent down again and softly nuzzled Valka's cheek while giving her a warm croon.

They all remained together until a beat of wings was heard outside the den. Luna walked inside and saw them all standing mostly together.

"Luna, have you seen the egg?" Dawn-Singer eagerly asked.

"Yes, little one. Green-Wings showed me several suns ago. I wanted to come here to see if any little ones want to play in the sky with me."

"Me! Me! I will play!" Aurora shouted.

The two females bounded outside and took to the air while Was-Grounded trotted outside to watch the play.

* * *

Shadowwing woke up, yawned, and stretched everything. There was only a little soreness still bothering him.

 _Alright! Everything feels good! Time to get up and have a new, glorious day of not being sick!_

"Luna?"

There was no answer.

He opened his eyes and glanced around the cave with a sad hum. No one else was there.

 _She must have left._

Then he remembered why she had been there in the first place, and he felt quite mortified by it.

 _Oh well, she thought nothing of it. And I remember how she felt quite helpless before when I had to bring her food and fire._

Then his tail twitched with a faint concern that to his knowledge had not yet been resolved.

 _She will still need fire for warmth this winter though unless she has her fire again. Actually, I should probably talk to her about that and see what she wants to do about the winter this time._

He got to his feet and flew forth from the cave. And he saw a spinning white being chased by an eager yearling up in the sky. Then he laughed when he saw Aurora tag Luna's tail and give a happy cry.

 _You definitely let her win that one..._

Both of them apparently saw him because they turned and flew toward him.

 _Ok, you want to play... let's play!_

He beat his flight toward little Aurora.

"I am Monster!" he roared.

She immediately darted with a squeal and flew wildly as he chased her with his toothless maw wide open and tongue hanging out. She flew as fast as she could, and he slowed his own flight to let her keep some distance.

Then she did something that surprised him. She quickly spun up in a tight loop. He initially flew after her but could not spin in such a tight loop. And she landed on his back and closed her jaws around his largest backfin. Her bite pinched a little.

 _Wow, you are quick for a yearling... and a bit of a fighter too._

"You win! You grounded the Monster!"

And he let himself go limp and fall from the sky only to recover himself moments later. Down onto the flat plain he flew and landed. And then Aurora landed and perched on his back again.

"Got you!" she hummed.

"You did, Aurora. Very fast flying."

"Sire has been teaching me!" she bobbed her head.

Luna landed nearby and bounded over to them.

"And was Luna showing you the winds also?"

"No, playing only!" Aurora then yawned and pawed at his back.

"Are you sleepy after all the play, little one?" Luna asked.

Aurora closed her eyes and lay down on his back without bothering to tuck in her wings. She was asleep in moments, splayed out quite absurdly.

He slowly turned around toward Luna to avoid jostling Aurora. Luna was laying down a short distance away and humming softly as she watched.

"You are very warm to them," she whispered.

"They are kin to me. They all have a place in my liver."

Luna softly crooned at his words.

"That is good and warm of you, Shadowwing. I do not understand why you hold all two-legs close to your liver, but I do understand this here," she nodded toward his back.

Then he glanced up at the northern sky as the autumn clouds rolled overhead.

"Luna, have you... gotten your fire again?" he gently asked.

Her hum vanished and ears fell at that question.

"No, I do not know why not. It feels like there is a nothing inside, an always-chill around my liver. Maybe that makes my fire-air too cold."

She growled and closed her eyes.

"Or maybe there is a shadow-thought-hunter in me that stops my fire. Something that I still need to hunt and kill in my own thinking."

He let a quiet moment pass before he spoke.

"The cold-season is coming soon. Do you want a tree-den in the mixed-nest to help you stay warm? Only if you want it with liver-truth."

She opened her eyes and glanced at him.

"No Shadowwing, there is no reason why I would want to nest with them."

He slowly bowed his head.

"I understand. I will bring fire to you again this cold-season, if you want it."

She got to her feet, almost said something, and then hummed.

"I would like that."

Then she whipped around, jumped, and vanished over the treetops. He turned for the mountains once she was gone and then set out on foot, walking slowly to not disturb his passenger and simply to enjoy more time with his little niece.

And he again spared another glance up at the clouds.

 _We are further north now than Berk or the ice nest were. Winter is again going to be coming a bit sooner now than it did before on Berk. But whatever, we have stubbornness issues. We all do._

* * *

Was-Grounded looked up at the liver-warming sight of Shadowwing, Luna, and little Aurora playing together in the sky.

"Green-Wings! Come here fast and look!"

She bounded over to him and looked up into the sky.

"Look at them, my life-mate," she gave a very warm croon.

He nuzzled her neck as they both watched the playful dance up above. They saw the spin-strike that Aurora used to get herself on his back and then they saw Shadowwing pretend-fall from the sky only to recover himself moments later.

Then he spoke what they were both thinking as they watched Luna follow him to the ground.

"They are both much warmer now than they were. I think we are seeing now what will be."

She waited only a moment longer before she turned back and bounded over to sit their new egg.

He closed his eyes and thought about everything that had happened over the last full season-cycle. How the new mixed-nest had grown up from nothing, how there was essentially peace, well-thinking, and trusting between the kin and two-legs of this range, how his two young ones were growing fast and big, how they were both learning the two-leg picture-talking and spoken words that he found so difficult to remember, and everything that was different about Shadowwing and Luna.

 _Their life-winds are flying closer together, and the ice around their livers is melting. Even if they do not know it on their own._

And he threw a glance over his shoulder to where Dawn-Singer was sleeping off his own day of play and to where Green-Wings was humming to the new egg. The new egg that would be hatching well within a moon-cycle.

The winds of life were very warm now.


	63. III - Embers

_**Author's Note – In which baby Fury number three arrives, Toothless fulfills an old promise, one Fury has a life-changing encounter, and another winter festival is held. Also we are over halfway to a million words!**_

* * *

" _And then her heart changed, or at least she understood it; and the winter passed, and the sun shone upon her." - J.R.R. Tolkien - The Return of the King_

* * *

Embers

* * *

A heavy nudge woke Shadowwing from his sleep. He opened his eyes and gradually made out a shadow in front of him. A shadow that was eagerly bounding on its feet, had a thrashing tail, and had very wide open eyes.

"Brother, wake! The egg is hatching!"

 _Egg? Egg... The egg!_

He flew to his feet and quickly shook off his sleepiness.

 _I have to see this. It never gets old._

And he had a very warming thought. There were some others who should definitely see this.

"How much time?"

"This one is strong and is breaking the shell fast!"

 _So scratch getting mom, I guess. I can still get someone else though._

"I will find Luna! I want her to see the hatching also."

A very pleased look appeared in his brother's eyes before he hummed in agreement.

"Fly fast!"

Then they went their separate ways, Was-Grounded straight to his den and Shadowwing further up the cold range as fast as his wings would carry him. With his eagerness that was very fast.

 _I just hope that she is there._

Down the range he flew on the moonlit light and swiftly landed outside her den. There was a silvery mass deep inside when he bounded up to the entrance.

"Luna!"

She woke at his voice and rapidly blinked her light blue eyes to wake up as she stared out toward him.

"Shadowwing, why are you here?" she yawned.

"The egg is hatching! We want you to see it hatch!"

She blinked and rose to her feet with a confused croon.

"Truly? They want me to see their hatchling hatch?"

"Yes, and we must be fast."

She dashed out the cave and followed him out into the cold air. They flew directly to the cave without delay, landed, and bounded inside. They beheld the three oldest Furies within at the rear of the den while Aurora sulked nearby. Luna wasted no time in approaching the place where it would happen while Shadowwing paused at Aurora's side. She was pouting at something.

"What is chilling you, little one?"

"The little hatching nestling!" she squirmed.

"What about it?"

"Sire and dam will nuzzle and lick it instead of me," she hung her young head.

 _What! You think they won't love you just because you won't get all the attention?_

"Think about Dawn-Singer," he hummed.

"What?"

"He was to you what you are to the hatching one. Do you think your sire and dam stopped caring for him after you hatched?"

She grumbled and rolled her eyes while not saying anything. He could see the connections being drawn in her thoughts though. Slowly and reluctantly.

"Come watch your little brother or sister hatch," he hummed.

Then he bent down and licked her face, causing her to sputter wildly.

"Why did you do that!" she exclaimed.

He chuckled heartily at her.

"Because you are being liver and thought-twisted. Come."

She followed him over to the rocking egg, sat down with her head on her arms and her tail slowly twitching, and grumbled. A few occasional glances were thrown toward the egg though.

He sat down across from Was-Grounded, Dawn-Singer, and Green-Wings and next to Luna. All four adults purred and crooned their presence to the egg as it rocked between Green-Wings's arms. The top half of the egg was quite broken with all the pieces barely still held together.

* * *

It was strange, twisting, and warming to be invited into another's den to see a hatching. Neither Was-Grounded nor Green-Wings were at all wary of her being there. Though, they had already shown their trust of her by letting her play with their first two young ones unwatched, and they had named her as kin to them.

She had seen her own little nest-mates break their shells, that much was certain from flashes of memory. But none of those memory stories were complete or present to her now.

This was though.

The perfect black egg was almost shattered, and the strong hatchling-to-be within was gathering its strength.

Warmth in her liver.

Her hum on the air.

 _'More than you can count on your front paws.'_

 _'That is many more than you and dam.'_

She blinked at the memory of her own sire and dam telling her something important. A promise of some kind.

And the egg shattered.

A tail thrashed, wings unrolled, and a tiny head shook itself of egg-water. A little head with tiny frills and dark green eyes looked around the den with a nervous little trill. Then the tiny male saw what he was looking for and started slowly crawling toward his dam for comfort, food, nuzzling, and licking.

From Green-Wings.

Green-Wings bent down and licked the unnamed male hatchling clean of all his egg-water. Then Was-Grounded bent down as well and nuzzled the little one before depositing a fish from his belly. A fish that very quickly started to disappear into the hatchling's belly.

It was the most liver warming thing she had seen in... memory. And yet...

She closed her eyes and let her thoughts drift on the winds of life. Everything felt different. Warmer.

 _I am not afraid of all this now. This is good and very much warming. Was-Grounded and Green-Wings are good life-mates._

Sigh.

 _I wish that I could have this also._

And with that thought the last of the ice around her liver at the idea melted and shattered. She turned her head slightly without thinking and glanced at Shadowwing. He was staring ahead at the hatchling and saw nothing of her penetrating gaze.

Then cold and confusion entered her liver again.

 _What am I thinking? He is too twisted in the liver. He has never wanted to chase me or tried to show wanting. He does not know what he wants._

"What is his name?" Shadowwing broke the silence.

Was-Grounded nuzzled Green-Wings in response as she gently held and nuzzled the hatchling.

"My life-mate, will you trust me to name this one?" Was-Grounded asked.

"Yes," Green-Wings hummed.

"He is Rain-Eater," Was-Grounded then declared.

"Rain-Eater? Why that name?" Shadowwing rumbled in amused confusion.

Was-Grounded draped a wing over Green-Wings's back as she hummed at him.

"On our flight from her range to this one there was one much bad place to fly. A place with no water for sun-cycles. She was losing much water, and death was stalking her. Then it rained, and I let the rain pour off a wing into a small river so that she could drink."

A solemn moment passed between them as they remembered together the events he was relating.

"I told the sky that I would name a hatchling for that."

Then Rain-Eater finished his meal of fish, stretched his little limbs one more time, and vanished under a warm, shimmering green wing.

Silence filled the cave save for the drone of hums and purrs until...

"He is hatched now! Can we sleep..." Aurora grumbled.

"Oh, is my sister twisted at not being the littlest one now?" Dawn-Singer teased.

"I will bite off your nose," she growled back.

"Will you? With what and why?"

She flashed her sharp but still somewhat small teeth.

"That is how. And why? To make your face look better."

"Aurora... come here," Green-Wings hissed.

She grumbled and reluctantly strode forth.

Green-Wings then lifted a wing to reveal the sleeping Rain-Eater within.

"Lick him."

"What! I do not want to lick him!"

"He is your kin. Your little nestmate... brother. He will look up at you for many suns."

"But..."

A faint rumble alongside narrowed eyes and a slightly twitching tail were the only answers given.

Aurora could not hold the gaze of such eyes, slowly bent down, stuck out her tongue, and barely touched it to Rain-Eater's tiny tailfins. Then she stepped back and bounded away to Was-Grounded's side where she snuggled under a wing. Her continued pouting was quite clearly forced at this point. She at least had the prudence to fall asleep, or to pretend to do so.

"Luna, was this warming to you?" Was-Grounded then asked.

She looked up from the ground and faced him without saying anything for several quiet moments.

"It does warm my liver. Thank you for letting me see a hatching," Luna eventually whispered.

* * *

Spinning through the clouds. Gliding on the warm wind. Shining with the sun's light.

Free. Safe. Alone.

She glanced to the ground far below. The dark thought-hunters were still swarming far below. They never seemed to give up the flight to chase her, always present below and matching her speed.

If only she had life-fire still burning in her liver. How she wished that her glowing wrath could burn these bad-thoughts. But her fire was still dead. Torn from her. Lost.

A burning blue sun fell from the sky.

It struck the pursuing thought-hunters and scattered them for a moment, though it could not kill them. They were her thought-hunters, and only she could burn them, wrestle their necks, and throw them out of life.

She looked up and saw the kin that was spinning down from the sky. Wings of living shadow. Green eyes filled with wanting, confusion, and cold.

He joined her flight at her side. There was no fear in her liver. She knew this kin. She knew what she wanted.

 _'I will not hurt you.'_

And she believed it. Their flights drifted nearer until she could reach out and brush him with a wingtip. And she did and felt a fire in her liver at the touch.

But he shied away and would not touch her again. His eyes spoke liver-pain and not-self-trusting deep in his thinking.

So she growled as she spun toward him and forced his flight into a sky-dance.

Back to back, belly to belly, upside down, in tight loops, and in freefall.

Never touching.

They settled into a glide at each other's side.

He never looked away as they peacefully flew. His green eyes slowly started to change the longer they glided.

Her croon filled her small den as the snow fell and the wind whipped outside the den where she slept alone.

* * *

Valka and Shadowwing huddled around the fire in his cave, warming their... everything against the chill that was... everywhere. The sun was falling low in the sky after the very short day.

It was that time of year for a certain celebration that everyone in Haven had been looking forward to for a long time.

 **This reminds me of Berk**

 **Dead of winter and everything frozen**

 **Hey we should have a feast!**

Valka laughed.

"Yep, traditions after all. So what do you think? Are they ready?"

 **I will let them all know**

 **Should not be hard to convince them**

"Great. Do you... think Luna will want to join us?"

He hummed in thought for a moment.

 **It would be good for her**

 **I will invite her**

"Ok son, see you soon," she departed to return to Cloudjumper.

The Stormcutter looked quite unimpressed at having been left outside in the cold even though he could not fit into the cave.

Shadowwing then left and turned his flight first for his brother's cave.

 _This will be the easier of the two for sure. Just tell them about the food and they will want to attend._

He landed and eagerly bounded inside to escape the biting wind. And he could not restrain the hum that left his throat when he saw them all piled up together in a tangled mass of limbs, wings, and tails. It was something that he had seen before and been within many times, but it still warmed his heart while it looked quite silly in a way. What belonged to which Fury was very hard to tell other than from size alone and the fact that Rain-Eater would be snug under one of his mother's wings.

 _No personal space at all. It is very warm though. And they can all feel the purring too._

He gave a wistful sigh, padded over to his brother, and nudged his shoulder. An eye flicked open moments later along with a faint grumble.

"Grr... what is it?"

"You and all your nest want to wake now."

Was-Grounded yawned widely.

"We were deep in good sleep-visions. Why would we wake for the cold?"

Shadowwing chuckled for several moments and then winked.

"Our two-legs are having their cold-season food-eating ceremony."

The drowsiness and faint irritation that had been in Was-Grounded's eyes vanished in an instant as his head shot up. And they stared at each other wide-eyed.

"Truly! When?"

"This sunfall in the largest tree-cave. Very soon now. They want all Night Furies there to be warm and eat much meat and many fish."

Was-Grounded snapped his jaws shut just in time to not drool on the ground in his own cave.

"We will all be there."

"That is good. I will ask Luna to come also."

"Do you... think she will want that?" Was-Grounded slowly asked.

"I hope that she has healed enough to not be much afraid of two-legs. Much food to eat is hard to turn your nose up at," Shadowwing chuckled.

"Very true."

A brief moment passed during which Was-Grounded looked to be considering something.

"Have you... do you want... no, forget I was talking..." Was-Grounded then groaned.

"What? Were you saying something?" Shadowwing grinned.

"I said... grrr, you get out!" Was-Grounded pounced and batted him out the cave with very non-vicious strikes.

Shadowwing laughed to himself as he bounded out the cave into the snow, leapt into the chill air, and turned for the north, exactly as he had made the flight already many times this winter. Those were always simply to bring fire if the fire in her cave had gone out or occasionally to bring some fish. But there had been something different the most recent times. She seemed quieter, almost reserved in some way, and had been asleep more than she had been last winter.

He dove and landed in the knee-deep snow. Then he glanced into her den. She was indeed curled up around the dim fire with her head hidden under her tailfins.

 _Alright, and now to see if she wants to come with. I really hope so. It would be good for her._

"Luna?" he hummed.

She did not stir in her deep sleep. He wasted no time and strode inside, mostly to escape the whistling wind outside.

And he froze when he saw her up close. The small tongues of flame, though they gave off only a little light, now gave her scales and wings something almost like a sparkle or a shine. A twinkle that reflected with every tiny movement merely from the rise and fall of her chest. It was quite a stunning sight.

 _That is something else..._

That wiggling in his heart. That whispering that he was missing something obvious. That he was trying to not see and willingly closing his eyes to out of...

 _What am I thinking... Alright, time to get you up._

"Luna?"

No response.

 _Drastic measures then..._

And he gently reached out and put a paw on her shoulder.

Her eyes flew open as her tailfins lifted from her head. Her wide, light blue eyes found his, the moment of bleary confusion passed, and...

"Shadowwing," she hummed in surprise.

"Luna, I am sorry to wake you," he stepped back.

She lay her head back on the ground and stared up at him.

"Why did you wake me?"

"The two-leg nest is having a cold-season food-eating ceremony. They bring some of their kin into the most big tree-den. And then they all eat and drink much as one nest."

"Why now? This is not when the eating should be done," she objected in slight confusion.

"True, but they think that by having the ceremony now they are showing how strong they are. Rock-head problems, yes."

"And you want me to come to this food-eating ceremony with you?"

"With me and all the other Night Furies. They will be there also. You could eat all the fish that you want, eat much four-leg meat, and you could sit by the large fire in the den and let your scales be very warm."

She looked down at her sharp claws in a moment of thought.

"I am not saying nest with them, no. Only come with me once. Will you let me show you what is to you a new, hidden world?"

Her eyes went very, very wide.

 _Hidden world..._

 _Hidden range..._

 _Bright rock-lights..._

 _A long and dark cave filled with..._

 _'Look at the sky-lights, little one...'_

She blinked and growled at how the idea had almost... there was something about it that was so very close... but she could not grasp in her claws. So near but so far.

And then she heard his audible whine of despair and saw his downcast head.

"I understand Luna. I thought you might want much food though..." he groaned.

 _No, I did not mean that!_

"No Shadowwing, I am not saying no. I only... my head hurt... now."

Warmth seemed to grow in his eyes at that declaration, although they also shone with worry.

"Your head hurt? Is there more hurting now?"

"No, the hurting is gone."

"That is good. And, you would fly this flight with me?" he warily asked.

"If you will come with me... to keep me safe..." she chuckled.

He nodded and purred to her with relief. She got to her feet and bounded out the cave with him in pursuit. Their flight was fast and with purpose, no flying games, or getting distracted.

It was also very cold and dark when they finally arrived.

The first thing he noticed about the Great Hall was the light from within and the sounds of revelry audible even over the wind as they both stood outside.

"Are you ready, Luna?"

She purred once to him, and he pushed open the door. He bounded inside first, stood aside, and waited as she slowly entered after him. First appeared her head, ears flattened, and light blue eyes wide open in wariness as she inspected the inside. Second, her neck, torso, and folded wings. Finally, her long tail was pulled inside.

And she sat down next to him as he closed the main door behind them.

Everything was silent when he turned back to face what was gathered of Haven. They were all, even the dragons, staring in their direction. Most assuredly in her direction. Or maybe the dragons were staring at one of their Alphas.

And her worried hum grew faintly louder only to be drowned by his peaceful hum of reassurance.

Then happy chaos erupted.

"The Light Fury!" "So sparkly!" "Gorgeous!" "Have they done it yet?" "She finally came!" "We finally have something to celebrate!" "I'm getting' on it ya yak brains!" "Why is my ale gone?" "The ale is gone!" "We have more ale!" "The ale is back!"

It was a confusing mix of voices in which each one was hard to make out.

Then the situation took a minor turn for what could have been the worse. Several of the other Haven dragons, those most familiar to all and well-behaved, had been awoken as well from their deep sleeps to join in the festivities. They got up and bounded over to them both with happy growls. Luna's head whipped toward them, and she stared at their approach as they did not slow down.

Perhaps they were eager to meet one of their Alphas, or maybe they were simply not the most perceptive of dragons. Perhaps they took after their humans in that way.

He darted in front of her and barely lifted his wings while giving the other dragons a faint growl.

They all pulled up before him, blinked and grumbled in surprise, and then inclined their heads while happily purring. Then they dashed away to where they had been to get back to resting or eating.

 _Gods, they can be so like Nords at times... Just say the words 'I have ale for you' or 'Fish' and problems go away..._

Then he glanced back at Luna who almost looked sheepish at the encounter.

"Follow me," he hummed.

They walked together down the main hallway between all the rows of merry people. The massive support pillars that held up the ceiling were quite impressive in their own right, having been assembled from the largest felled trees. The torches that lit the sides of the Hall bathed the whole place in a warm light. The central fireplace roared with a bright flame above which several whole goats and swine were cooking. Tables were absolutely covered in meats, cooked fish, and some fresh fish as well.

He paused as he looked up at the two main tapestries in all their glory. There was a faint twinge in his chest at the sight but none of the crushing emptiness that had been there before.

"Shadowwing, what is it?" she asked.

He only shook his head and kept walking.

Then they saw the heartwarming sight. A low-set table near the head of the Hall and not far from the central fireplace was covered in scraps of meats and small fish. Around this table stood the family of Furies. Dawn-Singer and Aurora were standing by the sandbox and were furiously scribbling as their closest humans stood nearby. Green-Wings stood nearby them both and watched all the activity. Was-Grounded stood next to her while looking out over the entire party. Rain-Eater was curled up and sound asleep on his back.

And all of them had quite stuffed bellies.

Shadowwing did not try to restrain his laughter or prevent his tail from swaying.

"There you are! You both came!" Valka got up and ran over to them. She embraced his head and then turned to Luna.

"Luna..."

Luna stepped forward and briefly nuzzled her cheek while softly purring a greeting to her.

"Luna!" Dawn-Singer and Aurora both hummed as one as they stumbled toward her.

"Little ones," she nuzzled their foreheads while Valka observed.

Then several of the other children who had been gathered around Dawn-Singer and Aurora turned toward the small gathering and happily approached. Valka stepped away from Luna and met the children first.

"Remember, respect her and do not spook her," she chided them.

"What are they doing?" Luna whispered.

"They want to be warm to you."

"Bonding?" she hissed.

"Only small-bonding. Not riding or carrying," he explained.

She warily hummed and turned back to the two-leg fledglings. They could walk upright but were clearly not ready to leave their home-dens and their sire and dam's protection. And their tiny eyes were very wide as they looked her over in... awe, wonder-seeing? They lifted their small paws and waved them at her while flashing their small teeth in the twisted-happy showing. There was also something in their eyes that looked very different from what she thought had to be there. A dangerous and powerful warmth.

She slowly stepped around them without growling or glaring at them and walked over to the place that held all her attention and got her tail swaying.

Meats dripping with fat and many large fish...

She took a glance at Shadowwing as he came to stand next to her. He looked at her and then back to all the food on the table. She licked her lips and stepped closer to the food.

"Try not to make a mess," he chuckled.

Amazingly, she did not. She was a very neat eater. And a hungry one.

 _Though, it does help that there is no blood. I wish some of this was fresh at least..._

He waited patiently as she ate to her heart's content. None of the other dragons thought to bother her, and, despite the novelty of having the Light Fury in the Great Hall for the first time, all the humans were otherwise occupied. All except for the children who could not stop fawning over Dawn-Singer and Aurora.

She stepped back with a satisfied belly and nodded to him. Then he stepped forward and filled his own belly with the remaining goat, fish, and venison.

 _Definitely much better than only cold fish all the time._

He glanced up to the head of the Hall where Thorvald was sitting. Gobber was there also and the two were in council of some kind.

"Luna, I will talk to our two-leg Alpha."

"I will stay with our kin," she bounded over next to Green-Wings and remained attentive there when she sat down.

 _I am not going to complain about that._

Then he walked over to the Chief's table.

"... if the rumors are true..."

"Aye, I know. But nothin' will happen in tha winter," Gobber muttered.

"I am just worried about the peace. I hope it lasts but... oh, Shadowwing perfect, I was going to get you..."

Shadowwing clutched a paw to his chest in surprise.

"Yeah, Chief to Chief in a way..."

 _Wow, I guess that is true. I am a Chief. What would dad have said about how I've done? Though I have different responsibilities than a Nord Chief would have. Still leadership though..._

He sat down and gave Thorvald his full attention.

"More people were saying that they are seeing ships on the water. Maybe trappers."

He restrained the angry growl that threatened to rise. Mostly restrained.

"But nothing is certain now. Everything is a lot better with the other dragons. I don't know what we would have done without the two of you helping."

A slight ruffle of wings and a nod was sufficient answer.

"But there are still a lot of them that fly everywhere and go out to hunt. We will be found eventually, I'm afraid, and we must be ready when that happens."

He grimly nodded back and gave a pointed glance at Valka.

"We've talked a bit, but we will need to figure out what we will do if... something happens."

Then Gobber stepped forward.

"Ah Chief, maybe ya' should get on with the evenin'. It's about time. There'll be plenty of time ta plan later."

"You're right, Gobber."

Shadowwing bounded back to the other Furies and sat down next to Luna and Was-Grounded while Thorvald stood up and rang a gong to get everyone's attention. All voices silenced as people turned toward their Chief.

"I will keep this short. Let us remember the fallen and honor them through our lives here in the world they died for."

Everyone rose to their feet and stood to attention with their heads bowed.

"Stoick the Vast! Astrid the Dragon Whisperer! All the others of our family who feast now in Valhalla!"

Mugs were raised high in salute and then emptied. A solemn moment passed as heads remained bowed in honor of the fallen.

"Come on, let's sing something fun, like The Drunk Nord!" someone in the back shouted.

Crickets.

"To avoid redundancy, shouldn't that just be The Nord?" Skald loudly objected into the silence.

Rounds of roaring laughter went up from the tables. The solemn moment was thoroughly broken and happy chaos resumed.

"So a Nord, a trapper, and mainlander walk into a mead hall!" "I know... that's what she said!" "So then I said, hold my ale and watch this!" "Drinking problem? Yeah, the mug's empty..." "What is fun about being sober? Nothing!" "Take me drunk... I'm home!" "So a Nord walked out of a mead hall... it could happen!"

Those not engaging in banter, more drinking, and contests of strength and endurance, which included drinking, filtered out into the middle of the Hall and began dancing.

Luna looked out at the spinning activity and wondered at its meaning.

"Shadowwing, what are they doing?"

"They are dancing."

She purred as she lay there and looked out over the dancing. There was something hard to understand about it.

"Is it a... mating ceremony?"

 _Uh... no..._

"No, why do you think that?"

"The males are all paired with the females."

 _Ok, fair point..._

"Many mated pairs do this dancing, but non-pairs also dance. It is a two-leg bonding ceremony that is also very liver-warming to them."

She considered the laughing and smiling group of two-legs. He said that this was not a mating-ceremony, but it did seem that the males were all paired with females. Some were even doing the mouth-touching thing that mates or those displaying wanting to a partner seem to do.

 _He knows more about them and their twisted ways than I do._

Then she saw Kin-liver dancing with a one-armed, one-legged, two-leg. This was the male who was bonded to the bone-gatherer kin.

 _Kin-liver is not young and is probably past her egg-making seasons._ _Perhaps this is not a mating ceremony after all… I wonder..._

"What do two-leg eggs look like?" she asked.

Shadowwing groaned while Was-Grounded laughed at the question.

"Why are you laughing?" she hissed.

"I asked the same thing. Would you believe it is liver-truth if I said that two-legs do not make eggs?" Was-Grounded hummed.

Her eyes went wide as she gave a gasp.

"No eggs?"

"None, the little one comes out of the dam's belly," Shadowwing explained.

Luna warbled in confusion at learning something new about two-legs.

"That is very twisting. This ceremony does look like a warming one for them though," she granted.

"It is very warming. Look at how happy they are."

That certainly seemed true from how warmly they were laughing and smiling.

Then Shadowwing rumbled with amusement.

"Did you know that I danced with one of them many season-cycles ago?"

She lifted an eye-ridge at him.

"How?"

"It was long ago when I was much smaller, only as tall as their adults. It was this same time of the season, and I was with them when they were dancing. There was… one female that I knew and she needed someone to dance with. So I joined with her and we danced."

She gave him a bemused stare.

"A female? You joined with her? And you say that this is not a mating ceremony?"

"Yes, I'm sure… but… no! I... did not… not with a two-leg!" he stammered in response.

She laughed aloud and whipped his tail with her own.

"I had to foul your flight."

"Flight fouled..." he rolled his eyes.

Was-Grounded laughed at them and chuckled softly.

"Brother, will you hold Rain-Eater for me?"

"Yes," he reached over, gently plucked the dozing hatchling from his brother's back using his maw, and carefully placed him on his own back.

Then Was-Grounded bounded over to Green-Wings and whispered something to her. Her ears went up in amusement an instant later.

 _What are you two doing?_

Then Shadowwing chuckled to himself as the other two walked out toward the dance floor, displacing many people as they did so. The sight of the two adult Furies walking into a crowd of dancing people naturally garnered the attention of most of the dancers.

Then the two turned toward each other and began a dance of their own. Theirs involved a lot of happy purring and growling, spinning in circles while chasing the other's tail, and leaping to playfully bat at the other.

"Hey, look at that!" "Well, I'll be darned!" "What are they doing?" "Knew it, need more ale!"

"He has never done that before," Shadowwing chuckled.

"I think your liver-twistedness is in both of them now," Luna grumbled back.

Then she threw another glance at him and at how Rain-Eater slept safely on his back. Exactly as a sire would do for his own little one. The warmth from the fire soothed both of them as they lay close by.

"Shadowwing, I have a question about two-legs."

"Yes?"

"Some of the pairs dancing are too old and cannot make any young. Are those life-mates, and how do two-legs know that others are life-mates?"

"Life-mates have like-shiny-things they put on their fingers. That is one way of showing that they are claimed. Two-legs do not smell as much as kin can. Many of the old pairs are life-mates. They..."

 _Actually, he never taught me that word. Time to make another one._

"... love their life-mate."

Luna warbled in confusion.

"What is that two-leg word?"

"It means they... it can mean different things. One type of love is a warm-liver-feeling from being known by another, like a sire or dam for their little one. Another love is for another who has a like-life-fire or a like-life-wind in a different body. Another love is for..." he barely winced, "egg-making. It makes the mates... join to make more life. The last love is to wish good for another without getting or wanting anything from them."

She closed her eyes as she thought over his words.

"And do two-legs do all those?"

His sad hum immediately followed.

"They should, but they do not much. Sometimes life-mates are false and stop being mates by taking others that are younger and more eye-warming. And it is very not normal for one to do good without wanting something."

"Why must two-legs make names for all things? Those are all part of life. A sire and dam should nuzzle, warm, and be warmed by their young. Life-mates or close kin will become more like the other with more seasons together. Making more life is good," she paused and then hummed in wary confusion.

"The last one you said, to do great good without wanting anything, I do not know if I can think that is. It is too much not how the world and life are."

"I know that it is truth. I have felt it and lived it," he answered her.

"What? When?"

He looked away from her and out to the dance floor where Was-Grounded and Green-Wings were alternating between chasing each other through the Hall while weaving through all the other dancers.

"When my brother flew his own life into danger to save mine. He was willing to die for me."

 _And did in a way, many years ago..._

"You cannot do it!" Aurora teased very loudly.

They both glanced back and saw something initially very amusing. The young humans had departed, leaving only the two young Furies to tease each other. Aurora was laughing at Dawn-Singer as he seemed to be softly heaving. Then he brought out a little unflamed gas.

 _Oh, you are trying to make fire... No, no, no, no, bad idea!_

"Dawn-Singer!" he cried.

His nephew regretfully turned away from the sand and strode over to him.

"I do not understand it! I should have my fire now!" Dawn-Singer softly growled.

"You cannot do it!" Aurora laughed.

"And I will bite your tail!" he retorted.

Aurora stuck out her tongue at him.

"You can learn your fire Dawn-Singer, but do not try to learn it in here. Night Fury fire is very hot, and you would not want to hurt anyone here."

Dawn-Singer's ears fell at the thought.

"No, but I know in my liver that I should have fire now."

 _Well, I think I know what can cheer him up._

"I did not learn my fire until after you were a fledgling. And your sire was only a little older than you are now when he flamed. He learned his fire when he fought against a bad sky-light-eater."

Luna blinked and hummed in understanding.

"Is that where his neck hurt-marks are from?" she asked.

"Yes, he liked them much, and I said he was twisted."

"You both are..."

"Thank you for saying all that..."

And she laughed almost in the same moment as both Dawn-Singer and Aurora yawned widely from the combination of it being well after dark, being in the warm glow of the fire, and having full bellies finally having caught up with them. They both approached the reclining crescent moon. Dawn-Singer lay down before her while Aurora, somehow overcoming her sibling frustration, hopped between them and snuggled up against Luna's side.

Luna blinked in surprise and then deeply purred to them both. Then she lay her head down and stared ahead toward the fire.

He felt the growing exhaustion of the evening himself as the fire's warmth rolled over all of them.

 _I could do with some rest also._

He noticed the empty space next to the dozing children at her side. The inviting space that had to be filled. So he got up, shuffled over to them, and lay down next to her. And he lifted a wing to drape it over her and his nephew and niece to share warmth. Then he was asleep, lost to the comfort of a full belly, the warm fire, the voices of people all around, and the constant hum of dear Furies with him.

She was still awake and quite lost to her thoughts as she stared at him, carefully watching the rise and fall of his chest. Confusion swirled within her thoughts. Nothing in his smell, look, or words ever had ever showed any interest in her before. Was it possible that he truly had no desire at all for a mate and did not want that goodness in his life-flight? The idea was unthinkable.

 _Except I was like that also until so recently..._

On the other paw, he was a very strange kin and almost tried to live like something between a kin and a two-leg. He had no definite direction in his life.

But he was sheltering her with his wings even now, and that felt very warming.

 _Maybe he does have wanting but does not know it yet. Maybe he has been flying from his own wants._

* * *

Valka reclined nearby them both, as she was uninterested in the partying, stories, or songs. She only had interest in the sight before her eyes. Shadowwing and Luna curled up more or less together, his wing over her back, all while three younglings slept at her side and on his back.

 _Son, you are quite lost now even if you do not know it._

Several other people started taking notice as well. Fingers were pointed, voices whispered, and wagers were placed. Many wagers.

And then both Was-Grounded and Green-Wings walked up to her, completely exhausted from an evening of abandoning themselves to yearling play and silliness. They both glanced at the sleeping pair and rumbled to each other in apparent satisfaction.

Valka realized something then. They had seemed to spend as much time as possible away from the other two after deliberately leaving their three children in the care of Shadowwing and Luna.

 _You clever matchmakers you..._

"Did you do this? Leave your little ones to them so that this would happen?" she whispered in his ear.

Was-Grounded thought for a moment and then returned a gummy grin and a nod.

* * *

Shadowwing awoke to a slight pressure on his shoulder.

"Brother?"

"Grrr, I am awake now..." he groaned.

"We are going back to our cave-den now. Kin-liver said that there is a cold-storm coming."

He lifted his head and saw Green-Wings and the other three children patiently waiting for their father. Most of the raucous festivities had faded and only quiet conversation and storytelling remained. As well as dozens of unconscious people on the floor.

"I will let you tell her," Was-Grounded whispered before turning for his family.

 _Tell her?_

Then it all came back to him, and he slowly turned to his side. There she was partly under his wing and singing a soft croon even while asleep.

He retracted the wing and got to his feet. He stepped around her, bent down, and softly nuzzled her nose until she awoke again.

"Shadowwing?"

"I am flying to my cave to go to the long sleep. The cold-season ceremony is ending here," he softly hummed.

She blinked as slight loss flared at his words. This meant they would be separated again since she had planned on returning to her cave-den for another long and slow cold-season sleep in the world that she knew and felt comfortable in. Where her cold-season had started out all alone.

Or…

"May I sleep at your cave-den?" she yawned.

"Is there something bad with yours?"

"No, but it does get... cold. And I am warmed by your cave-den more, especially after learning much picture-talking there. It would be better for you to not need to fly in the cold also."

He thought about it. The last time she had slept in his cave was when she was helping him with his mysterious illness. That was completely understandable, and his cave was also far more snug and warm than hers out in the wild for sure.

"I do not see why not. It will be warmer than the last time you were up there to help me," he groaned in a faint reminder of his mortification.

"I hope so. Why I ever wanted to help you with that problem, I do not understand. I was the twisted one then," she teased.

"As long as no one put bad-wrong-snake-fish or long-tooth-grass in something I ate, we should be safe."

They made their way outside through the thinning crowd and Luna launched herself skyward through the dusting snowfall, but he heard something that made him pause.

A group of men were facing his direction while cheering and whistling. He spared them a polite nod.

 _Hmm, probably too much ale. I wonder how long their supplies will last them._

His flight took him up and into the cold sky, following a bright light through the darkness and over the snowbound landscape. And she was waiting for him outside the entrance to his cave.

"Please go ahead," he said.

She did, and he pulled the cloth across the mouth of the cave behind them to block out most of the wind. He lit the kindling in his fireplace and added another log from the stack by the door. Then they settled down next to each other near the budding fire as the wind slowly began to pick up and whistle outside.

"It looks different. More tree-skins and pictures," she remarked.

"Yes, I have been making pictures that show places, maps, for everyone to use. Maps from around here and from my memory of journeys far from here. They use much tree-skin."

She sat down and faced him.

"There is not much you can do with your suns now in this season."

"Other than teaching Aurora some, no. There is not much to do as Alpha because many of the kin are sleeping. I sleep much now also."

"No more bad sleep-visions, I hope," she hummed.

"No, I have not had one of those since I had the belly-badness. They are good, warmer ones now. We will sleep much after that big meal and our filled bellies."

He yawned widely.

"Please sleep anywhere. I am warmed that you will be sleeping here and not alone."

She watched as he got to his feet and then he stepped back from the fire before hopping up onto what was clearly his own rock-bed. She curled up around the fireplace.

Silence settled into the cave-den.

There was something barely... not true about him. He had a very faint scent of wanting, almost too faint to notice if not looking for it. But something was stopping him from admitting it to himself.

 _Maybe this is because of the past deaths he felt. But none of them were a kin-bond two-leg or a mate. He should not be that life-twisted._

She grumbled in dismay and lay back down on the warmed ground.

Her thoughts turned to how her own bad sleep-visions had diminished over time and how the memories of her time as an almost mating-thrall did not hurt as much now. Those memories were becoming faded now as warmer memories took their place. Almost as though the she who had suffered then was not the same light wing she was now.

Sigh.

 _What am I to you?_

She closed her eyes and fell asleep. Despite the confusion there was a warmth in her liver that she could not recall burning there before. Sleeping near him in his cave-den felt like where she should have been for a long time now.

* * *

He woke later that night to a cold feeling in his world. It was less a cold of absolute and more a cold by comparison from recent experience. The fireplace and the white moon curled around it were very inviting when compared to the stone bed on which he lay.

And he stared at her, eventually realizing what was wrong.

 _I am an idiot. We do not worry about sharing warmth with... family._

He hopped down and walked over to her. He wasted not a moment before laying around her back and putting a wing over her as he had done at the Blott. Doing so felt... right. It was good to share warmth on a cold winter night. Deep sleep came for him between the fire's warmth and her warmth at his side.

She was again in her trap back on the terrible island. He imagined other dragons scrambling at her and trying to force her. The fear in her eyes the first time they had met. The fear that was now gone from her eyes.

 _'I will not hurt you...'_

And in that dream it was impossible to tell which of them had spoken that promise.


	64. III - In The Pale Light

_**Author's Note – This will start a miniature arc of only two characters as they set off on a new adventure. I have also had to use my imagination and put my own spin on things quite a bit, as you will soon see.**_

* * *

" _Turn your face away... From the garish light of day... Turn your thoughts away... From cold, unfeeling light... And listen to the music of the night." - Phantom Of The Opera_

* * *

In The Pale Light

* * *

Was-Grounded sat down in the cold-fluffy-water outside the den and stared inside as warmth burned in his liver.

They were together. Not joined as one, but Shadowwing was sheltering Luna with a wing and had coiled partly around her. They were not mates yet from their smell, but it was only a matter of time for them, that he was sure of.

He very cautiously padded closer to them and took in the liver-warming sight.

 _Brother, do not foul your own flight on this now. Hmm, even you must know what to do though... I would have no problem showing her my wanting!_

He left the cave-den moments later to return to his own cave-den, share the warming news with Green-Wings, and to return to a long sleep. This range was very cold in the cold-season.

He reclaimed his place at her side and then whispered to her what he had seen in Shadowwing's den. She softly hummed without opening her eyes.

* * *

Short sun-cycles and long sleep-cycles. Cold outside the den and warmth within. Short days and many dreams. Frigid drafts, whistling winds, and occasional hunting in the warmer moments.

Wake up, bound over to get more wood, relight the fire, and curl up next to her with a sheltering wing over her. Stare at her motionless, closed eyes as she slept in comfort at his side. Fall asleep to her warm purr.

Wake up, slide out from under his wing, dash outside the den to relieve herself, return to his side, and lose herself in his warmth and his comforting hum.

Good dreams and warm sleep-visions. Shared fish brought from storage and hums of thanks. A few quiet talks in their shared waking moments.

And the days finally began to warm.

* * *

It was very early in the new-life-season. There was still frozen-fluffy-water on the ground in places, and only the earliest of the trees were growing their buds. Almost all other kin would still be in their deep sleeps.

Her sleep-visions had been better and more peaceful over the past cold-season than any before. Simply being in Shadowwing's cave-den and sleeping near him and under his wing brought a warmth to her liver that she had not felt before. She had found herself waking up in the middle of the long nights or other times when he was asleep so that she could do nothing other than stare at him. All from under his wing where she had slept long and peacefully in shared warmth.

That was when, like a crash of sky-light on a mountain that disturbs a long and deep sleep, she remembered everything about the distant place.

A long-past flight from the cave-den, out through the large, glowing cave, and a long walk up through a dark and narrow cave. It was a long flight and walk that she had made only a few times before, always with her sire at her side to watch over her.

 _'Look at the sky-lights, little one...'_

Out from the cave and through a stream of falling water on the side of a steep mountain. Out into the free and wide open sky lit by the burning sun and small sky-rock. The sky-rock, the moon, that she had always been unable to look away from in her awe. It was as white as her.

Out into the wide, unbounded sky so different from the world she knew. Feeling the open air and winds stroke her wings as she set out on her life-flight toward the distant horizon. Toward what would hopefully be a warm and much-good life. To find one she could wrap her tail and wings around and join life-flights with to bring about the future.

She cast one final look back at the place that hid the mouth to the hidden range deep under the ground. At the valley, mountain, and distant ocean that she was leaving behind. It was a vision that burned into her memory and which she was sure she would never forget. She intended to bring another back here with her under a future sun.

She awoke with a gasp and nervous twitch of her tail as she caught her breath. Even within the cave-den now she knew the path the flight would take her. She knew it perfectly as if she had flown it under a recent sun.

 _Are they still there? Sire? Dam? Ear-Biter? The other little ones. Or have they all flown the nest by now? I do not know how many seasons it has been since I was there._

There was no way to know how long she had been a thrall and kept in the trap or how long she had ranged in the free skies before being made a thrall. Most of it was gone from her memory.

 _I can go find them and see my nestmates, dam, and sire again if they are still there._

She hummed happily at the good thought.

 _Sire will be much warmed to know that I lived. He was very chilled when his little sky-light flew the nest even if he knew that it was good for me to go on my life-flight._

It would be a long flight from this range. Maybe a moon-cycle between flying there and flying back, if that needed to happen at all. She was ready and eager to go on the flight and almost bounded out to take to the skies when she realized the main problem.

That would be a flight alone. A long flight alone up into the cold ranges. It did not feel good and warming to go alone.

There was someone else she wanted to meet her own nest-kin and to see the world that she knew so closely in her liver. Someone who was at her side and sharing warmth even now. It was a wild, very different world from the one that he knew.

Her hopeful hum filled the den's silence even as she settled down and returned to get more rest from under his wing.

 _But maybe seeing that world, hunting those prey, seeing those light-rocks, and smelling those winds will help him see and know what he wants. Will turn his life-flight toward mine._

Then she snuggled directly against his warm side as he slept and was unable to shy away. Overcome with liver-fire, she wrapped her tail around his and purred with deep warmth.

* * *

"My first, Sky-Rock-Gazer, will you fly with me?" her dam asked.

"Yes, dam," she obediently answered.

They both flew from the cave-den and passed through part of the hidden world range. Then her dam led her down into a clearing with a pond among the trees and tall plants. It was a good, warm place where she and her sire and dam played much outside the den. They landed smoothly in the long grass, and her dam turned to her with a very fond hum and nuzzle and also with a scent of sadness.

"You will fly soon. You are your full size," her dam whispered.

"Yes, I will."

Dam had that twisting mix of warmth and chill in her eyes at that.

"I will never forget you and sire as I fly in the above. And when I find my mate, I will bring him here to this very good and safe range where we will nest."

Dam's solemn hum warmed noticeably at that. Then her dam stepped over to her side and lay down.

"Did I ever tell you about how I and your sire became mates?"

Her ears went up and her tail started swaying.

"No, you never told me that story!"

"I flew from my old nest-pack in a very far distant cave. None of them would have been good mates. They had too much fighting-wanting. I flew long in these ranges until I found this good range here that had everything a pair would need, much food and safety with no other kin to fight with."

Dam paused.

"And the winds of life must have wanted it to be so because I had not even claimed a den when a male light wing appeared before me. He had no mate."

"Sire?"

"Not then, but yes, him. His eyes were so wide when he saw me, almost as if he did not believe them. I had to hit his nose before he would say anything."

She laughed at her dam's life-story. She could remember how even now her great sire would stare long at dam while purring warmingly.

"He wanted to listen to my life-story, he learned about me, and he hunted for me, bringing me much fish and ground-prey. That was not like other male light wings from other nest-packs. They had much wanting but not much life-warming. But even he had much wanting..."

Dam's eyes were filled with warmth.

"We flew to a deep water to hunt for fish and to play. We did, and then we lay down in the long grass where we sit now."

She blinked in surprise and looked around the grove. It had always been a warm place to her, but it seemed now that it was warm to sire and dam for another reason.

"I was ready, and he knew. He jumped at me and caught me with his teeth to my neck."

"What! He hurt you!"

It sounded very not like her gentle, warm, nuzzling sire.

"No, little one. He caught me and pinned me. He showed how hot his liver was for me. Strong, filled with some danger, and ready to be a good sire."

"And then you joined?" she mumbled in confusion.

"No," dam answered.

"No?"

"He wanted to much but he let me go. I let him know that I wanted him then and always."

Closed eyes and a warm croon followed.

"We made your egg here in this grass. Our first egg as life-mates, as I knew we were then."

"No sky-dance?"

"We did that also in a different, higher cave with more sky to fall from, but no, it is not the sky-dance that makes the mates be life-mates. That is only a showing to others and a very liver-warming flight."

That left her with a curious croon.

"How do I know if he is a mate or life-mate? What is different?" she asked.

"A mate will give you his seed. A life-mate will give you his seed and his life-flight. A life-mate will think about you first, even if he has much wanting. The life-flights are different for each pair, so I cannot tell you what you should want. The only way you can know is to learn about the other. Some pairs learn after they get a hatchling together, and others can learn before they become mates."

"I will remember all of that, dam. Is there anything else that you can tell me that I should know before I fly?"

Dam hummed in thought for several wingbeats.

"I told you about the strong-life-hatchling-flowers that glow with light. They are not needed, but they do help if you think you will get an egg soon. They only grow here though, not in the above."

"Yes, I remember."

"Your sire already told you about where the light wings above might be found."

"Yes, he did."

"Did he tell you about the dark wings?"

She tilted her head slightly at that.

"Dark wings, no, what are those?"

"They are kin like us, different in color and some body shapes, but they have the same life-fire in their livers. There were some of them in far ranges before, but... something bad happened to them."

"What?"

Dam hesitated.

"I will not say. You must only know that dark wings are few now. But they can be Alphas, if there are any of them now."

She hummed softly as she considered this.

"Can a light wing and a dark wing be good mates?"

Dam laughed at that remark.

"They could join, yes. Can they make life together? I do not know. Maybe you will learn if you find one."

They both laughed at that slight tease. Then her dam left her alone in that grove to think over all that she had been told. There was much to remember. Knowing that this is where her own egg was made gave this grove more of a special place in her liver.

Then, after much thinking about the skies above and the coming life-flight, she turned her flight back for what was still her home-nest-den but would not be much longer.

It was almost her time to fly on her own.

* * *

Waiting made her quite impatient. Her tail twitched slightly with that impatience.

Though, resting up against his side was not chilling in any way. It was only warming, especially whenever he coiled slightly around her in his sleep. Even more especially when she imagined another way he might wrap himself around her.

She remained fully awake as she listened to the sound of his slow breaths. Her thoughts kept turning to the long flight and all the marks to guide the flight. The long ocean, the mountains she remembered, and the island out in the waters.

Then, finally after much waiting, he stirred next to her and groaned as he awakened.

"Shadowwing..."

"Llluna, hhow are you?"

"Warm. Thank you for sharing your den's warmth with me."

He softly purred.

"I would do that for any of my kin."

As she was facing away from him, he did not see her faint wince of slight disappointment.

"I will fly to the Haven-nest now to get fish," he said.

Then he stood up and turned toward the den's mouth.

"Wait, I must talk to you before you go," she got to her feet and almost bounced in excitement.

"What is it?"

"I remembered where to find my home-range and den!"

His weary eyes went wide at her words.

"You remembered! That is good!"

She eagerly growled.

"Yes, I want to fly there and see my sire, dam, and nest-mates, if any of them are still there."

He seemed frozen in awe until she continued.

"Will you fly this flight with me? I want you to see that range."

"I... I would want that, Luna. Where is it? What is it?"

She closed her eyes and hummed, clearly losing herself in her memories.

"It is very different from everything that you know. We will fly far toward the rising sun but up into the much colder ranges. Then there is a dark cave that we will walk down far into the ground."

He gasped when she added that last detail.

"A cave... down... wait, is the range deep under the ground?"

It was her turn to blink and stare in amazement.

"Yes, a hidden world. Have you been there?" she gasped.

"Yes! There were many kin flying in it. There were some trees and plants that are not growing up here. The rocks and plants burn with light."

"You have been there!" she joyfully bellowed and danced around him, leaping over his tail in her joy.

He chuckled at her exuberance until she settled down.

"I was not in it for one sun-cycle, but yes, I have seen a hidden world. How many sun-cycles will we be away from here?"

She hummed as she looked up at the top of the cave in thought.

"The flight is very long. With the flying only to there and back here we could be away more than a moon-cycle. And that is if we do not stay there long."

He seemed to groan at that.

"That is long to be away from my home-range here."

She looked down at the ground and went very still and quiet.

"You do not need to... fly this flight with me... if you do not want it," she whispered.

 _Shadowwing, what do you want?_

He then glanced back at her, having made some decision.

"I will fly this flight with you."

Her happy croon filled the den until he gave an amused hum.

"Someone should keep you safe," he added.

She laughed freely at that.

"And there is no one better than an Alpha to do that," she grinned.

He rolled his eyes and grunted with amusement.

"Alpha... my waste end... When will you... we fly?"

"We should eat much and then fly. The flight to there is faster with the wind at our tails."

He hummed after stretching.

"I will tell Was-Grounded and Kin-liver now and then eat. Then we fly."

"You go tell them and eat your fish! I will go fly more and burn my life-fire! It is too much now!"

She grinned as she spun around in place and then bounded out the cave into the sky.

Shadowwing sighed when he realized what he had volunteered for.

 _Well, you sure are excited. You should be. You are going home. I am going to meet her family. That sounds amazing. I wonder if they will want to come here with us._

Then he was disturbed by a chilling idea. What if she got there and wanted to stay in the place she knew? What if she wanted to leave Haven permanently and return to the safest place for dragons in the world?

 _She has never been very close to the humans here. Only to Valka. Even that is more respect than anything._

 _But that is her choice... if she wants it._

 _I hope..._

* * *

Was-Grounded was woken up from his morning nap by a nudge to the shoulder.

"I know... I will clean up after Rain-Eater. Where is his mess?"

Then he heard a deep chuckling and opened his heavy eyes. It was not his life-mate. She was still asleep with their little Rain-Eater.

"Brother? What?"

"I thought I should tell you that I will be flying from this range for many sun-cycles."

"I will have to be the only Alpha for many sun-cycles. Why?" he yawned.

"Luna remembered where her home-range is. I will fly there with her."

His tail froze, and he looked back at Shadowwing in surprise.

"Why are you flying there with her?"

"To keep her safe since she does not have fire. And I want to meet her sire, dam, and others from her nest, if they are there. I would tell them about how good this range is. Think about it brother, they might want to come here to live in this range. There could be another nest of Night Furies and Light Furies here soon!"

They both hummed at the thought, though Was-Grounded grinned when he was sure his brother was not looking.

"That would be very warming. How long will your flight have you away?" he then asked.

"She said that it might be a moon-cycle of flying."

"Hmm, that is more time away than you have been gone before. Be safe out there. You will have to tell me about the range when you get back."

Shadowwing nodded, though there was an odd spark in his eyes.

"I will. I am sure that it is a place that can warm the liver much even if it is very strange and different from all other places... here."

Was-Grounded remained sitting just outside the cave and thinking about this news long after Shadowwing left his den. He had seen the occasional glances that Shadowwing threw Luna's way. And he thought he saw something change in her as well whenever she was around Shadowwing. She played more and laughed more around his brother. She never seemed afraid of his brother or did anything to suggest that her liver was still grounded by what had happened in her past. They spent most of the cold-season sharing body-warmth in his cave-den, though nothing more had happened. He would have known if they had shared more.

And now his brother and Luna were going to fly together to a far distant range. A range that was apparently good for Light Furies to nest in. And they were doing so at the start of the new-life-season when she was ready to make an egg and the life-making fire most easily burned in their livers.

He grinned and chuckled to himself with a very warmed liver.

"To keep her safe... no, I think not. You are flying there to join life-flights with her even if you have your eyes closed. There will be another nest of Night Furies and Light Furies here as long as you both fly back here."

Then he heard his own words and felt a faint chill from them.

 _They will fly back here, I hope. She does not hold the two-legs close to her liver, and she might want to stay in the place she knows if it is still good to make their own nest in. But he wants to live here with this mixed-nest. Even if they want to nest somewhere else, he will fly here to let me know where. I am sure of that. We might even fly to join them wherever they go._

* * *

She bounced on her feet as she waited on the highest mountain peak.

 _Come on, you twisted pile of..._

"How long does it take to tell them that you will be flying away for many suns? Sky-breath take him..."

She lay down and closed her eyes, imagining the coming flight with a warmth in her liver. Down from this range of mountains and deep inland toward a set of sky-lights. Over the inland ocean and along the far distant shore of the ocean where the land was coldest. A range of mountains always capped with white. And the narrow cave hidden partway behind a waterfall.

She lifted her head at the sound of approaching wings. He dove and landed on the ledge next to her.

"That took you much time," she grumbled.

He almost looked hurt.

"They wanted me to have enough fish before I left. And Kin-liver wanted to talk much."

She laughed at that.

"She would. What did she say?"

He shuffled on his feet for a moment.

"Can you keep a secret, Luna?"

That got her tail swaying in curiosity.

"A secret? Talk now."

"Kin-liver has been in one of the hidden ranges before. She knows that there are kin that fly below. She was very surprised when I told her that we are flying under the ground."

She was quite amazed and very worried to hear that.

"She has been in that place before. Two-legs do know about it now..."

"No, she is the only two-leg who knows. She was shown it by another kin who knew that she had a liver with warmth for kin. That kin knew that he could trust Kin-liver to never tell. We have told no other two-legs about it."

She gave a wary but relieved hum.

 _That is not bad. As long as it stays hidden._

"You must lead this flight," he then said.

"Me, a flight-leader for an Alpha? Ha!" she barked in amusement.

"Twisted, I know."

"Try to fly as fast as me," she then teased.

Then she spun away and leapt for the sky with her flight set for the northeast. He took one more glance back at Haven and sighed.

 _Just do not go and disappear on me now. We will be back._

He glanced forward at her and followed her into the sky.

* * *

Several days of flying and gliding with the wind had brought them both to a place where the mainland seemed to end and only ocean lay before them.

They stood wing to wing on the shore as they stared out over the waters.

"You are certain about the flight?" he wondered.

"Yes, I know those are the winds."

"Hmm, should we hunt here before flying that water?"

"Yes, we should."

They took to the sky and hunted up and down the coast. There were places where there was no sign of any prey at all. The mountains and landscape were very bare of vegetation. It was like nothing lived here in this more barren part of the north.

Then they saw the small herd of elk.

"Let me!" she growled.

She darted forward, keeping low to the ground, and struck. It was quite a vicious strike and she rolled head over tail with the elk in her jaws. Then they rolled to a stop, she slammed the elk into the ground, and she cleanly snapped its neck.

"Well hunted!" he growled.

And he watched over her as she ate, tearing away large, bloody strips of meat and quickly making them vanish. He had not seen her actually catch a fresh kill before. It was very fierce and raw, quite at odds with how she always carried herself so gently around any of the Furies.

She eventually stepped away from the remains with a happy and contented growl. He attended to the rest, which was delicious even if he had to ignore a bit of remaining drool. Such annoyances had long since stopped mattering to him. Once everything worth eating was gone, he grabbed the bones and fur, tossed them away, and slowly walked back to her. With his belly filled again, it was far easier to think about the flight so far and what she said remained.

 _A whole week now. Never thought I would ever be this far north. There are almost no Nords up here at all. Still a bit cold too._

She was already resting in the shade of a pine tree. The catch had been her own and that entitled her to the first helpings of all that was caught. She had eaten much and had filled her belly so much that it looked rather silly and she was definitely going to need to sleep it off.

He walked up to her side and stared at her. At her white wings, rising and falling chest, and long tail curled around her side.

"Shadowwing?"

He blinked and saw her looking back at him. He had been staring.

"I," humph, "thought you looked silly with your big belly."

She glanced at his own belly as he stood there. And she grinned.

"You ate less than I did, and you still have more belly. Did you eat much fish before flying this flight, or do you always have more belly?"

He gave her a withering and amused glare.

"Twisted kin..." he grumbled.

"Yes, you are..."

"Luna!"

"I do have a filled belly now. We are flying to a place with very little prey until the hidden world, and we must eat all we can now."

Then she vanished under her tailfins.

 _I guess that makes sense._

He also closed his eyes as he lay next to her. There were no sounds out here in the wild but the crashing sea and the whistling wind. And that of her regular breaths which quickly lulled him to sleep and dreams.

His flighty dreams were of a shadow that struck a pure moon from the sky, of a large cave that glowed with green and white light, and of white wings that vanished down the deep cave, never came forth again, and left him alone and broken when he turned for home.

* * *

Flying the ocean took almost a full day before land appeared on the distant horizon. And what a land it was. The mountains not far inland were tall and snowcapped. The valleys had deep fjords and lakes bounded by rock walls and stretches of pine forests. There were no signs of civilization anywhere.

He followed Luna down onto a rocky ledge at the beginning of one of these such lakes.

"How close now, Luna?"

She hummed with her eyes closed and wings extended to the wind.

"A pawful of suns now. I know because I am feeling warmer as we fly into colder winds."

"These ranges do warm the liver in a way."

Then she lifted her head and gave a roar to the winds. Her roar was just as loud as any that he could make, and he felt it echo with might in his own chest. She had a happy growl when she turned back to him.

"This is where kin should live. Free. Wild. Not trapped in two-leg nests and carrying around two-legs on their backs."

He grimaced at her strong words.

"You still think that about them?"

She gave a wary and considerate hum.

"Not as I did in past season-cycles. I do not hate them as I did. But you know that two-legs want to break the life-fires of all things they find. Either they kill it or they find a use for it and change it into a life-thrall, they make its life-fire dim. Tame."

"I think those words are some twisted. Yes, there are bad two-legs who want to make all things thralls, even other two-legs, but not all two-legs are that. I..."

He hung his head and continued on in a soft voice.

"I knew a two-leg once who held a kin very close to his liver, not as something that he would use to fly on or make a weak-fire life-thrall. But instead he did what he did because he wanted that kin to be warm and happy."

"Did you? What happened to that two-leg?"

"He... died," he winced.

"Why did he die?"

"Because... his nest did not listen to him. He and his liver-bond kin... both died."

She hummed again in thought.

"Two-legs alone can be warm to us, yes. Kin-liver is one of them. But two-legs together as a whole nest are different. They stop thinking with what they know and instead listen to others. They let rot grow in their nest-group-thinking. I told you this before."

He fought very hard to not whine at her accusatory words. And yet...

 _She is not totally wrong. People do... listen to the group a lot when they should know better. I was special in a way because I never fit into the group. If anyone else on Berk had found Toothless... But Haven is not like that. They all learned from my example... they changed._

"I am not tame. I will never be tame. And you, you will not catch me," she teased.

"I will not catch you? What!"

She leapt forward from the ledge and flung out her wings.

"You!" he hopped after her.

And they were both diving down into that rock-bound valley and flying close to the choppy water. He could see her speedy flight disturbing the water behind her as she dashed by several lengths before him.

 _A race, huh? Oh, this is on!_

He picked up the pace, tucking in his limbs and narrowing himself as much as possible. The distance began to close as they neared the farthest shore. And then, just when it looked like he would fully catch up to her, she put on a last bit of speed and barely crossed over the shore before him.

They both banked up higher into the sky and began to glide to catch their breath.

"I would have caught you with more sky to fly!" he growled.

"But not in that race you did not!"

Grr.

He bared his teeth with a faint snarl. She only laughed, and it was a beautiful sound to him even over the whistling wind.

* * *

They landed at her lead on the snowy side of a mountain by the coast. Three days had passed now since they had flown the ocean, and this country was certainly well and truly off of any maps that ever existed in the world. They were so far north that there was no remaining sign that it was even spring anymore and the stars in the sky even looked very unfamiliar. There was still a grey color in the air and much snow on the ground.

 _We have gone so far now. This makes even the ice nest to Berk seem like an afternoon glide. Sigh, I wonder what they are doing back in Haven._

"How far now?" he wondered.

She turned while in the snow to look out toward the sea.

"We will fly there with the next sun, but we should sleep first. It is another long flight over water."

She bounded over to the nearest rock wall, dug out a small patch from the snow, and curled up under her wings. He remained standing there and looking out to the chill sea for a moment before he glanced back over at her. She had almost vanished in the white snow where she lay.

 _Oh, why not? It is a bit cold up here anyway._

He hopped over to her side and snuggled up next to her, much to her surprise. Then he put a wing over her back.

"I said I would keep you safe, even from the danger of cold," he chuckled.

"It is cold up here, almost like it is not the new-life-season," she hummed back from within her cocoon.

"But it is a different world we will see. Seasons are different in there I think," he mused.

"True, Shadowwing. Seasons are more known by life-cycles instead of sky-light-cycles."

He lay his head down next to hers and relaxed in the peace of not having to do anything Alpha-related at all. This was an adventure with someone he cared about to see a new world and to hopefully find their family.

Still, the weariness after many days of flying caught up to him and he quickly fell asleep to a familiar and warm purring at his side.

* * *

Their flight took them through the biting cold and out over the northern ocean. The flight lasted all morning before the rocky island finally appeared. They flew up and over the rocky cliff and saw an island void of almost all life except lichens, blowing grass, and a few pines. She led their flight on until they reached a massive rock wall leading up the side of a slope near the base of a mountain. A large cave, completely unreachable except by air, was clearly visible in that rock wall.

"That is it. I know it!" she shouted with obvious excitement as they glided.

"That leads down into the hidden world?"

"Yes," she answered.

He looked up at the bright sun and open sky.

"We might not see this for many suns. Let us go and not wait. I will go first."

He flew toward the destination, tucked in his wings at the last second, and dove inside the narrow passage. Then he hopped forward to make room for her, and she entered a moment later. The cave was far narrower than the other one he had once flown down on an island in the western waters. It also did not look safe to fly down this one because it was also far darker in addition to being narrower.

She visibly shook with excitement as she looked around the familiar cavern.

"How dark is it going down?"

"Very dark. We will not see with our eyes," she answered.

He glanced back at the entrance to the cave.

"Will you lead me? I do not know the way."

She hummed and took the lead. The first thing he noticed was that there was a faint rush of wind being dragged inside the cave, though how he could not imagine. The path pitched down quite substantially. Once the darkness became complete, her ethereal calls began bouncing down the cave as their path appeared in that odd way of seeing without sight. That odd sense of seeing with sound was all that could guide them now without burning precious gas.

 _I never did figure out how to do that myself. It is a good thing that she knows how to though._

And they continued on with no awareness of the passage of time. It was hard to tell when nothing was visibly changing around them. It could have been minutes or hours.

"How did you know where you were going when you flew from here?" he asked.

The darkness answered from just ahead.

"My sire brought me up here a couple times. He wanted me to see the open sky, the stars, and the moon."

"That was good of him. I am glad that he did."

She hummed happily at that as they continued walking. She eventually tossed an amused glance over her shoulder to where she could hear him following her.

There was no difference between them in the total darkness. They were both dark wings.

It also felt very twisting to be walking back down this path again after an unknown number of season-cycles. The feeling was almost like bugs were crawling all over her.

Then she saw it just up ahead. A faint glow of light on the side of the cave.

"Look at it! We are almost there, Shadowwing."

She glanced back and faintly saw his shining eyes glowing in the darkness. It felt warming to know that she knew whose eyes those were and that he was on this flight with her.

The very dim glow from the small plants on the walls of the cave grew steadily brighter until they were both visible with their respective colors. And they continued on down the pitched slope.

Then she saw one of the glowing buzzing bugs in the moss. They were fun to play with.

"Look!"

She swiped at it with a paw. Disturbed, it flew off and flared with a flash of light that illuminated the cave for a moment. She saw Shadowwing's wide and awed eyes and laughed at his amusement.

"Woah!" he gasped.

She laughed again and started to run and bound down the passage. He started after her as the light began to grow brighter up ahead. The cave became flatter and wider, and the air behind them rushed forward into an actual wind. And they dashed out from the cave's mouth onto a rocky surface that extended ahead several of their lengths and then dropped off a ledge into the world below.

They stared into the massive chamber, him with awe and her with fond recognition.

The large shining rocks glowed with faint light throughout as did the moss on the walls and the ground. Columns of rock joined the ground and the ceiling high above. The strange plants not found up on the surface thrived throughout and formed a massive, alien forest in places. The visible hills rolled with long grass, suggesting some type of soil, and the distant visible ponds and streams glistened with reflected light. There was no visible end to the twisting chamber, and the air smelled very foreign and wild. It was also different from the other chamber he had seen into years ago under an island much farther west.

She stood up on her hind legs, lifted her head, flung out her wings, and roared a cry of delight that echoed off the walls of the chamber. Then she jumped forward onto the thick moss, fell on her back, and joyfully rolled and thrashed. Then she flew to her feet and spun around on him.

"Look at it Shadowwing! This is my home-range where I hatched and fledged!"

He eventually found his words again as he stared at the nearest glowing crystals.

"It is very, very warming. Are there any other kin in here?"

She looked around and considered it. They had not seen any signs of there being any other kin yet. None had come flying at her announcing voice or lifted their own voices.

"There were not many other kin when I was a nestling here. My sire and dam wanted to nest alone in safety. There are other big cave-ranges that touch this one, and those had many more kin in them."

Then she jumped from the ledge and took to the sky. He watched the spinning white as she flew wildly and cried aloud with joy.

 _She is so happy here. She is so..._

He blinked, shook his head, and followed her into the air. Unlike on his last brief journey into a very different part of the hidden world, this time he actually got to see it up close.

It now looked even more alien and stranger than anything he could have imagined. The crowns of some of the trees, if they even were trees, reminded him of large mushrooms that grew taller than homes. Bugs like big fireflies seemed to glow and flash all throughout the forest and bushes below. Odd plants and flowers with large blossoms seemed to shine from within. Patches of the glowing crystals and rocks almost looked like stars or pieces of the moon itself had fallen here, though that was obviously not possible.

And the size of the place was more unbelievable in person and down among the strange life that grew here. Just like the chamber under Mimir's island, this one looked so vast that all the land of Berk could possibly have been hidden here.

 _It is even more beautiful up close than I thought. Wow. Just wow._

They passed over rocky outcroppings, a narrow stream that came from the gods only knew where, clear pools of water lit from beneath, another large crystalline rock, and high up a massive ridge toward what looked like a thick grove of the mushroom-trees.

A bright flash of movement caught his attention up ahead as Luna suddenly dove and vanished beyond the almost-trees. He dashed over to that area and saw her pinning something like a small deer as the rest of the herd vanished in the thick forest of mushrooms and alien shrubs and trees.

 _So there are animals living down here. I had no idea. Though, Mimir did say that there are land-prey down here also._

He landed next to her on the moss-covered ground and watched as she sank her teeth into and then snapped the prey's neck. His own belly growled with hunger as he watched her tear into the almost-deer after peeling away the hide. The red blood spilled on her neck as she tore away fat strips of belly. She was clearly very hungry.

Then she stepped back and glanced at him. He darted forward and sank his teeth into the catch as well. He growled happily as he tasted the blood and filled his belly. It was different from any deer he had ever tasted before.

 _Tough but satisfying._

Then he stepped back and turned to her once he had finished all he wanted. There was a bit left over for her.

"That was a good catch, Luna."

She hummed in satisfaction at the praise.

"I am a hunter," she growled.

"I did not know that there were four-leg prey to hunt here."

"There are many types of ground prey. There are no two-legs to compete with, so the ground prey can make many young for us to catch. And the large flights of kin are in other ranges," she answered.

Then she stepped forward and got to work on what was left of the catch. He lay down in the moss and rested as she continued to eat. The small bugs and other smaller creatures called constantly in the wild all around. The mushroom-things rose around them many lengths into the sky like a forest. There was apparently a thin layer of soil in some parts of the ridge. He spared a glance at the very strange but beautiful flowers and plants that glowed with different hues of purple, blue, green, and white.

 _This place is impossibly beautiful and peaceful._

Then she finished and bounded over to him.

"Now what? How far is it now?" he asked.

"Follow me," she answered.

She led the way and walked away from the tall mushrooms, though she paused to glance at some of the glowing flowers. He followed her over to the end of the mossy ledge they stood on. It was a fall of at least half the height of Mount Thor itself down to the lowermost level of the cavern where they could see a large, twisting lake. There was a large waterfall that fell down the entire length and filled this part of the chamber with a constant, crashing drone. The open air here away from the strange forest was filled with a very faint wind.

And he followed her gaze off into the far corners of the chamber. Parts of the chamber had no nearby glowing crystals and were therefore much darker and mysterious. Other areas were truly bathed in light and were very green with growing things. The mushroom-things seemed to inhabit the regions between, the places where the light was dim.

"We must fly deeper. It is not even a half-sun of flight, even if there are no sun-cycles down here," she explained.

A quiet silence followed and was filled only with their warm purring.

"I thought that there would be kin in here," he asked.

She stepped up close to his side and joined him in looking out over the massive view that was completely empty of any other wings.

"As I said before, my sire and dam flew to a range far from where most other kin flew. They wanted a place where they did not need to compete."

Then she yawned very widely and shook her head.

"I want to sleep now. We did much flying, walking, and eating," she mumbled.

He grunted in agreement. She lay down across from him and happily collapsed with a heavy sigh in the moss. He spared a glance at her and stared at the offending red stain on her white neck.

 _You missed a spot..._

He got up, walked over to her, and started licking the blood away from her neck. It felt very warming to do.

"What?" she asked.

He blinked, realizing what he was doing.

"There... was prey life-water on you," he mumbled as he stepped back.

"Hmm, there was? Is it gone now?"

She turned her neck to the side so he could look.

"Yes."

"Good. I try to stay clean, but sometimes I miss drops of life-water where I cannot see them. On you they cannot be seen, but they are on me."

She again yawned widely.

"Have warm sleep-visions, Shadowwing."

She curled up on her side and vanished under a wing. He remained awake a while longer merely staring at her. Then he finally turned away and glanced at the nearest glowing crystal on this ledge. A brief hop-flight was all it took, and he dashed over to it.

 _This is something I have never seen before. No one from above has ever seen this before, except for Valka I suppose._

He held out a paw and touched the glowing surface, gently tapping his claws against the crystal. It was as cool to the touch as any rock. There was no way for him to know how it was making light. Then he shook his head at the strangeness of the world and bounded back over toward where Luna rested. He went down on the mossy ground a length from her and closed his eyes.

But sleep did not come.

Something was bugging him, and it was definitely not bugs. He lifted his head again and stared blankly into the distance.

It seemed that he was forgetting himself recently and acting more without thinking about it.

 _I... what am I thinking? Lick away a bloodstain from her neck? Grr, it must be something about this place and about her..._

He blinked and realized in that moment that he was staring at her white wings, lithe shape, and long tail, all of which seemed to sparkle as she slept.

.

She was beautiful.

.

All breath departed from him as he forgot how to breathe and the powerful truth shattered the life that he knew and all his blindness.

.

He very reluctantly tore his gaze away from her and stared off at the far cave wall as he recovered his breath. But the storm in his thoughts was too great. Everything felt very wrong at the moment. There was a space between him and her. A space that had to be crossed, and he had to be the one to do it if it was to happen.

A furtive glance at her followed. She was fast asleep and showed no signs of waking soon. And despite his own exhaustion and confusion, he knew that this was a moment that would always define his life. Doing this could not have the innocent excuse of only sharing warmth anymore. It would mean so much more to him and certainly to her, if she knew the truth. Not doing this would forever mark his own soul to himself as being weak and undeserving.

Did he deserve to be warm and happy? Did she? What did she want?

 _Oh gods..._

It was now clear why she had asked him to fly here with her. It was not simply for protection. It was the spring.

He got to his feet and froze as he continued to stare at her.

Something was taking shape within and warring with a shadow of inadequacy, self-doubt, and weakness that he always carried. Years of thinking of himself as weak, useless, and not having a place in the world conflicted with parts of the life that he had enjoyed ever since being rehatched.

There was a flinch of hesitation and then he came to that realization, so long in the making.

All he knew was that after he walked over, lay down at her side, draped a wing over her back, lay his tail across hers, and closed his eyes again, that feeling of wrongness was gone and left behind only a warm peace.

Being at her side in the pale light of the hidden world felt like where he was meant to be.

 _Luna, what have you done to me?_

* * *

 _ **Author's Note -**_ _ **Check out chapter 4 of 'To Fly The Winds Of Life' for some unexpected backstory that is quite appropriate at this point.**_


	65. III - We Are One

_**Author's Note – In which there is much playing and teasing (some scenes you should recognize as being modified from trailers), and our two Furies lives become one. There are obviously intimate moments within, but nothing goes beyond a T rating.**_

* * *

" _Let your mind start a journey to a strange new world... Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before... Let your soul take you where you long to be... Only then can you belong to me." - Phantom Of The Opera_

* * *

We Are One

* * *

The first thing that she noticed when she woke up was that he had covered her with a wing and had snuggled against her side. He did not even have the excuse of needing warmth-sharing against the cold to do this. The second thing that she noticed was that he had wrapped his tail around hers. That could not be by accident. The third thing that was clear was that he also smelled more of wanting.

She stared at him as he slept at her side. His eyes were peacefully closed as his head lay on the mossy ground next to hers.

 _Have you finally realized what you want, Shadowwing?_

She carefully got to her feet, unwound their tails, and slipped out from under his wing without waking him. She flew off the ledge to attended to the necessary waking routine. Down to the lowest level she flew and dove into the deep water. She hunted the familiar fish in that deep pond and did not catch anything, but it was still warming to freely swim in the deep waters and wildly snap at the tasty fish.

Then she hauled herself out, shook herself dry, drank her fill, and flew back to the high ledge where Shadowwing was still deep asleep. But her flight did not take her straight to his side. Instead, she flew back to the clearing where she had hunted and grounded the four-leg prey. There was something else in that place that was now important. It was not the tiny four-legged prey scurrying between the plants for cover.

 _Where are they? I know I saw them here somewhere. Grr... found them!_

The large flowers that glowed white from within were growing in the shade of one of the larger trees. Her warm purr filled the area as she bounded over to the plants and considered the pawful of the strong-life-hatchling-flowers. There were ten of the large flowers within snapping distance.

 _Dam said that only two of these help make for a strong hatchling..._

She ate all of them and then turned back for the ledge. Her brief glide carried her over to his side. Then she sat down next to him and hummed warmly at him.

He did not stir.

She lightly brushed one of his ears with a paw.

He did not stir.

"Shadowwing, get off your tail."

He did not stir.

She sighed and grinned.

"You brought this on yourself, you sleepy kin."

She bent down and gently nipped at his exposed ears. He scrambled awake with a muffled cry of alarm and rapidly blinked his eyes in waking twisted-thinking. She laughed heavily at his confused expression as her swaying tail also betrayed her amusement.

"What... you... you..." he groaned while rubbing at his pinched ear.

She only rolled her eyes at him.

"Why did you do that?" he cried.

She laughed and started prancing around him, which only made him more confused.

"You should get up off your waste-end..."

"Luna!" he bellowed.

"... and play!"

She nipped at his flanks and dashed away from him.

"You! Twisted kin!" he shouted.

She jumped off the ledge and dove for the far distant ground. He followed closely behind her and dove for the lowest level near the water. They both landed in a grassy clearing among the alien forest. Then she dashed forward toward the mushroom trees, paused, looked back at him, and stuck out her tongue at him.

"Ground race to the water!" she shouted and turned tail on him.

All his waking exhaustion was now thoroughly gone, and he ran after her through the strange mushroom trees and glowing shrubbery.

 _Oh, you will pay for that!_

It was not hard to follow her distinctive color in this pale light, although she was quite fast and could twist more easily with her smaller frame than he could. The long grass tickled his tail as he ran and ducked under the branches.

"I will catch you!" he bellowed.

"In your sleep-visions!" she shouted back.

Faster he ran with his greater stride and slowly began to close the distance as she wove and twisted among the narrow trunks. Small game prey bounded out of the way as they crashed through the shrubbery. The number of trees began to lessen as they ran down the slope and toward the nearby lake. Bounding over rocks, weaving back and forth, and following her joyous laughter. But again, just like in the flight in the world above, she reached the clearing and ridge by the sandy shore well before he could tag her.

She jumped from the alien forest with a triumphant cry, winged down the ridge to the small beach, and then spun on him. He stopped at the top of the ridge and glared down at her as she stared up at him.

"I won that race," she teased and roared aloud her victory.

"Only because you started first!" he shouted down at her.

"You sad little Alpha, is your liver chilled by losing to me?"

He huffed at her words, held his shoulders high, and stepped forward to advance down the ridge.

The sandy ridge.

The steep ridge.

 _The gods hate..._

He lost his scrambling footing with a bellow and tumbled sideways down the ridge, unable to stop his fall. A white mass leapt out of the way as he fell. Then he rolled to a stop on his side with his tailfins on his face and sand in his ears, nose, and mouth.

 _That went well..._

After righting himself and shaking himself of all the sand possible, he looked over at Luna. It was then that he realized that she was struggling to breathe in between her fits of laughter.

It was both mortifying and heartwarming that he had brought her such amusement in his clumsiness.

She eventually recovered herself and took several very deep breaths before she managed to speak.

"An Alpha who does not know how to walk!"

"Flying down would have been better," he admitted.

She resumed her laughing at him, this time with her tail thrashing as well.

He leapt at her without thinking and swiped a forearm into the sand, sending up a spray of sand into her face as he stopped in front of her.

A moment of surprise passed as she stared at him. Then she started sneezing out the sand and wildly shaking her head while blinking rapidly.

"Got you!" he teased.

Something changed in her eyes in that moment after she got out the last of the sand. She narrowed her eyes slightly, stepped back from him, and then growled happily.

"I won the ground race. What about the sky race?" she taunted.

Then she threw out her wings and jumped for the sky with a cry of challenge.

 _Flying huh? Again? Good luck with that!_

He threw out his wings as well only a moment later and followed after her with only a few lengths between them. They set out down the shore and began to rise into the hidden sky. Their wings beat in tandem with all haste as he fell in behind her and thought vanished. Nothing else mattered except catching those white wings fleeing before him.

So near and yet so far.

Up against the rocky side of the chamber, up and over massive crystals burning with pale light, vertically up the slope, around another glowing spire, across a high and rocky ridge with a stream, down a waterfall toward a different lake, close to the water's surface and toward the shore, up over the crowns and between the trunks of alien trees and tall mushrooms, between the supporting columns of rock that themselves glowed all shades of blue, purple, and green, through dark patches of the cavern where little light shone, through a chamber filled with mist at its base and swarms of very tiny orange dragons he had never seen before, between more spikes of glowing crystal, through the faint wild winds, down a narrow passageway, and into the open air of a new and very green chamber.

All with no awareness or strain of wings to tell how long they had been flying.

It was as they flew over a large lake flanked by the cavern wall on one side and bright white rocks, grassy ridges, and a more normal looking forest on the other that he finally made an amazing realization.

She was very fast, and he could not close the distance separating them.

 _Wow, I do not know about this..._

His gaze narrowed on the soaring moon only a few lengths ahead of him. She seemed to be flagging in her flight very slightly.

 _Ok, time to cheat..._

The shot flew from his maw, soared past her, and erupted in a bright, harmless flash of fire.

With a surprised cry, she angled herself up and over the fireball after forgetting only a couple beats of her wings. But her flight was just slightly disturbed.

He tagged the tip of her tail with his nose.

She spun away from his strike, and they settled into a slow flight as he flew up next to her.

"You twisted kin!" she shouted over at him.

He smiled a toothy grin back at her.

She visibly rolled her eyes and let herself drift higher.

 _Yes! I have caught this mighty..._

She fell into him and flipped him to foul his flight. Once he recovered himself from her wild attack, he saw her flight angled down toward a rolling, grassy plain, also interspersed with mushrooms, by the large lake, and he followed after her. Her flight was not one of haste though, and she seemed to fly with purpose and direction for a while as she passed over much of the plain before she dove. They alighted at the top of a small, grassy ridge, and he warily hopped back from her when she immediately pounced at him.

"You broke the rules!" she hissed.

"What rules? You never said that I could not use my fire," he protested.

"What rules? We both have wings. I do not have my fire."

He rolled his eyes and sighed heavily.

"So?"

Her eyes narrowed on him as she started walking around him in a circle as he sat down on his rear. It looked like she was stalking... something.

 _Uh..._

"You know what else we both have?" she continued.

"What?" he warily asked.

"Teeth," she smiled.

 _Teeth? Wait a moment..._

She lunged at him and tackled him. They collided and rolled down the grassy ridge heads over tails in a mass of flailing limbs, eventually coming to rest at each other's side between the grassy knolls.

And she bit him on the shoulder.

He bellowed in alarm as she stepped back. Then he realized that it was not a true bite and did not even come close to drawing blood.

But it did pinch a lot.

"One," she hummed.

"What is this! That hurt!" he massaged the bite-pinch.

"I would hope it hurt. You do not know what this is?"

He rubbed at his shoulder a bit more.

"I think you should learn while doing," she taunted.

She started stalking closer to him again, crouching to pounce at any moment. He warily stepped back while sinking to the ground himself.

 _Toothless never actually bit me like that in all the other play-fights... Alright, fine I guess..._

He glared at her and tensed as he watched her slowly advancing. They both shifted their weight to ready for a pounce as their tails slowly swayed behind them.

"I am bigger," he teased.

"And slower," she answered.

"And smarter," he countered.

"You pile of..."

Her eyes went very wide as she gasped and looked up into the air behind him. Several wonderful possibilities flashed through his thoughts in that instant. He spun around to look at what she saw.

There was nothing in the air.

"Waste..." he groaned.

She crashed into him again and sent them both rolling. This time he came to rest on his belly with her on his back and her jaws around his neck.

"Luna..." he moaned.

She gently thrashed his neck before letting go and pushing away from him.

"Two," she hissed.

He heaved heavily to catch his breath. And then he finally did and spun on her with a snarl.

"What are you doing!"

She hopped back from him while giving a toothy grin.

"What do you mean? We are... play-fighting."

"No more! I do not want to play-fight with you!"

She blinked and stared, her jaws slightly ajar. Her hurt expression almost looked like she had been struck in the face. She gave a confused grunt, and then she slowly approached him. He sat down on his haunches as she did the same immediately before him. She angled her head to the side and blinked at him.

Then she started batting him on the nose.

"Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad!"

He bounded back from her in renewed alarm and warily stroked his abused nose.

"Why did you do that! What is in your head!" he growled.

"In my head? What is in yours? No, what is not in yours?" she growled back.

"What?" he warily growled.

"You do not want to play. You do not trust yourself! You have ice in your belly, not fire!"

"What!"

She bared her teeth with a faint growl.

"Yes, you do not know how to play, or fight, or do anything that might spill life-water!"

"I helped fight a Monster Alpha! No, two of them!" he growled back.

"I have not seen that. You have never shown me that you can fight or play like I want to!"

"But you are a female..."

She blinked and further narrowed her eyes at him.

"Yes, I am a female. Did you only see that now? Did that not matter to you before?"

And he saw something in her words. His own actions taken before falling asleep at her side returned in full after having been forgotten in the waking playfulness. And breath departed from him again as he was frozen and unable to look away.

"But why does that matter for play-fighting? Unless you... fear something else that might happen..." she continued.

And he thought he knew what she might be hinting at.

"I am... bigger and heavier. What if something... bad happens? What if you get clawed, have your life-water spilled, or break a wing? What if you get hurt?" he weakly objected.

She blinked again and growled softly.

"You would never hurt me."

"And how do you know that!" he shouted.

"You promised! That was the first thing you ever said to me!"

He froze, completely dumbfounded that she remembered that. Her shout echoed out in the otherwise perfect silence.

"What if my wings fail me and I fall from the sky? What if I eat a very rotted fish? What if a Monster kin finds me," she continued.

"Those are different," he weakly groaned.

"No, they are not. Life is danger. Life is not safe. Safe is sitting on your tail in your own den and never flying. What is the cold in you? Why do you not trust your own liver? Are you a Night Fury or not?" she shouted.

Something snapped.

He roared aloud and leapt at her. She twisted to the side to try to escape the strike, but he fell fully on her back and pulled her over. And then they were a snarling, thrashing pile of limbs and tails as they rolled and struggled.

And he pinned her on her back. She squirmed briefly under him and then let her head fall back to the ground with a sigh after the brief struggle. And then she laughed deeply right in his face, her entire length shaking beneath him with her amusement. The sound of her laughter broke the moment and turned his faint snarl into a wide and confused grin.

"That is better. You did not bite me, so I will not give you one win but better. You might have the liver of a Night Fury in you."

"Useless kin," he mumbled.

"I very much doubt that," she chuckled.

He rolled his eyes as she gave a deep croon that he could feel in his own chest. He could feel her firm and rapid heartbeat and her breath falling on his nose. He remembered everything about before and realized in that one instant that they were perfectly positioned.

 _No! No! No! No! This is not happening!_

 _Do it! You want her! She wants you!_

But he was frozen in place and did not move to embrace her in truth before she sighed softly and twisted to the side under him, breaking the moment as she pulled her swaying tail away from his.

He climbed off her side and stepped back while panting in… he was not sure what.

 _Oh... my... gods..._

Excitement. Fear. Desire. Fire.

All at once.

 _That... was... too... close... oh... gods... oh... gods... oh... gods..._

"Shadowwing," she quietly whispered as she got to her feet.

"Luna?" he gasped, not knowing what she was going to say.

Then he very warily looked up at her and saw that she was looking all around the grassy plain with a very fond look in her eyes. Her warm purring was also an obvious sign that she knew this place well.

"I know this range here. This field and long grass. This is where I wanted us to fly to and..."

She looked away from the water up to a nearby hill and then ran for it. He could not look away as her thin white shape ascended the slope and paused up at the top of the hill where she then sat down. He followed shortly after and stayed a respectful distance away from her. His own heart and thoughts were a confusing mess at the moment.

"That is the cave where I hatched," she solemnly hummed.

He followed her gaze and saw where she was looking. A valley with a large pond and thick grove of trees around it had a visible cave near one of the largest glowing crystals up against a rock wall of the chamber.

"These are the skies where I learned to fly and fledged. I hunted fish and swam in that deep pond," she hummed.

"It... looks good... and warm," he whispered.

"I want to fly to my cave alone to find my nest-kin. I will bring them to that clearing in the trees. Will you wait for us there?"

"Yes," he gratefully replied.

Then she threw out her wings and took to the air without a backward glance.

* * *

He watched her as she flew off alone toward what was once her home. He could not look away from her beautiful white shape until she vanished inside the cave.

Then he leapt, glided down the ridge into the grassy clearing among the thick trees, and limply collapsed with a weak moan.

 _This is..._

A few moments passed before he finally got to his feet and began to wander among the dense trees. He needed time to pace and think about life and everything that was so very confusing now.

He had been playing with Luna, just as they had done almost since entering the hidden world in the first place, and it was very fun. She was a fast flier and good play-fighter, even if she played very roughly. That part was confusing, but he had eventually caught her and pinned her after much teasing. After he stopped thinking so much and let himself act.

And then he felt it all at once.

Strange feelings had come over him when he smelled her wildness, felt her belly pinned underneath his, and felt their tails swaying together. The part of him that was in control had been terrified and screamed that he climb off her. The other, wilder part of him had wanted to feel her under him, to feel the squeeze of her tail, to fully give himself to her, and start an egg with her.

He sighed and closed his eyes with a groan.

 _Children..._

He had never seriously considered the possibility of having any children. It was too much. He would need to play with them, bring food for them, clean up after them, teach them how to fly, introduce them to the humans in the village, teach them words, show them how to write to humans, discipline them, and show them how good the world truly was.

Just as his own brother was already doing for his children, more or less.

 _I do not know how to do that. Such a responsibility. I would make so many mistakes._

The enormity of that task weighed on him. No father could know in advance what it would be like or how much work it could entail.

 _My dad made so many mistakes with me. Those leave scars that never go away. How do I know I would not do the same thing?_

Sigh.

 _And yet, he did try. He did care for me always even if he was blind in many ways. I was also. I do love little Dawn-Singer, Aurora, and Rain-Eater as though they were mine, but I also want..._

The soft wind blew above as he looked up around the massive, alien chamber. Another likely reason for all his confusion seemed evident.

 _Is this more guilt over Astrid?_

Another deep sigh followed though without the true anguish that had almost always been before.

 _No, she… she has been out of my life for a long time. And I knew that I could never… be with her because of what I am. Maybe in a different life where this did not happen to me... that could have worked out for us. I do miss her, but I am at peace with that. She lived and died a hero. She helped build the world that is today. The way to celebrate and honor her is to live in, enjoy, and protect the world that she helped make possible._

And there was a twisted whispering in his heart. A suggestion that he had to consider, and easily rejected.

 _Luna is not another Astrid to me. They lived very different lives and are different people. Luna was hurt so much but stayed warm somehow underneath everything. Astrid, somewhat like my dad, turned to duty and sacrifice for the tribe. Luna is not tied down to the stupid parts of human duties, culture, or traditions. She is wild and free even if that is confusing and maybe a bit extreme in ways. Luna teases me and jokes in friendly ways, but Astrid never told many jokes. Maybe things would have been different in another life, but I am not living another life._

There was another detail about that terrible day long ago and its aftermath that was now clear to him. It was as he watched the pyre-ship burn and as he sat on the shore while Valka comforted him that he had decided that it was safer to feel nothing at all, to not be attached and be able to suffer the possible loss.

But locking himself in the past like that would only make the loss certain. It would be to make himself a victim trapped in the past. Never able to let go and move on. Never to be free.

 _No, it is better to feel, to care even if it is not safe. Safe stops growth. Safe is not truly alive._

"She was right about that..."

He kept walking through the long grass and between the trunks and then stared up at the far distant cavern roof through these strange trees.

 _I thought that it was nothing but duty to care for her when she could not care for herself. I tried to only let her be a friend. Gods, I failed at that too. Obviously I would fail at that._

 _And she was there for me when I needed the help._

He could distinctly remember the anniversary of the loss, that time when he could not keep food down and had been completely depressed. She had spent several days at his side helping him get to his feet when he was weakest, bringing him water in a bucket, and helping to clean up his messes as best as she was able. She had never once grumbled about it from what he remembered. They had even slept at each other's side, and he had not felt at all awkward about it then.

So much of what she had done now seemed different to him. There was her care given to him when he was sick, the long talk at the Wintersblott festival and how she had then wanted to sleep in his cave the rest of the winter, her glances that he occasionally saw her throw his way, her asking him to fly here with her in the spring, and the rawness with how she played with him so recently. They all took on a very different, heartwarming meaning now.

And her past no truly longer seemed to have any sway over her.

 _She was not afraid of me when we were playing. Even when I caught her and pinned her. She never looked at me with fear. She trusted that I would not hurt her. And even I... I was not only playing with her for fun, now that I think about it. Covering her with my wings, licking her clean, racing to catch her... basically everything in this hidden world._

Despite her terrible past, she had overcome any of the fears that such treatment might have caused. She had hummed adoringly at Rain-Eater's egg and hatching and was always so gentle but playful with Dawn-Singer and Aurora. It gave him some idea how she would be with any of her own children.

With his children.

He blinked and crooned softly at the warmth that now burned in his heart at the thought.

 _I really did not see all that for what it was. It was... practice, even if we did not know it. She wants a family of her own. Of course she would._

 _As do I._

He stopped pacing and thought about the wild strangeness of the world around him. There was only one more possible objection that he could think of. He spared a glance at his wings, tail, and the claws on his paws, and thought about his fire-breath. They were all part of him and had been for so many years.

 _Am I truly at peace with all this? With being a Night Fury and everything... if I do this?_

The only answer he could muster was the image of his brother's entire family and Luna as well. They were part of his life and his heart in a way that no one else, not even Valka, was or could be.

He looked up at the hidden sky and imagined Luna flying always at his side, her dazzling white wings flashing with their every beat. He saw her sleeping at his side with their tails entwined as his brother and Green-Wings always did. And he found that he was humming very deeply as he held his shoulders a little higher and felt a warmth that he had not felt before.

 _Yes. They are my family. This is my life. All of it. And she is so strong, smart, brave, wild, loyal, and... beautiful._

He sighed and found himself staring off in the direction she had flown.

 _I have been so blind. How did I not see it all this time?_

"Luna, I love you."

Snort.

 _Wow, never thought I could say something like that and yet that just happened... even if no one else was here to hear it._

Sigh.

 _I was trying so hard to not feel anything, to not risk love because it might hurt. She has already changed me so much without even trying._

Then he rolled his eyes and gave a happy growl.

 _Maybe the teasing was trying, but I do not care. What else is going to change now? I guess there is only one way to find out. Live it, dangerous and not safe as life is._

 _I will tell her what she is to me, and she can break my heart if she wants. I really do not think she will though. I want this, and I think she does also. And then we will fly back to Haven to be together always._

He turned back for the clearing. All the fear, confusion, and self-doubt that he had carried with him in the past was gone from his heart.

* * *

It was chillingly and warmingly familiar. The shape of the valley, the pond that was once filled with fish, and the cave-den by a large glowing rock.

She dove, threw out her wings, roughly landed, and froze as she stared into the place she remembered so fondly.

Looking out from under her dam's wing while listening to many life-stories. Many fish and other land-prey for her to eat. Her sire playing with her and dropping her for her first flight on her own wings. Her own gnawing nest-mates chewing on her ears and tail. Her sitting outside the den and looking up in wonder at the glow of the rock-lights in the sky.

But the den was now silent and still.

"Sire! Dam!"

The call echoed from within the den.

There was no response.

"Ear-Biter?"

Nothing answered.

With a very chilled liver, she crept closer to the silent den.

 _They are not here. They must have left._

Slowly, she continued on into the den's mouth, being lost in many old memories, and walked around the familiar bend in the cave.

And a cold wind spilled into her liver at the confirmation.

They were not here.

The den was empty and had been empty for a long time.

"What happened to you?"

There was no audible answer. The only answer here was the silence and stillness of the dead nest that had once been filled with the growling play of little ones and the hums of a much warm sire and dam.

She sat down and looked around at the place that had been so warm once and was even now filled with warm memories, though somewhat tainted with the rot of emptiness.

"Sire, dam, I am lost. You said that the winds of life would be warm. They were not. The winds of life had sharp teeth and bit deep."

She hung her head and closed her eyes.

"If you do not fly the winds of life now, I hope that you did not see it all from the sky-breath..."

 _You are weak prey..._

She opened her slitted eyes and looked up.

And she saw it hiding in the back of the cave-den. She bared her teeth and flashed her claws as she crept toward it.

A living shadow.

It was very like her.

The faint scars on its side were fresh, it had no claws, its white wings were torn and useless, it had no warmth burning in its liver, and it weakly lay there on its back waiting to be used without any defiant will.

Her own twisted shadow.

The shadow-thought-hunter that hunted her in so many of her sleep-visions and took so many different shapes. It spoke merely by being there, whether in truth or in her twisted-thought-vision only.

 _You will never be free…_

She growled at the memory of the thrall-males trying to foul her at the wishes of two-legs. But she had not let them.

 _I am you... This is you…_

She snarled at the memory of sun-cycles of hunger and thirst. But they had not broken her.

 _I am all that you have..._

Wrath at the painful lie!

There, in her own desolate hatching-cave and all alone, her white fire sparked to life and poured forth without restraint.

It had been dead far too long.

Then she weakly collapsed on the ground as she heaved to catch her breath.

The rock where the shadow had seemed to be now glowed where her fire had fallen. The heat from the glowing rock lingered long after her fire ended.

 _I... I did that?_

They were the first flames she could remember ever breathing in all her life as a free kin. Her life-fire had been dead for as long as she was a thrall and for all the seasons after she had been found and freed.

Free.

That word had a very different and far more profound meaning now. It was not the lack of feeling and the embracing of only her own life that it once had been. That had never been freedom. That had been to make herself a thrall to the hurts of the dead past.

And that shadow was gone now. That past was not something to flee from anymore. Instead, she had looked into that shadow, seen herself as she had been, and had not been afraid of it. The kin, the light wing who had been prey to all that badness, was gone now and had been gone for many seasons. It was not her.

Another glance followed at the destruction she had wrought.

The most painful part, and what had stoked her fire to life again, had not been the memory of the weak thrall-males or the starvation punishment for resisting. It was the lie that the shadow, that the memory of her old self, had been speaking.

The lie that she was alone.

Someone had been there for her as long as he had known her and had only ever thought about her warmth and safety.

Someone had flown from his own range to fly into the unknown here with her.

Someone had seemed to want to give her his life-winds.

"I am not alone."

Her thoughts again turned to everything that Shadowwing had done for the strange Haven-mixed-nest, all the time he gave to her alone when she was life-grounded while asking nothing in return, and how he held Was-Grounded's and Green-Wings's little ones as he would his own young.

How many kin would have done all that he did for her? How many would instead have thought that she was too broken and life-grounded? What he had done was not the normal way of life, which would have been to leave the weak in favor of the strong.

It was the warmth, the fire, that filled her at the thought of him that left her with no twisting doubt. She did not want his life-flight to ever leave the winds of her life. He was already her closest kin, the only kin she truly held in her liver, but that was not enough and could not be enough.

This was the new-life-season. It was not something she had cared about in many season-cycles. But now that her thoughts were turned to such matters she knew it clearly. She was very ready and had known that even before she ate the strong-life-hatchling-flowers. She wanted a nest of her own, eggs and hatchlings of her own to whom she could sing her song of life with all its chills and warmths.

He had never said anything openly in words, but his actions spoke clearly enough what he wanted. For why else would he have flown this flight with her even if he did not know it at the time?

 _And if he is still uncertain what he wants, I will make him see! And we have this entire hidden range to make our own always._

She strode to the cave-den's mouth, paused at the meeting of the past and the future, and turned back to face the empty den for what she knew would be the last time.

"Sire, dam, I will make you warm in whatever winds you now fly," she whispered.

Then she took to the sky and eagerly flew to the grove where she had told him to wait for her. It was the same place where her own sire and dam had become one and made her egg long ago.

* * *

He paused at the edge of the trees and saw a glistening white shape curled up in the long grass. Her wings now seemed to even shine and sparkle in the pale light and her long tail was curled around her. He remembered her cleverness, kindness, wildness, and strength in defiance of her terrible past.

"So beautiful..." he whispered to himself.

Slowly, he strode out from the trees and approached as she lifted her head and noticed him. Then she got to her feet and turned to face him while purring softly.

"Luna, you are back," he hummed.

"Yes, though I am changed now."

"Where are they, your nest? Did you find them there?"

She slightly inclined her head without a moan or whimper of fear or loss.

"They are gone. My sire and dam. There is nothing in that cave-den."

He averted his eyes.

"I feel chilled by that. I wanted to meet them and tell them to be part of the Haven-nest."

"I think they all flew the nest here. I do not know to where," she calmly continued.

"Hopefully they live somewhere. What do you feel after seeing all that? Are you much liver-chilled?"

She weighed her words carefully.

"I do not live in the past or in that nest. I am not life-grounded now."

She looked down at the grass before her and brought forth her fire. The white flames filled the clearing with light as the fire spilled on the ground. Then she released the fire and looked up at him, the heat from her flame having warmed them both.

He was cleared awed as he looked down at the smoldering glow where her fire had fallen. But there was also something else in his eyes that seemed different to her. Where before they had always been wide, almost in amazement at everything around him, now they were slightly narrowed. More certain of something.

"You have your fire again. It is hot fire."

"I am free, wild, strong, sky-hatched, and fire-burning now," she hummed.

"Yes, Luna. You are."

She started walking across from him in a close circle. He fell in step with her without thinking. Neither could look away as they slowly danced in the long grass.

"I can fly the winds of life on my own, but I do not want to. I started out my life-flight in the above all alone. I do not want to be alone," she began.

They passed around each other several more times without anything further being spoken before she broke the silence.

"You have flown far from all that you knew. You flew from Kin-liver, your Haven-nest-range, and your egg-mate who is closest to your liver, all to fly this long flight with me and see this hidden world. Why?"

His eyes narrowed on hers.

"I wanted you to show me a new world," he answered.

She growled softly while still staring at him.

"A new world? There it is," she nodded at the cavern.

"No, not this place. Another world that I cannot fly to alone. I do not want to fly alone on the winds of life either," he hummed back.

She blinked and asked the only question that mattered.

"What am I to you, Shadowwing?"

He took a breath at her direct question.

"Luna, you are the wind in my sky."

She stopped circling, sat down, curled her tail around her front, and stared at him. Several nervous moments passed in which neither looked away. Her enthralling croon only grew more beautiful the longer he listened to it.

"Do... you remember our talk at the cold-season-ceremony?" he asked.

"Yes," she hummed.

"Luna, I love you."

There was a brief pause.

"Which love?" she asked.

He slowly approached her until they could feel the other's breath. She never looked away, blinked, or shied away.

"All of them. What am I to you, Luna?"

She closed her eyes, stepped back from him, and glanced up to the top of the cavern.

"You are the one I will take in the sky, but that is not far to fall as one."

He had one instant to hear her words and understand her meaning when she then looked back at him and growled softly. He saw her coil for her strike and then he darted under her strike at the last instant without any thought. His jaws closed around her neck, and he lunged at her and rolled her over onto her back into a perfect pin. Then he released her neck and lost himself in her deep croon and her light blue eyes. Then she licked his cheek and wound her tail around his.

In the hidden world, among the long grasses of that grove, in the pale light, and for the first time in their lives, they became one.

And they lay together long after the fire had burned out from them both, merely holding each other and basking in their shared warmth and croons. Then she snuggled closer against his neck while giving a deep purr that he could feel in his own chest as he held her.

"Luna?" he hummed while softly squeezing her tail.

"I... I did not think... I could be this warm," she whispered.

"You... do not know what you have done for me, Luna. My life-mate and my sky-light," he nuzzled her nose and licked her cheek.

"What did I do for you?" she softly hummed back.

"Being you, that is what you did. You put wind and warmth in my sky and... stopped me from grounding my life with... bad thoughts," he explained.

"We both did. You helped my dying life-fire burn hot again."

He listened long to her loving croon and echoed it himself.

"You know that I would do it all again for you. Everything from the first sun I saw you," he whispered.

"You will not need to, my life-mate," she softly hummed.

Deep and restful sleep came quickly for them both as they lay together and gently held each other in the pale light of the hidden world.


	66. III - Moon Dance

_**Author's Note – In which Shadowwing and Luna have some important talks, explore the hidden world, and go flying.**_

* * *

" _To dance to flutes, to dance to lutes... Is delicate and rare... But it is not sweet with nimble feet... To dance upon the air!" - Oscar Wilde - The Ballad of Reading Gaol_

* * *

Moon Dance

* * *

Shadowwing woke up on his side with a soft groan. He felt stiff and sore everywhere, which would have been odd except he had done a lot of flying and playing recently. But something about that explanation did not seem quite right to him. He shuffled slightly and nudged into something large and warm, only briefly wondering what it could possibly be in his waking confusion.

And then he felt her tail wrapped around his and her head nestled against his neck. He heard her peaceful breaths and felt the slow beats of her heart against his chest.

 _That all happened. My Luna..._

He bent down and tenderly nuzzled her nose. She slowly awoke with a faint grumble and a hum.

"My love..." he whispered.

"Hmm, Shadowwing."

"How are you, my life-mate?"

"Very warm in my liver. And hungry."

She gently nipped at the tips of his ears while chuckling softly. Then she rolled away from him, stood up, and stretched. He watched how she fanned her sparkling wings and he did not bother restraining his hum of delight at the sight.

Then she looked away and up at all that they could see of the hidden world from their grove.

"Shadowwing, I can see it now. This will be our range. We can take a cave-den together and make it our own. We will be safe here and..."

She glanced back at him and saw his hesitant expression.

"What?" she asked.

He very carefully considered his words.

"Luna, you know that I love you. I also hold the Haven range close to my liver. My egg-mate brother is there as are others I hold close. I want us to fly there and live in my cave."

She sighed.

"Is this about the joining of nests, two-legs and kin living in one mixed-nest together?"

"Yes, and mostly no. I also want to live in the same range as my own kin. They are part of my life-flight, and I am an Alpha to the kin there. I cannot leave them."

She turned away and looked out over the cavern again. He got up, walked over to her, and slowly wrapped his tail around hers, a gesture which she thankfully returned.

"Why? Why do you have that vision of two-legs and kin all together? Why is it so important to you? I want to know. That is liver-truth," she asked.

Then he slowly sat down on his rear while holding her tail tighter. In their eagerness before and in all their previous talks there was something that he had not thought to tell her. Something that it was only fair for her to know. Something that he was not afraid to share now. Mostly unafraid at least.

"There is something that I must tell you about me, something almost not believable even though I will only speak liver-truth. Promise me that you will listen until I am done talking, will you?"

She did not seem to know what to make of this, but she eventually purred once and waited for him to continue.

"I was not always a kin."

She blinked once in confusion but did not interrupt.

"I was... hatched as a two-leg. No fire, no wings, no tail. Kin-liver was my dam."

Her eyes narrowed and her jaw hung open slightly with disbelief.

"I… found a Night Fury in the woods while I was still a fledgling. He became as my bond-kin that the other two-legs have, but he was more to me. He became like my only nest-mate. We learned to fly together with me on his back because… he needed me to help him fly. He had lost a tailfin, and I made him a new one with two-leg things so that he could fly. We killed a Monster that had been eating kin, holding kin as thralls, and making attacks on two-leg nests. I almost died and would have died, but he used his life-will-power to save our lives."

He lifted up a forearm.

"And he did save my life, only not how he thought he would."

He looked at his claws and flicked his tailfins against hers. Then he looked back up at her astonished eyes.

"We both started life new from one new-life-egg. He became my egg-mate, my brother, and taught me everything about being a Night Fury. His name became Was-Grounded. And I have been a Night Fury ever since I... hatched almost seven season-cycles ago."

He heavily sighed.

"I am sorry that I did not tell you about my past earlier. I did not know what you would think."

He stopped speaking and started waiting. She looked away and stared into the distance for several long moments.

"That explains much about how... twisted you can be. And I twisted your liver many times for being like a two-leg," she finally groaned.

"Does it change anything for you?" he warily asked.

She growled softly and narrowed her eyes slightly at him, all while clutching his tail tighter.

"Do you think I care about whatever you were very far in the past? You are not a two-leg now. Tell me this Shadowwing... what do you see when you look in the water and see what you are? Do you see a true Night Fury, or a two-leg in the scales of a Night Fury?"

"I am a true Night Fury who remembers his past life as a two-leg and... some of my thinking is still like a two-leg, as you know."

She laughed at those words.

"Not as much as you think. You knew what to do with me once you stopped fouling your own flight."

He pounced, and they rolled in the grass until he again pinned her on her back. Unlike before though, there was none of that wild fire as they played roughly for the sake of rough play. She fought him back with a wild and joyous laugh and rolled to her feet again.

"And you do not care about my past? That I was not always a Night Fury?" he hesitantly wondered, wanting to be absolutely certain.

"Did anything about my past chill you?" she asked.

"No. You never let them... claim you, and even if they had... you did not want them. No, it would not have changed my want."

Then she nuzzled his nose.

"I knew you would say that. It would be very wrong of me to turn my flight from you for having a twisted past when we both know how bad my old life-winds were. I choose to fly the winds of life with you Shadowwing. I will fly them with you in whatever range and skies we must. But I do fear being out there in the above because..."

"Because why?"

She hesitantly continued.

"My color. You can hide and hunt more easily. I am more in danger. I went above many season-cycles ago to try to find a mate who I could bring back here to this good, hidden range. To this place where we could both live away from any monsters that would hunt us."

She paused and looked up toward the far distant ceiling.

"I fear that flying above will be my death one sun."

He growled openly.

"I will kill any Monsters, kin or two-leg, that try to hurt you. I would die for you, Luna. What happened to not being afraid?"

"I am not afraid of the past. It is the future that I must think about. There is a difference between not fearing what might be and choosing to fly into a Monster's den where the danger is more."

"That is one of the good things about living in a range with warm two-legs. They help their own and their kin who have weaknesses. They hold every kin very close to their livers, but especially us. There is more safety in numbers and group-flights than there is alone."

"Then we shall live in that range and nest in your cave," she declared.

He gently nudged her shoulder with his nose.

"In our cave," he clarified.

She closed her eyes, hummed, and then gave a faintly curious croon.

"You said Kin-liver was your two-leg dam, but you did not say who your sire was. There was a male you spoke of before, the one who died in the fighting at the island with the ice nest. You always spoke of him like you and he had a kinship. More than one who only gives food. Was that him, your two-leg sire?"

"Yes, that was him."

She unfurled a wing and covered him with it. He hummed softly and allowed her to gently cover him.

"Does it hurt much?"

He looked up at the nearest glowing crystals while clearly lost to his thoughts.

"My… kinship with him had many problems."

"Do you want to tell me?"

He thought for a moment.

"It is a long story."

She nudged his shoulder this time.

"And we have all the cycles that we need here. Tell me all."

He took a deep breath and then could not restrain himself.

"We both lost my dam to a kin attack when I was only a small little one. He thought that she was dead. He had to be both Alpha of the two-leg nest and raise me with no other mate in her place. That was in a season-cycle when kin still fought to take food from two-legs and the two-legs fought against the kin attacks. He tried to make me something I was not. I was too small and weak to fight, but he wanted me to do that or else I would be nothing to him. Then he thought that I wished to hurt our nest, so he named me not his own. He said I was not his!"

"How could a sire say that to one of their own?" she sounded aghast.

"He later saw that he was wrong, but he thought that I was dead. He had to be the Alpha of the nest for many moon-cycles while thinking that I was dead. Then he had me live again but as a Night Fury, as a kin, instead of a two-leg. Seeing me be a different life… clawed at his liver every sun. I think he took the hurt deep into his liver for what happened to me. After many season-cycles had passed though, he thought that he found a way to make me a two-leg again."

She gasped and stared very intently at him with a faint and worried growl.

"No! Promise me that you will never do that, never change and be a two-leg!" she implored him.

He reached out with a forearm and gently held her chin as he stared into her eyes.

"I would not want to be a two-leg even if it were possible, which it is not. That is liver-truth. The winds of my life are with you, my brother, and all his kin now and always."

Then he leaned against her side. They briefly nuzzled in reassurance and then lay there listening to the peaceful silence.

"But what about your sire and making you a two-leg in the past? What happened so that you did not change?" she whispered.

"He found a two-leg who said they had something like a life-will-power. Using it would have meant killing my brother. My sire wanted to do it to change me, and I even thought he did kill my brother! It hurt like nothing had I ever felt before to think that he was dead. But then I learned that he was not dead, and I flew from the nest-island to find him. I left behind everyone and everything I knew. And I did find him, but it took over two season-cycles. And then I was very warm when I did find him with Green-Wings and little Dawn-Singer after he hatched. They all came back with me to the ice nest where all would be safe. That ice nest is where my dam, Kin-liver, was nesting and helping kin be free for many season-cycles."

He growled softly.

"But the much-bad two-leg Alpha and his bad great-tusk Alpha turned their flight against home-nest-island and the other mixed-nests. The bad ones wanted control and power, and did not want to see kin and two-legs free in the skies. All the two-leg nests that were close to kin came to the ice nest to be safe in numbers. Even my home-nest-island and all on it. I did not want to see my sire again. I… had clutched anger toward him in my liver for many seasons. I talked to him for a very short time and wanted to take our anger out of our livers, but he died before I could make peace with him. I will never know if we could have changed and had some kinship again."

She hummed peacefully at his side.

"But you say he died while fighting for his nest, yes?"

"He did."

"Then he died doing good."

He shrugged at that. It was true, but was of little comfort.

"It was not only him though that hurt. There was another that hurt more. You should know about the two-leg female Alpha who also died."

"A female?" her eyes narrowed possessively at him.

He blinked and slowly hummed, knowing what she was thinking.

"I wanted her to be my... mate before I was changed. It chilled my liver that we could not be mates and would only be very close in the liver. I think we would have become life-mates in a different life where I never became a kin. We learned how to be almost like nestmates and to work for the good of our nest. She became the Alpha of my old nest after my sire stopped being the Alpha."

"And she died in the fighting?"

He softly exhaled and nodded.

"Yes. She was a good Alpha, and her life-flight kept kin and two-legs together in peace as long as she was alive. I still wish that she did not die. I watched the death-ceremony that the two-legs had for her and I told myself that I would never let another in my liver, that I would never feel wanting again because it would be safer to not feel."

He softly chuckled at his own words and slowly glanced up at her while giving a wry grin.

"I fouled that bad flight."

"I am warmed that your flight was so fouled," she laughed.

The sound of her laughter was like a clear wind against the worries and pains that still clung to his heart. Then she paused and gave a curious hum.

"Did you have a different name when you were a two-leg?"

"Yes," he groaned.

"Tell me."

"Hiccup," he whispered.

"Hiccup," she repeated the strange word, "what does it mean?"

He hummed and closed his eyes, trying to buy himself time to figure out what to say and also trying to delay the embarrassment.

"It almost means… little one who coughs."

A moment passed. A long moment.

"Your name was 'little one who coughs?'"

"Yes," he added meekly.

The next thing he heard was a muted laughter. Then her tail repeatedly thrashed against his side.

"It is not funny," he groaned.

"Yes! Yes, it is! What twisted sire and dam would name their young 'little one who coughs?'"

"It was a two-leg way of… keeping the little one safe from... bad things. Yes, I know it is silly and twisted of them."

"Shall I call you Shadowwing or 'little one who coughs'?" she teased.

"Only very few know about my other, old, and twisted name. I am Shadowwing now."

She hummed happily.

"I like that one better too. You knew Was-Grounded when you were still a two-leg. He was your life-bond-kin then."

"Yes, he was."

"You had a different name before, 'little one who coughs'," she snickered.

He rolled his eyes and groaned again.

"Thank you for saying that again..."

"What about Was-Grounded? Did he have another name then, a name before he flew as Was-Grounded?"

"Yes..."

"What was it?"

He groaned again.

"It was twisted of me. I called him Toothless, has no teeth."

She blinked and stared at him for several moments. Then she gave him a gummy smile completely absent any teeth. He blinked and stared at her.

And they both lost control of themselves in their laughter and ended up on their backs, their tails swaying as they laughed.

"You... named a... Night Fury... has no teeth?" she gasped.

"Yes..." he grumbled.

"And he did not bite your head off..."

"He did not know what it meant until after we were both hatchlings."

She shook her head with amusement.

"I am glad that he did not know."

"I did not have words then but I let him know what my name meant. He laughed much at that."

"As he should, 'little one who coughs'. I think we have learned something now."

"What is that?"

She rose to her feet and rolled her eyes at him.

"You are not giving our little ones any names unless I agree first."

He laughed and then froze.

 _Our little ones... oh gods..._

It finally struck him like a thunderclap just how serious this was and how much of his life was going to change because of what they did. Having a family would definitely mean that he could not easily do things that were important for him to do out in the world. A small part of him hoped that nothing would soon come of his and Luna's union simply for the sake of convenience. But there was a greater part of him that remembered the warmth that he always felt whenever Dawn-Singer and Aurora had snuggled up to him.

"What is chilling you, my mate?" she hummed as she strode up to him.

"I was... thinking about us having little ones. I do not know what to do."

"What? You knew well what to do..."

He rolled his eyes and snorted.

"No, not that. I mean that having them will be new skies that I... we will be flying into."

"And we will together. It will make both of us warmer, and it is part of growing and life," she answered.

"When will you feel an egg?"

She closed her eyes in solemn thought.

"It will be moon-cycles and later in the hot-season before I could feel an egg. I do fear some though..." her voice died away.

"What? What do you fear?"

She said nothing as she stared aimlessly ahead into the distance, her drooping ears betraying her worry.

"Light Furies and Night Furies are much like the other kin, but we are also a little different. I hope that we are not so different that we cannot make little ones," she eventually whispered.

He could give no answer to that. And suddenly he felt guilty for ever wishing that they not make an egg together. The possibility that they might not be able to at all was too terrible to seriously consider.

"I will do all that I can, if that warms you at all, Luna."

She glanced up at him and gave him a soft hum.

"You can do no more than that. Neither of us can. It is probably a twisted-fear of mine."

He growled softly and nudged her shoulder.

"This is like you doubting that you would fly or flame again, I have no twisting-doubt that we will make a living egg together. No, not one, we will have many little ones in all the season-cycles to be."

"That is good," she hummed.

Then she stepped away from him and spread her wings.

"I know that you want to fly to the Haven-range, but will you fly one more flight with me in this world first?"

"Luna, I will never turn my nose away from flying with you."

She happily growled.

"Fly with me then. I want to show you something down here."

She took to the sky with him following closely after her.

 _What are we going to see?_

He was not sure how long they had been flying when the massive chamber narrowed considerably and became more of a corridor leading somewhere else. It was a narrow and rocky passage that got a bit dark in places.

"Where are we flying?" he cried.

"To light!" she answered.

More flying passed in an unknown amount of time. Just like the long walk down the pitch black cave into the hidden world, the flight could have been a moderate one or a lengthy one. It was much harder to tell time without the progression of the sun.

Then they burst out into the open air in a truly massive chamber. This one had no green of trees or plants of any kind. And it was filled with the glowing crystals that seemed lit from within or from below. These crystals were far brighter, rose many lengths in spires into the sky, and left the chamber covered in not a pale light but an intense light as if at noon in the above. The bright light seemed to fill his own scales and wings with tangible warmth, almost enough to make him want to fall asleep then and there.

And a spinning white swept down before him with a blissful cry. If her wings and scales had been stunning in the pale light, now they seemed to glow from within in this bright chamber.

He chased after her in a mock attempt to tag her tail. She only laughed at his playfulness and danced joyfully through the sky as they spun around the glowing spires. They eventually turned back for the passageway that they had flown through, and both landed there.

She noticed how wide his eyes were as he stared ahead.

"Do you like what you see?" she teased.

"I love what I see..."

She laughed her clear laughter. Then she bounded over to him and put a wing over his back.

"This was my favorite cave to fly in. My sire said that it was mine because it was my color, mine was the brightest of the little ones in his nest."

He grinned a very, very smug grin.

"I have never seen anything so liver-warming before... and this light cave is liver-warming also..."

She hummed at his sly words.

"I never saw anything as warming above as I have here below. But maybe that is because these ranges are closest to my liver because I was hatched here. The moon is close to my liver, yes, but it is not in the world above. It is above even that world," she chuckled.

"The things that are most warming above are not in the normal world Luna, they are in the world of life that two-legs and kin are making together. Things like hatchlings and fledglings from both kin and two-legs living together and playing. Things like hearing two-leg stories and giving them your own stories, as Dawn-Singer will do."

Then she gave a great sigh and stepped away from him with her wings spread.

"I have shown you the place I wanted you to see. Shall we fly and hunt? We should start on our flight to the above and to our range."

He gave her a happy growl and followed her into the hidden sky. They turned for the far distant cave that marked the only known entrance into and exit from this part of the hidden world. He had no idea what the path was, but she knew these ranges well and he trusted her to lead him.

 _Mimir said that other chambers are connected to the distant one he showed me. Could even this part be? It would have to be... weeks of flying to get that far from here even if it is possible._

* * *

The large creature like a deer was dead before he even touched it. And he took his time carving away the furs while she patiently waited in the long grass under the tall mushroom. Then he tore away a large haunch of warm, bloody meat, carried it to her, and placed it before her.

"For my mate to show her that I can provide for her..."

"An Alpha who could not provide for their mate would not be much of an Alpha, would it?"

He laughed heartily at her tease.

"Providing is different in the mixed-nest where two-legs and kin work together. It is more what we all can do together and less what each does alone."

Luna hummed softly for a moment, clearly deep in thought in between mouthfuls of meat.

"Still, it is warming to know that my mate is strong, a hunter, and an Alpha. To know that the other kin will bow and respect you and all your nest," she eventually answered.

"Yes, they will. They know to respect all Night Furies."

"But I am not a Night Fury like you."

He gave her a deep hum and nuzzled her.

"Yes, you are in a way. If my scales and wings are as the darkness between the sky-lights, then yours are as the brightness of the moon. Both are of the night, Night Fury and Light Fury. Dark wing and light wing. Small things like the shape of ears and wings do not have much weight. We have like-life-fires burning in our livers and thinking."

He rolled his eyes and huffed.

"And about other kin not bending their wings to you... the other kin will see you always with me and will know that we are mates. You also have hot fire. That is always good when there are noses that need flaming."

A contented growl was her answer as she turned her attention back to the catch.

* * *

Rest in each others arms followed the finishing of the catch, and then they flew with purpose, neither wasting time with playing in the sky. They both alighted on the edge of the cave mouth and then turned to look back down the visible length of the hidden world. At the odd trees and mushrooms, glowing crystals, mosses, and visible waters. All was the same as it had been when they first saw this sight together after their descent.

"This is the second time that I will have flown from the hidden world. I wonder if I will ever fly back here," he groaned.

"Why would you need to?"

"Very true. Let us go. I want to see the true, open skies again."

She hummed to herself, acknowledging that seeing the sun and moon again would bring her liver a certain warmth. And the thought of the wide open sky also held another appeal.

Slowly up the dark cave they walked as the pale light dimmed behind them. Then all was dark again as they walked and gradually ascended the slope. They walked long before he broke the silence with something that had been bothering him.

"Luna, you said that the rest of your nest here was gone."

"Yes, they all must have flown away."

"Why?"

Her sad warble followed.

"I do not know. Maybe another kin attacked them or drove them out."

He stopped walking and waited until she stood at his side.

"A kin would attack them? What kin would attack a pair of Light Furies in their own cave?"

"I do not know," she sadly answered.

He gave a wary grumble as he considered this possibility.

"I have never heard of that. A kin that would try to..."

And he paused as he remembered being told something several years ago in his talk with that strange dragon named Mimir. Something that made him faintly growl at the mere thought of.

 _There was a type of dragon that lived to hunt us. He said that he killed all those hunters that got into the hidden world. Hopefully they are all dead now, and I really hope her family is alive somewhere even if we never see them._

"What is it, Shadowwing?"

"I have heard of a type of kin that hunted Night Furies. Maybe it also hunted Light Furies. Have you heard about such a Monster?"

"No."

"I cannot think of why your sire and dam would leave unless there was danger. Whatever it was, it was in the hidden world. I do not know if that world is as safe as we thought," he grumbled.

Her wary growl followed as she glanced behind her even though there was nothing to see.

"There might be a danger stalking down there, but I know that there are dangers up above," she then said.

"And I will always keep you safe. You will do the same for me, true?" he asked.

"As long as you do not do something twisted and fly yourself into danger away from me," she hummed.

She could not see his pained grimace.

"Still, I think they live somewhere since you did not see any bones," he offered.

"I hope so. I have flown the nest and will not be much chilled if I do not see them now, but I do wish good life for them. They were a very good and warm sire and dam," she sadly crooned.

Then they resumed walking. An unknown amount of time passed before they finally saw a faintly growing light up ahead.

They emerged in the main cavern that they had flown into what had to have been several days ago. They walked together toward the ledge and stared out over a chill, moonlit night. There were a few clouds in the sky, and the moon was vividly bright.

And he heard her deep purr rolling in his own chest as she stared up at the moon.

"My sire said that I was a sky-light that fell into their first egg from the above. Seeing the open sky feels much warmer to me now. I know that I will not be flying alone," she mused.

"Never again," he assured her with a soft rub of her shoulder.

"Do you remember what I said that you are to me?"

"Hmm, many things..." he teased.

"What about there not being much sky to fall from as one under the ground?"

"Yes, I rememb..." he froze.

She swung her tail to the side to caress his neck as she passed him, and he shivered in delight at her touch. Her wings extended and almost glowed in the moonlight as she perched on the precipice and then turned to look at him.

"Show me that you can fly and... catch me," she hummed in challenge.

She turned away and jumped, the sweep of her wings quickly carrying her higher into the sky.

"I will."

He leapt as well, finding the updrafts and following her path up toward the stars. His heart was racing so fiercely that he barely even noticed the exertion of flight. His entire world was consumed with following that white moon as they soared higher and higher.

They eventually leveled off at quite a great height up just below the clouds. They drifted closer together in a wide circle until they both backwinged and hovered in place, both unable to tear their gaze from the other.

She deftly rolled to dodge his first strike to claim her. She tagged his tail as she spun under and around him. He heard her joyfully taunting roar as he spun around to prepare for another strike at her. He was not even bothered that she was being sly and teasing.

 _Alright, how to catch the Luna? I wonder if she will always be this hard to get. Maybe just a first time thing, like a test in some way. I will ask her later... afterwards..._

Then he grinned as he came up with a perfect plan of attack. It had basically worked once already. But this time he had another plan in mind. A mere flight to prove that he was fast was one thing, but there was something else that he could do as well.

* * *

It was fun to twist his liver so much. She could easily keep up with him in open flight and could outfly him over short distances. Being slightly smaller also helped her be a bit more nimble in the air and dodge his strikes.

They had both been in the dim light so long that her eyes were much adjusted to the darkness. Even with his dark color, he was easy to see as he circled closer, eagerly looking for any weakness in her flight that would let him catch and embrace her.

 _Oh, that will happen. I will make sure of that, but will you catch me or do I have to let you catch me?_

She saw him turn toward her as if to wildly hurl himself at her again, not that such a strike could possibly catch her. She was fast enough to dodge any of them.

Then a dark ball of fire hurled from his maw and flew up and above her. It looked like one of the shots that he used to hunt fish and could not in any way foul her flight with heat or wind.

She realized what would happen a wingbeat too late as the shot exploded into a bright ball of fire. She had been staring directly at it and wondering what he was thinking to waste a shot.

The completely harmless and normal flash of light was blinding in the night's darkness.

She backwinged and blinked furiously to get the spot of light out from her eyes as she turned and tried to put some space between him and her. The beats of his wings were perfectly audible for several moments until they vanished.

And then his full weight carefully fell on her from above as they began to fall.

 _You clever..._

He was on her back and holding her tightly with his arms around her chest. He gently gnawed on one of her ears, and then he let go and pushed away from her.

 _What!_

They both recovered their flights, and she slowed down into an easy flight as he glided above her.

"Caught you!" he bellowed.

"But... do you want me?"

"Do you want me?" he toothily grinned.

Her jaw fell open as she stared in total confusion.

"Now, you catch me!" he quickly beat his flight up and away from her.

She blinked and growled at how twisting he was being. He had already proved to her that he was a strong flier, though they both knew that already, but now he was testing her? Turning her flight against her! They both knew that they were life-mates already, so he was trying to twist her liver! But if he wanted to play and see how fast she could be, then he would!

 _I will catch you! I will claim you, you liver-twisted... pile of waste!_

They were off as fast as possible. Beat after beat and stroke after stroke of their wings followed as her eyes were narrowed on that dark shape ahead of her. The distance slowly closed until she was easily flying in his wing-wind-shadow.

But then a problem became evident. She could not easily catch up any closer after her initial speed began to falter. Even flying in that wind-shadow of his did not much help.

 _We are as fast as the other. I do not want this to be a long flight._

She thought back to their last race down underground when he had only caught up to her by fouling her flight with his fire. The then-hunter was the now-hunted.

 _Maybe his trick will help my flight also._

The hot and bright shot flew from her maw and erupted in a ring of fire in the air before him. He almost flinched in midflight but continued on through the fire with only a brief stumble. Their flight was so fast that she flew through the spreading fire herself in the same beat of her wings. The great warmth and good feeling seeped into her scales, and then the night was dark again as she continued after him.

* * *

 _Now this is dragon racing!_

Narrowed body and tucked limbs. Wings wide and stretched and working without thought.

He barely saw the shot pass him before it erupted. His eyes were closed when it did explode, but the blast still unsettled his flight slightly as he passed through the hot fire.

 _Oh, come on... That was a wasted shot... you think my trick will work on me?_

A few moments passed before he hazarded a very brief glance over his shoulder before turning back for the open air before him.

He blinked in surprise.

 _Wait... where is she?_

He looked again and saw nothing in the air behind him. Worry filled his thoughts in that moment. They were flying in the clear moonlight at the moment, and he should have been able to see anyone on the wing now. He slowed as he looked beneath him, above him, and all around in a growing confusion and fear.

 _What happened to her? Great, I managed to lose a whole dragon, again! She was..._

Something slammed into his tail and rear. The strike flipped him over in the air as the world itself spun overhead. Then he recovered himself and quickly looked around after crying out in alarm.

There was nothing there. Nothing except the audible beat of another set of wings nearby. Wings that were impossibly right next to him somewhere.

 _Whaaaaat?_

"Caught you!" she growled.

He jumped in the air in alarm at the voice from the nothingness.

* * *

 _What did you do now? How did you foul your flight this time?_

She let herself fall lightly into his flanks and his tail. He and she both were tumbling wildly for a moment until they recovered their flights.

And his confusion was very great. She stared directly at him as his gaze wildly swiveled around and passed over her.

He did not even blink.

She almost called out to announce her triumph when a Shadowwing-height-of-twisted thought occurred to her.

 _He cannot see me now? How?_

She looked back at herself and blinked as she stared directly though where she should have been. Nothing but a faint shimmer in the empty air was visible to her eyes.

 _I can hide from all eyes? What! How did I not know that?_

And with that thought certain memories started returning. Seeing her sire vanish in the sky to a flash of fire. Being told by her dam about a way that she could be safe always once she learned her hot, white fire. Yet one more thing that had been hidden from her for so long.

He looked to be getting truly alarmed at not seeing anything near him even though he could surely hear her flight at his side.

"Caught you!" she growled.

He jumped mid-flap and looked completely surprised.

"Luna?"

The worry and confusion was evident in his liver and his voice.

"I am here, Shadowwing!"

"Where?"

She angled closer to him and brushed a wingtip with her own. He immediately looked over in her direction and gave a very confused cry.

"Is that you... I do not see you..."

It was a further confirmation of what she suspected.

 _I can hide from being seen. How? Maybe the fire on my scales..._

There was indeed an odd feeling on her. A warm comforting burning that was not normally there. Several more wingbeats passed when something felt like it changed. Her scales and hide that had been burning with the almost tangible warmth felt cooler as the cold in the air devoured that warmth and as she wished to be seen again by him.

She was staring directly into his eyes when he blinked and his eyes widened in relief.

"Luna! I see you!"

They stared into the other's eyes for a moment more before something changed within them. The play and teasing ended as they both turned their flights straight up in a tight spin, never looking away from the other's eyes. Through the final clouds and out into the moonlight. They spun closer together with fire burning inside them both. Then he hurled himself at her, wrapped his wings around her, and embraced her.

And they tumbled through the clouds as one, completely lost to the world around them as they filled the sky with their shared roars.

They only opened their eyes when they were nearing the ocean again. They separated from each other, and she threw out her wings and was instantly carried aloft on the wind. He took one more moment before he caught the winds and found himself floating and catching his breath. Then he felt a wing brush against his.

He turned to look and lost himself in her light blue eyes and pure wings that had their familiar sparkle. The eager fire was mostly gone from both of them, leaving behind a glowing warmth as they gently flew wingtip to wingtip. A warmth that the far northern and cold night sky could not chill.

"My ear?" he growled.

"I wanted to chew it," she laughed.

"Is it still there?" he wiggled said ear.

"Most of it," she gave him a toothless grin.

They both laughed so hard that they heard it over the normal wind of flight as they turned for the south-east and for home. It would be a long flight against the wind most of the way. Neither of them cared as they softly played and caressed wings in the sky. A lengthier flight only meant more time for them both together before they arrived back home and had to get back to something resembling a normal life.

And of course there was his own confusion about what exactly had happened in the sky when she had completely disappeared from his sight.

 _How did she do that? We can avoid being seen if we wish, but to disappear entirely... I have to get her to tell me how she did that._


	67. III - Homeward Bound

_**Author's Note – In which the miniature arc comes to an end. There are some very important talks and very humorous moments within.**_

* * *

" _Every traveler has a home of his own, and he learns to appreciate it the more from his wandering." - Charles Dickens_ _(attributed to)_

* * *

Homeward Bound

* * *

They landed together at midday on a mountain ridge not far from the place where they had caught the prey before flying that final flight off what had seemed the edge of the world. It was perfectly safe as there were no signs of any human civilization anywhere within sight. The exhaustion of almost a half-day aloft and fighting the wind had left them quite tired. And the flight had not been mere flight alone after all.

She flamed the rock for several moments while he stared in renewed amazement.

 _Her fire is very, very hot. I bet it is even hotter than mine. That is a strange thought._

Then she lay herself down on the warmed rocks and expectantly purred at him. He wasted no time before he went over, snuggled against her side, entwined tails with her, and covered her with a wing for good measure.

"For warmth..." he chuckled.

Her ears lifted in amusement.

"You said that before also," she laughed.

"I... think I knew very deep in my liver how I wanted this flight to end. My liver knew even if my head did not know. When did you know that you wanted me?" he asked.

"As my life-mate?"

"Yes."

"There was no one sun when I knew. But I did start feeling a warmth in my liver whenever I saw you play with Was-Grounded's and Green-Wings's little ones. Seeing Rain-Eater hatch reminded me that new-life is good and that I am not hurt now. The cold-season food-eating-ceremony and sleeping after was very warming how you put your wing over me. That told me that you wanted me even if you did not know it yet. I could not... would not have taken another even if there were others I could choose from."

She closed her eyes and nuzzled his neck.

"No other has seen into my life-flight how you have," she softly added.

They both hummed in peace and exhaustion.

"What happened in the sky?" he wondered.

"We fell far together..." she laughed.

"Yes, but not that. Why could I not see you? You were nothing but a shadow that I could see through like water."

She ruffled her wings slightly and looked up at the sky.

"It happened after I flew through my own circle-fire cloud. My scales and hide felt warmer. Even I could not see me. I did not remember that I could do that. It is a way of hiding from all eyes," she grumbled.

Then she laughed again.

"That could be very warming to be able to hide from all eyes. I could foul so many flights for fun!"

He gave a wary hum and nudged her side.

"You would not want to hide from me, would you?"

"That depends on how twisted your life-flight is..." she very seriously answered while softly squeezing his tail.

"But think about it, Luna. I could not see you. I do not think any kin can see you when you are hiding that way. No two-leg can see you. This makes you much safer up here. You can always make yourself not seen now!"

Her relieved croon followed as she thought about it.

"It could be. It might only help at night, but it does make me feel much safer. I will try it in the sun."

Then she sighed and lay her head on the ground. Several peaceful moments passed before she spoke again.

"Shadowwing, what will you do when we get back?"

"What do you mean?"

"About your life-flight to make peace with other two-leg nests and make their livers warm to kin. What will you do with that flight?"

"I want to still fly that flight. It helps all in the Haven-range to have the other two-leg nests near us know that kin are not Monsters."

She hummed as she considered it.

"I do see the lift in that. Try to make no rot and hate grow in their livers, and they might leave us to live in peace. That is a good flight to fly."

He licked her cheek at her approval.

"Will you fly that flight with me?" he then asked.

"What?" she exclaimed in surprise.

"Two-legs think that you are very warming to look at Luna. Your color does not say danger or fear-making to them. You could fill their livers with warmth only by letting them see you."

She warily hummed for several moments.

"I will fly with you, but I do not want to fly into their nests. That would be much danger for me, even if I could make myself not-seen."

"Truly? You would fly that with me?" he asked in surprise.

"Yes, you are my life-mate."

She rolled her eyes.

"And someone should be there to help when you fly into trouble."

"What? Me fly into trouble?"

She gave him a knowing look and gently knocked his head with her own.

"Danger seems to fly after your tail in all your life-flight. From being the first two-leg to life-bond with a kin, fly with a kin, ground or kill two Monsters, and fly yourself into possible traps. You have no in-hatched knowing of how to keep safe your life-flight."

"That has not happened on these flights. I will not fly to kin-hating nests."

"You do not know that before you fly. You got bit in the chest by one of their long-tooth-sticks before. And one of the nests might have rot and might trick you."

"I will not fly myself or you into danger."

She hummed softly and then gave a wary grumble as she slowly got to her feet.

"That is good of you. I would not want you to get yourself grounded. But you did make a mistake."

He tilted his head in confusion as she stepped away and turned to him.

"What mistake?"

"You trusted a kin."

"What kin?" he warily asked.

"This one," she hummed.

As fast as lightning, she leapt at him and knocked him onto his back. And she pinned him, not that he especially tried to fight back as she climbed on him. This was rough play for the sake of rough play.

 _Totally worth it even if I am..._

"Grounded..." she laughed and started licking his cheek.

He lifted a forelimb and started gently beating at her head.

"You dare attack the great Night Fury!" he laughed up at her.

She stepped back from him to dodge the attacks and gave him a playful look as he got to his feet.

"Truly? Where is this Night Fury you talk about? He might be a good mate for me. This though..." she waved at him.

Shadowwing grumbled at her and deeply sighed while rolling his eyes.

"You pointed to all of me..."

She laughed, hopped over to him, and joined him again at his side on the warm rocks. He draped a wing over her and nuzzled her softly.

 _Oh Luna, you laugh so much now..._

Then she gave a somewhat wary hum, clearly being deep in thought.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked.

"Shadowwing, I do see the good and the lift in your flight to the other two-leg ranges. But you do know that those flights, if they do start, will need to stop one sun."

"What!" he exclaimed in alarm.

"Yes, all my sun-cycles will go to sitting and singing to the egg if I get one. You will need to be there for me. And you would need to sit the egg with me," she softly nosed his shoulder.

"Me?" he gasped.

"Yes, the sire must sit the egg also and sing or talk to it if he wants the little one to know his voice and have many words. And I will need to leave the cave-den for some little time to relieve myself and drink water."

"I can do all that, but there are no other kin who can do what I do..."

She looked away from him and stared out over the landscape in a very pregnant pause. Her voice was firm but solemn when she spoke.

"You will need to choose what life-winds to fly and who you will fly for. Life with me might lead into different skies that do not see much of two-legs."

"No, I cannot think that," he groaned.

"Why not?"

He gave no answer for a long time.

"We will fly those skies if we get to them," he eventually moaned.

"And if we do end up in those skies? If you must choose the two-leg world or me, what would you choose? Liver-truth," she continued.

.

"I must know," she faintly growled.

.

"Please... Shadowwing..." she whispered.

.

"I... gave you my liver and life-winds. I would choose you..." he barely whispered.

She snuggled against his neck with a very deep croon and did not move from there. She was soon asleep. He calmed somewhat as well as he felt her breath and the slow beats of her heart. And then he looked out over the desolate landscape of small mountains, fjords, grey rocks, snow, lichens, and mosses. He also remembered the strange and beautiful world hidden deep underground.

Together, those worlds were wild, free, dangerous, and unbounded by custom and laws. They were the opposite of everything that seemed human; tamed, controlled, mostly safe, and well-defined with expectations. One was mysterious and the other needed to explain everything away. Mystery against the known. Free and wild against a need to control and subdue.

 _I... what is happening to me?_

He eventually closed his eyes, lost himself in the sound of her breaths, and fell asleep with her under his wing and her tail woven around his.

* * *

They flew down from the sky, spinning back to back, as they roared aloud in the joy of flight. Tagging tails and flanks as they fouled each other's flights. Down onto the highest peak where they then threw out their wings and touched down. Then they beheld it again.

A wide range of green that stretched out to the ocean. And far down the range was a growing village. The massive perches and Great Hall were visible from up here, as were the many dragons of all colors spinning in the air and flying for fun.

"Luna, we are home," he hummed.

"Not yet, my mate. I have not yet seen our great nest-den," she teased.

He whipped her tail and laughed.

"Then let me show you to it."

And they dove down the mountainside together, flying dangerously close to the rocks as they went. Then they threw out their wings and landed outside the very familiar cave. She stood at his side and rubbed against his shoulder as they both stared inside the place that they knew so well.

Then they entered side by side and looked around the interior. He sat down and watched as she strolled around the place and inspected it as if for the first time.

"What do you think, my love? Is this big enough for you? Should I go bring back piles of fish and sing you many songs to get you to stay here?"

She stuck out her tongue and hopped over to him.

"I like that I will be nesting and sleeping here always now," she hummed.

"It will need some changes. We can work on it with many suns to make it less mine and more ours."

"I do not need many things, unlike you. I only want your tail to hold and you with me," she laughed.

"And you will have those. What should we do first? Do you want to sleep?"

"Not now. I think we should let the others know that we are back. They will want to know that we are safe and that we are life-mates now."

"Yes, let us fly now."

They bounded outside the cave and took to the air for the short flight. However, the other cave was empty when they got there.

"They must be down in the Haven-nest," he muttered.

Sure enough, he did not need to go looking for any of them. They were all already at the nearest fish station to get their dinner before retiring for the evening. Further, Valka was right there with them giving Aurora a lesson while helping to keep an eye on the little ones as they dashed around in play.

A cry went up as they flew in and touched down. Dragons all around roared at his return. And of course the other Night Furies all immediately bounded for them both as Valka ran up as well.

"You are here!" Dawn-Singer yelled.

"Play! Play!" Aurora cried.

Rain-Eater dashed for them with a happy growl.

"Little ones!" Luna eagerly laughed as she bounded forward toward them.

To her credit, Aurora held her ground and even pounced in a brave attempt to nibble at ears. Then the battle was joined when Dawn-Singer joined in on his sister's attack and added his greater bulk to the duel.

Shadowwing, Was-Grounded, and Green-Wings all looked on in warm amusement.

Was-Grounded then stepped up to him, made a point of smelling him, and gave him a very, very toothy grin.

"Brother, is there something that you want to tell us?"

"I think you know already, but Luna and I are life-mates now," Shadowwing proudly announced.

Then Was-Grounded and Green-Wings both laughed aloud as they regarded both of them.

"Life-mates without any young first, that is different. But you are a twisted kin, so I am not surprised by much from you now. I am surprised that you won her. What did you do? Tail-twisting displays?" Was-Grounded snidely asked.

"What? No, I did not... win her. You are the twisted one now."

"Wait, she claimed you?" Was-Grounded mumbled in confusion.

"No... we both chose the other. I do not know how to say more or better," Shadowwing mumbled.

Then Was-Grounded gently nudged his shoulder.

"It was the same for me and Green-Wings. She helped me kill the thought-rotted male when she could have flown away. I did not win her. She chose me, and I chose her."

Luna extricated herself from the battle and bounded over to them. Green-Wings then stepped over to her and licked her on the cheek.

"To welcome you into the nest in truth now," Green-Wings explained.

Was-Grounded did the same and licked Luna on the cheek while she fondly hummed back at them both. Then he stepped back before his brother.

"Brother, I should tell you now that I told Green-Wings the truth about... us in the past."

Shadowwing reacted without thinking and pounced, quickly pinning his brother to the ground with his jaws around the back of his neck.

"I deserved that..." Was-Grounded groaned.

"Yes, you did," Shadowwing hummed after giving him a thrashing and letting him go.

Then Shadowwing stiffened and glanced at Green-Wings.

"It changes nothing to me except I understand your twistedness. You were kin to us always. We told none and will tell none," Green-Wings immediately said.

"That is good. I told Luna also. We should tell none of our little ones. Let that twisted past never be known to any others," Shadowwing whispered.

The four of them shared warm purrs of agreement. Then Green-Wings's ears went up as she turned to Luna.

"What did you think about that, Luna?" she asked.

"I do not know if I would have taken him if I knew that before..." the glint in Luna's eyes and her warm purr betrayed her words, "but I think he was always a kin in his liver."

"I agree," Was-Grounded purred.

Shadowwing only chuffed and rolled his eyes. Then Luna turned her attention back to the unrelenting and playful children readying themselves for combat. The battle resumed.

"She is already practiced with little ones without having any of her own. Yet..." Was-Grounded chuckled mischievously and bumped his shoulder again.

"Thank you for telling me that... I do know how life-making... happens," Shadowwing mumbled.

Was-Grounded purred in happiness and amusement when Aurora viciously pinned Luna's nose to the ground with Dawn-Singer helping a little. Or maybe it was only Luna letting the little ones ground her. Then Rain-Eater started joined in and started chewing on her tail.

"And one more good thing about you both becoming mates is that our young will find mates of their own here with enough season-cycles," he added.

Shadowwing froze as he tried to figure out how to convey the obvious problem with that.

"We are from the same nest and that makes our young from the same, bigger nest also. Is it... good for kin to take mates from their own like-same-nest?"

Was-Grounded grumbled at something he had said.

"Do you remember when you met Green-Wings the first time in our den?"

"Yes."

"You and I have somewhat different smells," he said.

"Yes, but what does that mean?"

"We hatched from one egg, but we are not the same body only made twice. There will be no problem with our young wanting one from the other nest for a mate. And our young will not want each other for mates if I am wrong."

Shadowwing blinked and shook his head as he tried to absorb this news.

 _Wow, that is strange to think about. We are not truly twins, kind of already knew that though. And it will be quite a few years before any of... that can happen. But it is definitely good that our children will not have to wander the world to look for mates of their own one day. That would be too dangerous for them._

Then perhaps the strangest idea of them all sparked to life and reduced him to fits of laughter.

"What is twisted in your thinking now?" Was-Grounded curiously hummed.

Shadowwing recovered himself and stepped close to him.

"Think about it, Toothless, all Night Furies and Light Furies might come from us..."

They both blinked at the idea and then laughed with abandon.

"If any kin had told me what would come from my meeting a good two-leg in the trees..." Was-Grounded whispered.

Then they both observed their mates standing at the other's shoulder and staring at them in amusement.

"Egg-mates..." "Males..." "Your not-two-leg mate twisted mine..."

"Brother, did you need to find a life-mate who wants to twist my liver always?" Shadowwing teased.

"That is part of what is most warming about her," Was-Grounded countered.

The laughter resumed until Shadowwing found Valka standing in front of him and giving his head a hug. Apparently she had lost patience with standing around and waiting for her turn.

"I missed you both very much. I guess you did not find her family."

He only shook his head at that.

"How was the rest of the adventure? Anything good happen?"

 _You can say that. Wow, I am going to talk to my mom about this. Totally love it..._

He took a breath to steady himself as he felt Luna come and stand at his side.

 **Yes, something good happened**

"What?"

He deliberately draped a wing over Luna's back while keeping his eyes firmly on the dirt as he wrote.

 **We are mates now**

 **I love her**

Slowly and sheepishly, he eventually looked up at Valka. She had her mouth open and was looking back and forth between him and Luna.

"You told her about us being mates, right?" Luna whispered.

"Yes."

She squared her shoulders and leaned against him while looking confidently at Kin-liver. Of course, what any two-leg thought about their being mates would not change anything for her. Still, she would much rather have Kin-liver's approval than not since Kin-liver was now a strange type of kin to her through Shadowwing. A type of two-leg second-dam. And in addition to that, this was the two-leg who worked her clever fingers and made her own wings be whole again. For that alone, Kin-liver would be her kin always.

"And what does that mean?" Valka nervously asked.

He stared at her and groaned, almost too embarrassed to answer.

 **We were together**

"No, not that. Of course you were… together. I mean, what does that mean for both of you? Some dragons are mates for only a while and then they move on."

 _Oh, now I understand._

"Why is she sad?" Luna wondered.

"She is not sad. She wants to know if we are life-mates."

"Always," she replied without hesitation and rubbed against his shoulder for emphasis.

"I know," he rumbled back.

 **For life obviously**

Of all the things which he thought that Valka might do, kneel over in laughter was not one of them and it puzzled him greatly. He lifted an eye-ridge and voiced his confusion while wearing what had to be a very silly expression. She eventually recovered herself with a thoroughly wild grin on her face.

"Well, I am happy for you both. I actually wondered if this would ever happen."

 **Really?**

"Of course, you two love spending time together, she is very smart, you trust each other, and there is no one else that either of you could both take for your own."

He tipped his head to concede her points.

"Lots of other people were wondering why you had not done anything yet."

That made him freeze and look back at her in confusion and faint alarm.

 **What do you mean?**

 **Lots of people?**

Valka seemed to fumble for a moment as she searched for words.

"Oh, some people, not I of course, may have been making... small... bets about whether anything would... happen... between you and her this spring."

 _What!_

 **Some people?**

"Eh, five or six..."

He relaxed somewhat.

 _Oh, that is not so bad..._

"...dozen," Valka sheepishly finished.

"What!" he exclaimed.

Valka was suddenly very interested by the shapes of the clouds, though she could not wipe off her giddy grin. At least she was until Luna stepped over before her and slowly wrote.

 **Dragonheart happy?**

Valka lifted her hands and gently held the sides of Luna's head.

"I am very happy for you both, my dears. You will be good for each other. And Luna..."

Luna blinked.

"... don't let him do anything too crazy with his life now. You know how he is."

He only reluctantly translated that part, much to Luna's amusement.

"What is going on here?" Chief Thorvald bellowed as he approached with his wife Sifa and fellow dragonrider Skald in tow. Their children followed closely behind and were quickly greeted by some very friendly young Furies. The adults all paused as they saw Shadowwing with a wing draped over Luna's back and Dragonheart looking quite giddy.

"So, what is the news?" Thorvald asked with a twinkle in his eyes.

"They are a pair now!" Valka joyfully shouted.

Shadowwing groaned and rolled his eyes.

 _Oh, by the skies... can this get any worse?_

Everyone looked at them both and no one said anything for a moment. Then Skald held out an open palm toward Thorvald.

"Pay up..."

This was repeated several times throughout the gradually gathering audience.

 _Well, she did say that they were taking bets... oh gods... this cannot get any worse..._

"Alright, well this is an occasion. Another pair of Furies. Wonderful! I call for a feast to celebrate the union!" Thorvald announced.

Shadowwing slumped to the ground in complete and utter dismay.

 _And there it is, it just got worse... great!_

"Must all in the range hear?" he nearly bellowed.

Luna laughed and stepped away from him.

"Let them know. I am hungry for fish," she teased.

"I know it is fun to twist my liver, but I am hungry also. And do you know what hungry kin do?" he answered.

"What, oh mighty Night Fury?"

Shadowwing began walking past her, his eyes cast skyward.

"They eat everything!" he bellowed as he lunged for Luna's tail.

She flicked her tail out of the way, and the only thing he ate was the dirt. And what was left of his pride. Several more of the villagers turned out to laugh at the antics.

He closed his eyes in renewed embarrassment only to feel something soft and leathery brush against his nose a moment later. It was one of her large tailfins.

He got to his feet and followed her as she walked toward the nearest fish station. It was completely impossible for him to stay at all frustrated with her.

 _What is this magic she has over me?_

She happily walked forward and began gobbling up the plumpest fish that remained. He snagged a couple salmon for himself and backed away to make room for the other dragons to return.

However, he saw Valka beckoning him over to her a few moments later.

"She will be living with you now."

He nodded.

"That is an adjustment. It was not so easy for your father and me at first. To lose all privacy and have nothing hidden from each other. You learn things about the other person that you couldn't know before. You can always talk to me if you want to."

 **Thank you**

Then she went down on her knees and demanded his attention without saying anything.

"You keep her safe," she whispered, her voice suddenly choked with emotion.

 **I will**

"I could not have imagined how hard it would be to lose your father until it actually happened all those years ago. I learned how to live with it. And then it happened again in another far worse way. I hope you never have to feel… what I have felt."

He gave her a gentle hug without writing any words. They were not needed.

"I love you too, son. Now go on, I think she is waiting for you."

He looked and sure enough Luna was gazing in his direction. Aurora and Rain-Eater had returned to Green-Wings's side, leaving Luna alone. She looked quite solemn at the moment.

"What is chilling you?" he asked.

"Playing with their little ones makes my liver very warm. I hope that I will be able to do that with little ones of our own."

He softly nuzzled her nose.

"You will. We will."

Then he stepped back with a very wide smirk and happy chuckle.

"You should all hear that the two-legs want to have a much-food-eating ceremony to... celebrate Luna and me being mates," Shadowwing announced for their benefit.

Both Green-Wings and Was-Grounded perked up and hummed at that.

"Another food-eating ceremony. Two-legs have better ideas the more I learn about them," Green-Wings chuckled.

"You were never at the food-eating-ceremonies they had in the cold-seasons back on my old nest-island. There were so many four-legs with meat dripping with fat. And roaring fires to soak your scales with warmth. Those ceremonies were even warmer and more belly-filling than the last one we had in the cold-season," Was-Grounded eagerly hummed at good memories.

* * *

It was the largest feast of the year. Trees were felled for firewood, cattle were slaughtered, and barrels of ale were brought out of storage. Dozens were gathered in the Great Hall. And there were also a lot of Nords there to celebrate.

Shadowwing laughed to himself as he watched the merry gathering.

 _Not that they need much reason. Any excuse to eat and drink is good enough for them after all._

All the Night Furies were gathered at their reserved table. Dawn-Singer and Aurora furiously scribbled on the paper that was always laid out for them, and then they turned to the writing box when the paper ran out. At least, they did so in between the mouthfuls of chicken, goat, and cod.

This feast was only different in its main star. Almost literally also with how her scales reflected the firelight. She sat peacefully at his side and watched all the revelry. Dozens of villagers came up to her to bow and give her their congratulations along with a celebratory fish. She acknowledged them all with a polite nod and hum.

As for him, he was completely content to hold her at his side and drape a wing over her back.

And then Gobber came over to the table while rolling a barrel.

"Ach Shadowwing, think ya can help me with this one?"

He nodded and helped him to right the barrel. Then Gobber opened it and brought forth a massive mug from somewhere.

"Alrighty, drink up!" he handed him the dragon-sized mug.

 _Wait, what!_

"Oh yeah, it's part of tha ceremony after all! Ya must drink up or its bad luck!"

Shadowwing glanced at the frothy, amber liquid.

"Is this the happy-water?" Luna asked.

"Yes, it is. I think that we..."

She buried her muzzle in the barrel and emerged moments later with a very odd, puzzled expression on her face as she furiously licked the foam from her lips.

"That taste is very twisting, almost rotted but not."

Then she drank some more.

"Well, I never... ha... We might need another barrel for ye all!" Gobber laughed heartily.

"I want some also..." Shadowwing hummed with amusement.

Luna then noticed Valka standing nearby and watching them.

"I will play with Kin-liver!"

Luna got to her feet, dashed over to Valka, and began prancing around her while laughing and trying to avoid the hand to chin attack. Dawn-Singer and Aurora joined in by chasing after their closest friends as well.

Shadowwing could not restrain his hum of pure bliss at all the playful revelry.

Thorvald stepped over and approached him.

"We are happy for you both. Very glad that this happened."

 **Thank you**

"Will you both be living up in your cave still?"

Yes, he nodded.

"Ok, you just let me know if you do ever want to come down to the village. We would certainly be willing to build you a place."

 _I'm not sure she would ever want that, but maybe._

Then Thorvald returned to his table, and Shadowwing resumed watching the peaceful celebration. Luna eventually turned away from chasing after Valka and bounded after him instead. He was not expecting it at all and was tackled as she climbed onto his back.

"Luna! What are you doing?"

"Pinning you!" she closed her jaws on his neck and gently thrashed him.

All the surrounding people laughed and slapped their sides.

"I think we know who is in charge there..." "Just like my wife!" "He has no hope..." "She wears the pants... if dragons wore pants..." "Get a cave..."

Luna eventually let him go and laughed at all the surrounding laughter, even though she did not know all of what they had said. Shadowwing saw everyone around him laughing at his expense and could not remain frustrated with them at all. He joined in with them.

Then Chief Thorvald stepped up at the head of the assembly and got everyone's attention.

"We are Nords! We hardly need an excuse to celebrate!"

"Here, here!" "That's right!" "More ale!" "Why'rre we parrtyinng?"

"We are here to celebrate two of our own! Two whom we love! Shadowwing and Luna!"

Mugs were raised all throughout the Hall, as were several loud whistles.

"And just think, if everything went well, this winter there will be two more little Night or Light Furies here to celebrate with us next time!"

"Yeah!" "So cute!" "Ale!" "Waht're Nitefurrriess?"

"This is a glorious start to the year! The gods have been good to us and will continue to be so! To the future!"

Human and dragon voices were lifted to the ceiling in a happy roar of celebration.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note – I would be curious to hear thoughts on how that romance-focused arc of the volume went. It may have felt 'slow' to some, but I prefer to think of it as deliberate in building out those two characters and how they complement each other.**_

 _ **Also, let me insert a plug here requesting that if you have enjoyed this adventure so far and think highly enough of this story then please do not forget the favorites and reviews. I cannot stress enough to you how much they help to expand the reach of the story to other readers who would like it.**_

 _ **You should check out 'To Fly The Winds Of Life' chapter 7 for a bit more Shadowwing-Luna bonding time on the flight back home.  
**_


	68. III - Harbingers

_**Author's Note – So, with the romance aspect of this volume fully developed in all its sweetness, it is now time to begin slowly moving on into the other major arc that we all knew was coming. Do you hear the bells of fate ringing in the background? There are also plenty of foreshadowings throughout this chapter as to how additional events in film III will come into play in this world.**_ _ **Also, more brotherly banter!**_

 _ **Shoutout to Guests – Madeline and Ryavrel - there are few greater praises than for a reader to consider a story even better than the original that inspired it.**_

* * *

" _The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." - H.P. Lovecraft – Supernatural Horror in Literature_

* * *

Harbingers

* * *

 _Oh come on! It is the summer now, what is with you both? You don't have anyone to impress._

The red one growled at the yellow one.

Both flashed their teeth and lit their backs on fire.

The red one lifted a leg and marked its territory.

Both snarled at and took a step toward each other.

Shadowwing sighed and looked up toward the distant skies. The busy, occupied, and loud skies.

 _Gods, will this ever stop? I know you like that perch, red, but there are so many places to perch. And you, yellow, do you have to try to push him off..._

The yellow one jumped at the red one to push it off and also hurled a stream of fire at it.

 _Ok, game is over!_

He hopped into the air and flew at them both. Then he roared aloud and got both their attention as he dove and landed next to them. Their tussle was forgotten immediately as they both bowed their heads and sulked.

"No fighting with fire or biting!"

They whined softly at his snarl.

"And do not make me tell you again!"

Both Nightmares threw a final glare at the other and then flew off in different directions.

"Now think about what you have done..."

Snort.

Then he looked back out over Haven and saw a disturbance on the far side of the village. A small flock of dragons were circling over... something.

 _Great... just my luck that all of this would happen on his off-day. But with three kids of his own, he does need to take more time for them for sure._

He blinked.

 _And I will also. I hope._

Sigh.

 _Oh well, no task is too small. The woes of being Alpha or Chief or whatever..._

And he took wing to investigate the day's next misadventure.

The grooming stations had lines, the fish stations were surrounded like wolves staring at a sheep locked in a cage, the streets were filled in moving rows of bodies, Nords were hopping on dragons' backs just to cross said streets, the distant fields had some of the more docile and trained dragons helping to till the fields, and the waters swarmed with activity as the ships hauled in fishing lines and trained dragons hounded fish or even flew back to shore with fish in their jaws.

He threw a glance toward the new Academy where Skald and Valka tended to spend a lot of time instructing the children of Haven in everything pertaining to dragons.

Everything was chaotic and wonderful.

A column of flame erupted from the far side of the village where the other dragons were swarming.

 _Great..._

He took one more glance up to the distant clouds where he had last seen a flash of white. His hum and the warmth in his heart reassured him that he could get through the day no matter what he would face. Despite the frustrations and toils of the day, a warm comfort and tender hum awaited him. And that would be more than enough for him.

* * *

Spinning with her wings tucked closely to her side. Roaring aloud for pleasure as she flew into the warm wind. Diving at and seeming to bounce off clouds. The joy of being alive and not alone in her life-flight. Remembering much-good sleep-visions of an egg nestled against her belly. All was warm with her life-flight now.

Then she leveled out into an easy glide.

 _Time to practice this..._

She took a deep breath and shaped the fire-air into the shape that she knew it needed without knowing how. The glowing ball of life-fire flew ahead several lengths and erupted into a ring shape that burned very hot.

And then fire poured into her scales and hide as she spun through the flames and wished deep in her liver to hide. A few wingbeats passed before she glanced back at herself and saw what she wanted to see.

Nothing.

Not even a shimmer in the air. Even now when the sun was high in its flight.

 _Now to foul some flights..._

Down toward the Haven-nest she dove, looking for a good target even though there was only one that would be truly worth teasing.

And she saw him. He was perched on one of the larger tree-dens to overlook one of the fish-places that most commonly saw small fights. He was also completely unsuspecting.

Gliding silently without beating her wings. Closer and closer, waiting for the perfect moment.

A fire-scale roared at something else in a display of dominance as it dove and tried to land on his perch. He growled softly at it and sent it flapping away somewhere else.

 _Yes!_

The loud sound and disturbance from the departing fire-scale was all she needed to carefully drop in on the large-tree-perch. He did not react as he continued to gaze ahead over the flights of many kin.

 _He does not know..._

Slowly padding closer to him one step at a time. She gave no hum of warmness or growl of play. Unseen hunters that strike from the shadows were the most successful at catching their prey.

His tail kept swaying behind him as she approached.

Then she froze as she saw his ears flicker.

The hunt was frozen as she held her breath and kept her eyes closed. Holding on to that warm, hiding-feeling that she knew hid her from all eyes. A quick glance at him followed. He was not looking at her.

 _Shadowwing, you are prey... and I am the hunter!_

She lunged at him and carefully nipped at his flanks. He bucked in alarm and spun on her with a cry. Or rather, he spun on where she should be.

"Luna!"

"Great Alpha!" she kept her eyes closed and listened for where he was.

He swiped with a paw at where he thought she was, and he hit nothing.

"Will you not let me see you?"

"Or what?" she hummed.

"Or maybe I will forget how warming it is to see your bright wings, your long tail, and your blue eyes."

"Never!" she cried in alarm and glanced at him again.

He groaned and lay down on the tree-den-ground while putting his paws over his eyes.

"The memories are fading now... I do not know anymore. What color are her wings? Green?"

And that was too much to allow. She dropped all hiding-will, pranced over to him, sat down on her haunches, and glared. Eyes narrowed and her wings were flared.

He only hummed back at her.

"That is what they look like. As liver-warming as I remember, my life-mate."

And all pretend-anger and teasing departed from her liver.

"Shadowwing, you ground my fouling-flight..." she sighed.

He stepped forward, licked her cheek, and gave her a deep purr.

"I try," he hummed.

Then she fell in at his side and rubbed against his shoulder. They glanced as one toward the fish-place and all the perched and flying kin.

"What is happening here in this mixed-nest this sun?" she asked.

He groaned and let himself collapse limp.

"The once fighting-thrall kin here are all twisting. Like you."

She bared her teeth and snarled again.

"In a warming way," he hastily added.

She hummed and sat back on her haunches.

 _This is too much fun..._

"No, there is always another fight. I just made a big ball of flame to show how big I am. I made a bigger one! I dropped waste to mark my territory! I will drop more waste on yours and make it my territory! That is my two-leg, get your own! That is my mate, get your own! I will join you in sitting on this tree-den even if the trees groan and break under us! I will chase after the water-walker that has fish on it and try to take the fish! I will play drop my waste on the two-legs on the ground!"

He groaned and sighed.

"You are warmed that you are Alpha and have many small flights to fly, true?" she laughed.

"Thank you for saying all that..."

She rubbed against his neck again while warmly purring to him.

"Can I help you do anything?"

They looked out over everything together.

"Fly with me so I can see you. Find bad fights and stop them before there is true hurting. You do not fear the other kin now, do you?"

She snorted and growled softly.

"I have my hot fire now, I can hide from all eyes, and I am mated to an Alpha. The other kin can smell you on me and would not try to hurt me. And they will learn to know my roar."

He chuckled softly.

"There is my mate's life-fire that I told her about," he whispered.

She snapped at his neck, a strike which he dodged, and then she took to the sky with a joyful cry while he kept watch.

At least while not looking up at the spinning white wings above him.

* * *

They both stalked closer to the prey. Low to the ground, hind legs coiled to pounce. The four-leg across the clearing had no warning what was coming.

Green-Wings gently nudged Aurora's tail in a signal that this was to be her moment. That four-leg prey would be brought down by Aurora's claws and teeth.

Aurora contained the growl of pleasure and stalked closer through the grass. Towards her first hunt.

Then a cloud fell over their hunt.

A rock-belly kin flew low overhead and spooked the prey, which then dashed away as fast as its long legs could carry it into the thick trees.

The hunt was fouled.

"Grr! Stupid rock-belly! That was my hunt!" Aurora growled.

Then she lay down in frustration, tail thrashing her anger.

"Do not be chilled Aurora, you did not fail in your hunt. You stayed downwind, you tracked it, you did not let it see you, and you are very strong-thinking."

Green-Wings lay down next to her and hummed deeply.

"You will be a better hunter than I ever was."

"Truly?" Aurora asked.

"Yes, you are faster than I am. My hunts were always... difficult when I flew the winds of life alone before your sire flew them with me."

Green-Wings purred with warmth.

"I still remember the first sun-cycle that I saw him. He said that he would catch a big four-leg for me, and he did it. I ate very well then and until we left that range after becoming mates."

Her ears drooped slightly though.

"I think I ate well because he gave me more of his hunts than he should have."

"Hunting is also different in the Haven-nest with the two-legs. The hunting is done for all instead of for one or one nest within the range," Aurora warbled curiously.

"Yes, their way is different, but you know why this way is important for you to learn?"

They both looked around them at the green, the trees, the bushes, and the wild.

"Because a kin who can hunt on its own but does not need to is strong, but a kin who cannot hunt on its own is weak and prey to life," Aurora answered.

"Yes, it can be pushed more on the winds of life. You are not weak, Aurora."

Aurora purred softly at that reassurance. Then she hummed softly.

"Dam, when will I get my color?"

"I got my color in the hot-season after my second season-cycle, so you might start getting your color next hot-season or new-life-season," Green-Wings answered.

"Can I know what color I will be?" Aurora then asked after a moment of thought.

"Wing-skin color and scale-shine might fly close to the eye-color. Mine are only green. Yours are green and blue. We will see, Aurora..."

* * *

Was-Grounded woke up from his long and very restful nap with Rain-Eater at his side. Green-Wings and Aurora were out hunting together. He opened his eyes, stretched everything, and then saw something strange.

The first of his liver, Dawn-Singer, was standing before him and had an abnormally confused look about him.

"Dawn-Singer, what is chilling you?"

Worried green eyes stared back at him.

"Sire, I have been thinking much about my life-flight."

"As you should, what about?"

A quiet moment passed as Dawn-Singer squirmed on his feet.

"I remember in this new-life-season, all the other kin went flying and fighting to find mates. They found ones they wanted, impressed them, and joined with them. They will make nests and have eggs and hatchlings here or on a far nesting island."

"Yes, they will. And you will also when you are grown."

Dawn-Singer's eyes fell slightly alongside a slightly worried hum.

"But there are no other kin here who I could take as a mate. I do not know where to fly to find a mate in the ranges beyond."

Was-Grounded gave a slightly worried hum of his own at where his first's thoughts were leading him. It was only normal though.

"There are no others you could take as a mate now, but there will be. Shadowwing and Luna are life-mates, and they will start having eggs and little ones. You can find a mate among the female Night Furies or Light Furies that will be in future season-cycles."

Dawn-Singer's ears drooped and a worried croon left him. It was clear why.

"It will be much waiting, yes, but the ranges beyond are not safe for any kin. I had to fly for an entire moon-cycle before I found your dam, and I knew where I was to fly that flight. In all the cycles that were before then I never saw another Night Fury," Was-Grounded solemnly explained.

"So, I must stay here in this range and wait?" Dawn-Singer asked.

"Yes, first of my liver, that is not the normal way, I know. But we do not live in a normal world. The two-legs that live beyond this mixed-nest are not warm to kin. They would try to kill you and wear your hide as false-skins."

Dawn-Singer whimpered and shook slightly at the thought.

"I do not want to think that two-legs could be that bad, that they could be Monsters to me," Dawn-Singer groaned.

"Look at me," Was-Grounded said.

Green eyes looked up at him again.

"This is liver-truth on my wings and on my being your sire. Two-legs beyond this big Haven-range are not as kin to you. I was once made a thrall by them."

"What!"

"Yes, they put false-vines around my wings to ground me, they gave me not enough fish and water, and they made me fight other kin and two-leg fighters. All because the bad two-leg nest wanted to see fights and dying. They tried to make my life-fire fade, and they tried to mate me to wrong-kin."

Then Was-Grounded sighed heavily as he felt an odd chill within.

"Dawn-Singer, you will be big enough to fly the nest in the next season-cycle if you want. You will learn your fire soon. Your life-winds are yours to fly as you wish, but I would guide your flight to stay in this range to wait for a mate. There is much danger beyond that you do not know about."

Dawn-Singer looked down at his paws for a long moment. Then he looked back up with some decision clearly in mind.

"I hold these two-legs close to my liver. They are warm to me and to us. I want to fly the winds of life with them. I can wait for a mate."

Was-Grounded carefully got to his feet to not disturb Rain-Eater's sleeping, strode over to Dawn-Singer, and nuzzled his nose.

"That makes me very warm to hear, Dawn-Singer. I know that you will be warmed here with those you have as kin to you."

Dawn-Singer eagerly bobbed his head and hummed.

"And maybe I can have the two-legs make me a tree-den to roost in like they do! Hmm, I will talk to Shadowwing and Kin-liver about that warm idea!"

Then his first spun around and whipped out the cave-den to take flight. Was-Grounded carefully returned to where he had been resting and held a wing over little Rain-Eater at his side.

 _My not-so-little one, Dawn-Singer... you live in a very different world than I did when I was your size. Mine was the wild, hunger, fear, and surviving from one sun to another only. All alone. You will have so much more._

He nestled Rain-Eater closer to his side with a wing and a hum.

 _You all will._

* * *

"For the last time, I will not tell you about that!" Shadowwing groaned.

"I told you how Green-Wings likes to play before we..." Was-Grounded began.

"And I was not listening!" Shadowwing hastily interrupted.

"Grr, maybe you should. You might learn something... helpful."

"I do not need help... with that!"

Was-Grounded sat down on his rump and rolled his eyes.

"Rock-head kin..." he muttered.

"Tail chaser..." Shadowwing grumbled.

"Tail catcher!"

"Useless kin..."

"Green-Wings would disagree. And my flock is bigger..."

"You started... flying... before I did!"

Was-Grounded grinned most smugly at that comment before his eyes brightened.

"If you will not tell me about that... then what about the range where you both flew to when you became life-mates? What is that range? You never told me."

Shadowwing glanced back into the cave to make sure none of the other Furies were nearby to overhear.

"This is a big secret, brother. You should not tell your nest about it."

"What? Not tell my nest about it? Green-Wings knows everything about me and my life-flight," he laughed.

"Promise me, brother, on our shared egg that you will not tell anyone."

Was-Grounded stopped laughing at how much weight was behind that choice of words. He grumbled softly for a moment.

"I will tell none of my little ones, but Green-Wings will know all that I know. I made her a life-promise on that."

Shadowwing nodded at that, took a breath, and began.

"We flew far up into the cold ranges and then we found a cave after almost a half moon-cycle. The cave was like the one that we walked down into the dead nest on home-nest-island when we were small fledglings. It was like that cave but very much bigger."

Was-Grounded was evidently still confused.

"The cave goes down into much bigger caves deep under the ground. But these caves have rocks and plants that burn with light. There are waters and ground-prey and fish. It is a hidden world with many ranges."

Was-Grounded then stared blankly without saying anything for several long moments. He even forgot his wings, which then fell to the ground at his side.

"Truth?" he gasped.

"Yes, think about caves big enough to have all this range inside their bellies. That is how big it is. They are all filled with light-making rocks. And there are more caves that touch the big ones."

"What about other kin and two-legs? Are there any in that hidden world?" Was-Grounded warily asked.

"There are some kin in the hidden world, but there were no others in her home-range cave. There are no two-legs in that hidden world."

"Do they know about it?"

"Only Kin-liver. My sire... told me a story many season-cycles ago about a hidden place where all kin come from. He might have been thinking about fire-nest-island or the ice nest though."

Then Was-Grounded looked up at the open sky above and gave a great sigh.

"My dam told me a story about a range that sounds like that one. She said that it is a place of safety where kin could go to hide from all Monster two-legs. I did not know that was truth."

Shadowwing hesitated before he answered that comment.

"I knew that it was truth before I found you in this range."

"How?"

"I flew to an island far up in the cold waters. Kin-liver knew about the place..."

He paused and shook his head slightly.

 _Mimir would not mind me telling him. It is only other humans who he does not want to know about it._

"... where there is a very big cave that goes down into that hidden world. I saw many kin flying in that place."

Was-Grounded carefully got up and started pacing, his swaying tail and swept back ears showing his thoughtfulness.

"Why did you not say this before? We could have flown there to be safer," he eventually asked.

"Why would we need to? All we know are here."

"Only because they follow us. We could take all the kin with us and hide from all fighting."

Shadowwing stepped back and blinked at that.

"I mean all of us together are here. Kin and two-legs as one nest," Shadowwing explained.

"We are not the Alphas of two-legs. That is... Thorvald."

A pair of wary glances at each other followed.

"Brother, are you saying that we should break the nest in two?" Shadowwing faintly growled.

"I think that they are two nests that share a range now, not truly one nest," Was-Grounded answered.

"No! We are one nest! How can you say that!"

They walked together away from the cave for a while without saying anything. Was-Grounded turned away from his brother and looked back toward the cave. He was silent for a long time as something seemed to be building in him.

"You do not know what pain I had from two-legs. Being held thrall for many moon-cycles, kept trapped and made to fight for my life, almost having my life-fire die and become a dim-fire thrall, them trying to force-mate me, having my wing broken, and moon-cycles of walking and hunting alone. And remember that two-legs killed my sire, dam, and nestmates in my other life! I had nothing until I found Green-Wings."

A snarl followed this along with a faint shine from his back.

"But these two-legs would not do that. You know that. We can trust them," Shadowwing exclaimed.

"I trusted your sire!" Was-Grounded shouted.

The shout echoed off the nearby forest. Silence followed. A long silence.

"Two-legs are not part of my life-flight, even if these ones have warmth in their livers for some kin. I do not hate the two-legs here or feel warmth for them other than Kin-liver. She is kin to me. Maybe in a different life-flight I could feel more warmth for them all. Maybe if you had lived as a two-leg the home-nest-island would have been much different, but those life-winds were not flown," Was-Grounded softly snarled.

Shadowwing groaned and looked away.

"Have you forgotten, brother?"

"Forgotten what?" Was-Grounded growled.

"Hiccup..."

Was-Grounded spun on him and stared, his soft growl gradually fading.

"No, I have not forgotten Hiccup. But I think you never knew him."

"What?" Shadowwing weakly warbled in confusion.

"He always had the life-fire of a kin, of a Night Fury. He was never a true two-leg."

"What do you mean?"

Was-Grounded sighed heavily and lay his head on the ground, all his anger seemingly blown away.

"I remember how he would look up at the sky and roar, in his own soft way, when flying. He was always warm to me. He talked to me when no other kin could. He never made me feel trapped. All that he did was to get me off the ground again. I do not think he was a two-leg in his life-fire. He was never one of them!"

"But the two-legs here are like that also. They want to live as one nest, as one flight. They help kin who have hurts, bring food for all, and give care," Shadowwing objected.

"You think too much of them, brother. Hiccup was different from all other two-legs."

"And you think not enough of them, brother. They all learned from Hiccup's life-flight and are trying to be more. Kin are part of life for them all. That is why they are here and not on their old nests."

Another brief silence followed.

"Think about how warm they are to Dawn-Singer and Aurora. The little ones are part of their life and nest not as another kin only, but as life like them," Shadowwing explained.

"I... see the good and warmth in that. But I would rather my little ones live somewhere safe than somewhere where they might become prey."

Shadowwing blinked in dismay and confusion.

"Prey? What?"

"None here in this range would make them prey, true. But a bad flight of two-legs came for the ice nest. How do we know that will not happen again?"

Shadowwing gave his own sigh at that question and started pacing.

"We are far from the ranges that we lived in. We are safe here. And we are kin. We can fight for the range if we must."

Was-Grounded chuckled for the first time in a while at that.

"Would you? Can you fight and kill two-legs if you must?"

Shadowwing looked out over the spinning flights over Haven.

"I could not in the past because my thoughts about myself were too big. I was clutching weak thinking in my liver. Now I understand better. I will fight to defend all in this range, even if I must kill."

Was-Grounded walked over to him and growled warmly with a firm nudge of his shoulder.

"You will be a good fighter when you stop fouling your flight at this," he teased.

"I have never killed a two-leg before and I hope that we will not need to, but I will if any of my own are in life-threat," Shadowwing declared before turning back to his brother.

"Would you truly have the two-legs and the kin fly into different winds, after all that kin and two-legs have done together?"

"If we must to be safe," Was-Grounded confidently answered.

"What if I were a two-leg instead of a kin?" Shadowwing whispered.

Was-Grounded hung his head and refused to speak for a long time. Then he lifted his head, something bringing light to his eyes.

"I would bring you with me when the kin would fly. If Kin-liver can live in the ice nest for two tens of season-cycles, you could live in that hidden world with me."

Shadowwing blinked at the idea and wondered.

 _Would that even be possible? I guess so from what I saw down in the hidden world. An entire tribe though... I do not know._

* * *

The first sign of them was the ships. One at a time they appeared on the far shores down the coast. The first rider to approach one of the ships to investigate recognized the nets and cages onboard and immediately turned their mount for home.

"Trappers!"

The cry went up throughout the Great Hall and echoed through Haven as people gathered in the square and proceeded into the Hall as well.

"What in Thor's name is going on!" Thorvald shouted.

"Trapper ships!" "They're out on the water!" "They want to take our dragons!" "Lemme' at 'em!" "I filed my axe-returns!"

"Easy now, settle down! What did we see?" Thorvald yelled over the din.

Valka came forward.

"They already told me. It looks like there are some trappers in the area now. They probably came here because this is where they can find the most dragons now," she announced.

"Well, we cannot let that happen now!" Thorvald announced to all.

Roaring followed.

"What are we?" he shouted.

"Hungry?" "Thirsty?" "Tired?" "Nords?"

"That's it Ragnar! We are Nords! And we stick together! Anyone who wants to mess with our dragons," he thumped his chest, "is messing with all of us!"

"That's right!" "What're we gonna do?" "No one takes our dragons!" "They can kiss my hairy..."

"We have had peace for a long time, over a year now! But we must defend ourselves and our dragons! We have to fight for their freedom!"

More roaring went up at his words.

"I want patrols always in the sky. Those with the faster dragons and the ones that can stay aloft a long time, the Nadders and Nightmares mostly, will be scouts. Watch for ships. We will start teaching the riders how to free dragons and how to fight. Dragonheart, can you do this for us and teach us what you've been doing?"

She looked around the dozens assembled in the Hall.

"Aye, I have decades of practice doing all that," she answered.

Then she gave a very wide and wild grin.

"And I think I will start teaching everyone how to fly on their own. Wingsuits for all the riders."

The suggestion was met with confusion, wonder, and eagerness, the latter mostly from the younger riders.

"And will you tell the Furies about everything?" Thorvald asked.

"I will," she announced and then left the building.

Gobber approached him moments later after everyone else started to depart.

"Well handled, I'd say."

"I guess we knew that the peace wouldn't last forever," Thorvald muttered.

"Nah, but they're only trappers here fer the coin. Makes sense ta them though. Say Chief, think ya could get me a new apprentice ta work the forge?"

"What? I thought you had Shadowwing taking over for you."

They both chuckled at it.

"He's actually quite handy in there fer fire and hammerin' stuff at least. But uh, he has other duties now with being a dragon Chief and his Light Fury now, ya know," Gobber winked and nudged him in the side.

"I understand that. Sifa changed me so much after the Berserkers and... everything back then," Thorvald sighed.

"We'll get through this. We just have to remember how to use the axe, bow, and whatever we have and get our dragons a bit better prepared for fightin'," Gobber explained.

"Yep, we are Nords. Occupational hazard. Dragons will always be dragons. And wingsuits like Dragonheart... that will be a sight to see."

* * *

Shadowwing heard Valka's words as she stood with them both in his cave.

 _Well, great, I guess this means that the little vacations to other tribes are on hold. Maybe forever._

"Oh, come on, this is not that bad. It's just a few trappers trying to do what they've always done," she replied.

He sighed.

 **I guess I hoped the peace lasted longer**

"Hey, it's not like there is an army out there coming for us. This is no different from what we used to do in the ice nest. Fly patrols, keep a lookout, and put together a rescue mission if anything goes wrong."

 **True, we do know the routine quite well**

Then Luna trotted closer and bent down to write.

 **Trappers bad**

"Yes Luna, there are bad trappers. We are going to stop them," she growled.

Luna purred with a hint of a snarl.

Valka then left to return to Haven shortly after delivering the news.

"Why do thrall-making two-legs take kin?" Luna wondered.

"There are different reasons. The old ones were taking kin for a bad thrall-flight to fight other nests. Others take kin to use them to... make eggs and get more thrall-kin. Others take kin to give them to other two-legs for shiny rocks."

"Why do they want shiny rocks?"

"Because the shiny rocks can be given to other two-legs to get other things that the two-legs want."

She growled.

"Power and control like what great-tusks could do. That is what the shiny rocks are. The two-legs take kin to have more power."

"Yes," he sadly groaned.

Her growl changed into a solemn whine.

"That is the normal way. Wanting power and control over others is how most two-legs are, I think. Even many here in this range."

"What? No!" he exclaimed in alarm.

"The two-legs here do want to do good to their bond-kin, but they need control to do that. They guide their kin's life-flights much. It is not true freedom for the kin."

He entwined his tail with hers as he thought about his reply. He had a long time to think about this exact concern of hers and thought he knew the best way to answer it.

"But you did the same with me," he grinned.

"How do you mean?" she hummed.

"You made yourself less free when you chose me. You say that you will not take another as a mate, and that gives me some guiding of your life-flight. The same is true for me. I say to you that I will not take another as a mate, and you can guide my life-flight. Both become less free, but that is not bad or chilling to us. Nor does it make the other kin less."

She stared deeply into his eyes.

"I have not thought about it before like that," she mumbled.

"That is part of why I hold my good-vision of kin and two-legs as one nest. Yes, the kin must not do some wild things and there are things the two-legs must not do, but both are warmer by being together in their life-flights. More as one and less as two," he explained.

"I will need to think about it..." she grumbled.

He nuzzled her nose and hummed to her.

"While you do I will go let my brother know. The more Alphas we have ready to free thrall-kin the better," he chuckled.

She purred at that.

"And I will go eat more fish," she announced.

"But you had fish already this sun-cycle..." he blinked in surprise.

"And now I want more fish. Is that twisted of me?"

"No, not twisted at all. It is much good and... yes," he hastily answered.

She growled softly and stroked his tail.

"I am very hungry now. I would eat other land-prey and not only fish. A big, fat four-leg. If only I had a hunter who wanted to warm my liver and my belly..." she sighed.

"Who would want to do that?" he teased.

"Maybe Was-Grounded can help provide..."

He pounced and tackled her with his gummy jaws around her neck. They wrestled until he fully pinned her. Then he licked her face until she started gently batting at his nose.

"You! Why would you do that?" she laughed.

"You know why," he hummed and nuzzled her nose.

The warmth in her liver remained after he got off her and turned for the cave-den's mouth. He then bowed his wings and head to her.

"I will fly now and I will bring you a big catch after I talk with the other nest. Anything for my life-mate."

And he was gone.

She remained there on her back, staring up at the top of the cave-den and filling the place with a warm croon.

 _Shadowwing, how are you so warm? What did I do to deserve you?_

* * *

Was-Grounded snarled at the news.

"I knew that there were thrall-making two-legs here on the waters before. There is one of their grounded water-walkers on the rocks near this range."

"I know. Our two-legs took it and are making it new to be a fish-catching water-walker."

"That is good. Still, thrall-makers... grr, I will kill them if they come here to our range."

"Is that much to do, brother? We could burn their water-walkers and maybe show them a better life, if they can listen and see it."

A wary hum and soft growl followed.

"Is this what you tried to fly with the Monster-Alpha again?"

Shadowwing blinked and gave his own growl.

"No, I know that not all can or will change and be warm to us. But more death should not be the first flight to fly."

"And what would you do if you see Luna grounded or thrall on a water-walker? What if one of us, Dawn-Singer or Aurora, are taken?"

A wild fire appeared in Shadowwing's eyes along with a very visible shine on his back.

"Then I will make those Monsters remember why we Night Furies have our name," he calmly declared.

Snort.

"I never doubted that you had the liver and fire of a Night Fury in you," Was-Grounded chuckled.

"Where are the rest of your kin?"

"Dawn-Singer and Aurora are... I do not know where. Probably here in the Haven-nest or with Kin-liver. Green-Wings is flying with Rain-Eater. He is a very strong flier, even more than his older brother and... sister."

"That is good. Dawn-Singer said that he is teaching him picture-writing already. They have much good heads and thinking..." Shadowwing happily sighed.

"And think about what yours will be."

Shadowwing blinked.

"With how twisted- and strong-thinking you are, the sky-breath only knows what your little ones will be."

"We will see when we fly those skies," Shadowwing hummed.

A moment passed with nothing but their warm hums in the air as they looked away from the village and up toward the mountains.

"What do you think they will look like?" Was-Grounded asked.

"What?"

"Will they look more like her or you? White or black? Night Fury or Light Fury?"

Shadowwing only hummed with his tail slowly swaying. Actually, maybe a bit more than slowly.

"I do not know or care. I only want them to be with good bodies and strong thinking."

"Male or female?"

"Brother, stop!"

"Female first, I hope. For Dawn-Singer," Was-Grounded chuckled.

"I cannot decide which they will be..." Shadowwing objected.

"This is what I know. For every little one that I and Green-Wings have, you and Luna must make one also. That way all might find mates," Was-Grounded explained.

"Thank you for saying that..." Shadowwing groaned.

"We should have a life-race," Was-Grounded then toothily grinned.

"A life-race?"

"Who can have more eggs, more little ones. We will fill the skies with Night Furies and Light Furies and be the sires of all in the flock!"

Shadowwing rolled his eyes and groaned again.

 _A flock of Furies indeed..._

Although he also grinned a very toothy smile afterwards.

"That does sound like a good life-race that will warm all our livers much."

"Yes, it will. Fish are good, flying is better, making eggs is best," Was-Grounded added.

A quiet moment passed as they stared at each other. And then they both laughed with abandon with their tails crashing against the ground. They struggled mightily to catch their breath.

"I am starting behind your tail on this flight. You were flying this good life-race before I was," Shadowwing protested.

"You and Luna have much... flying... to do then. We will not fail in our flight and let you catch up!"

Shadowwing only rolled his eyes and huffed at the tease.

 _One at a time now, I still have so much to learn. A flock of Night and Light Furies indeed..._

"I will need you to guide my flight of being a good sire to them. I would not want to foul my flight with them," Shadowwing nervously chuckled.

"No, you would not want that. I would not want that or my little ones would only have life-twisted mates to find."

"Do you think I am that thought-twisted? No, do not answer that..."

"I will tell you what I have learned in being a warm sire. And," he paused and chuckled with a gleam in his eyes, "I can tell you some things that will help you with Luna."

Shadowwing bounded back from him in alarm and dismay.

"What! I do not need help... with her!"

"There are things you do not know about showing your wanting when it is the new-life-season."

"Not a problem!"

"But I know more than you."

"What?" Shadowwing groaned in growing exasperation and with his eyes closed.

He never saw the glint that flashed in his brother's eyes.

"Listen to me. Here is what you must do..." Was-Grounded evenly began.

* * *

The ship continued on along the coast through the night, the people on the vessel completely unaware that they were being followed.

Several shadows drifted high above the ship, waiting for a signal.

Valka shifted on Cloudjumper's back as the other riders and dragons glided nearby.

All they needed was confirmation. It certainly looked like what they suspected it was. It was the correct size, had a large hold, and had large crates. What they could see was not absolutely conclusive since they could not see any captive dragons on it, but it could hardly be anything else.

Then the Night Fury flew up alongside Cloudjumper.

"Well?" she shouted.

Shadowwing reluctantly gave the agreed signal of a soft roar and dive toward the ship.

 _It is go time._

He dove toward the ship without any fear, knowing that this had to be done but hopeful that violence could be avoided. Then the air over the trapper ship was filled with beating wings, punctuated only by Valka being helped down onto the deck with much-practiced ease.

The dozen or so deckhands were quickly sent into a panic as they beheld the swarming dragons over the ship.

"What the..." a large man came out on deck.

"Are you the captain?" Valka shouted from behind her mask.

"What is this?"

"You are dragon trappers. Are you not?"

The cages and ropes spoke clearly enough.

"Why do you care!" the captain roared.

"Because we are dragon riders, and that makes you our enemies."

"We are just doing what we are paid to do. It is just good business."

"Not for the dragons or for us. Here is your choice. Get in your rafts and sail for land. We will take your ship and let you all live. You will never try to trap dragons again. Or you could try to fight and..." she pointed to the night sky with her staff.

The night sky where several burning jaws appeared in the darkness.

Most of the crew began angrily muttering.

"Or we just take you and kill you before we die! Might as well!" the captain shouted.

The Night Fury landed behind her and threw out its wings in display. Its back and maw glowed in the darkness.

"Night Fury!" "Get down!" "Unholy spawn of Hel!"

And all courage departed from all the trappers on deck.

"You were saying?" Valka shouted as she gently patted the Night Fury's neck.

The ship was emptied of trappers minutes later as they were all left adrift on a pair of rafts. Skald and several others of those most accustomed to seamanship then took control of the ship and turned it for home.

Shadowwing remained circling over the ship, gently gliding on the night currents to keep watch while Valka and Cloudjumper led most of the dragons back home.

 _This is not so bad actually. None of the dragons get caught, and no one has to die. Bad luck for the trappers, yes, but they did choose a risky occupation._

 _And we get more ships and all their supplies. Heh, they get to do the work for us. And this could actually be a good way for our hotheads to burn off some steam too._

* * *

He flew home late in the evening after another successful mission late in the summer. The fleet in the harbor had now reached seven ships, interestingly enough all of them having been... acquired from trappers in some way and subsequently re-purposed.

It helped a lot that the mere sight of a Night Fury was usually enough to convince everyone to take the peaceful approach. Even so, the variety of responses was quite amusing.

One captain had basically handed the ship over willingly without even a protest, saying that he had something called 'insurance' on the venture. Another shouted for the crew to abandon ship as soon as they saw the Night Fury, which everyone had done without thinking about how cold the ocean was. The entire crew had to be fished out of the waters by some very confused dragons, else the men would freeze to death. Apparently they thought that a better fate than to face a Night Fury. Finally, another captain had gone quite defiantly, shouting all the while that a very grim and grisly fate awaited them all.

And the warm, late summer winds caressed him as he flew down the range. Then he spied a flash of white somewhere that was not usual. She was sitting on the grassy plain which overlooked the bluff over the ocean. It was one of the higher points on the peninsula outside of the mountains.

He glided in on the breeze and landed smoothly beside her. She was facing out to sea and did not stir except to angle her head slightly in his direction as he walked up alongside her.

"Shadowwing, how was the flight" she hummed.

"We took another water-walker and grounded the flight of thrall-makers. We had no hurts."

"That is warming," she sighed.

Something felt faintly wrong though.

"Luna, are you chilled?"

"Why would I be?" she whispered.

"You feel like you are a little twisted inside."

She was quiet for a while.

"No, I am more warmed than anything else."

While saying this she swung her tail up over his and let it rest there.

"That is good. Is there anything that is making you so warm?"

"Yes, there is," she coyly answered without saying anything more.

"You want me to guess… grr, help guide my flight."

"It is because of something you did."

"Something I did?"

She hummed while continuing to look up at the clouds.

"Something about our cave-den?" he wondered.

"No."

"Something that was liver-warming to you?"

"Very much."

"I do not know. What is it?" he grumbled in confusion.

She slowly turned away from the sea and nuzzled his nose. Her light blue eyes sparkled with warmth.

"I can feel our egg."


	69. III - Responsibilities

_**Author's Note – In which we start to clearly see an inherent tension that is central to someone's character.**_

* * *

 _"Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone - we find it with another." - Thomas Merton - Love and Living_

* * *

Responsibilities

* * *

One day he was going about his regular business of keeping the peace as much as possible, helping haul lumber and construct buildings, aiding in fishing and hunting, teaching the other younger Furies, and occasionally going on exciting missions against the dragon trappers. The evenings were all similar, go flying either on his own or with others, play with those he loved, eat a quick meal, then fall asleep with his beloved at his side and their tails entwined.

Then he learned that he was going to be a father.

It would not be just him and Luna up in the cave anymore. There would be another little person that he helped bring into the world and would also be responsible for. He would need to teach the little one how to talk, not to do their business inside, what to think about humans, how to write, how to fly, everything...

It was such a heavy responsibility which he did not feel at all prepared for.

He and Luna had slipped inside Valka's little house to share the good news with her.

"Well, my dears, how are you two?"

Luna happily trilled and nuzzled his neck to give her answer. Seeing that left Valka with a warm grin that was very commonplace on her face now.

"That is very sweet."

 _Ok, this is go time..._

He turned to Luna and hummed at her. She then stepped over to the table.

 **I have egg in belly**

Valka stared wide-eyed at the words.

"Really? Are you sure?"

Yes, Luna emphatically purred.

Valka chuckled with a very, very wide grin.

"Well, Luna, Shadowwing, wonderful! Well done!"

 _Really mom? Gee, thanks, I guess..._

Sigh.

"Is there anything we can do to help you both?" Valka asked.

He stepped up to the table.

 **A sandbox might help for the egg**

 **Something better than only a pile of sand**

"True, I will see what we can do. That should not be hard though."

Valka left a moment later to share the good news. Shadowwing and Luna then meandered outside toward the nearest fish station to grab some food before the news started spreading. They ate and then winged off to a nearby clearing to rest. He let his worries out with a heavy huff.

"What is nibbling at your tail?" she asked.

"I was thinking much about what this means for me. I still must be the Alpha, protector, and the peacekeeper here, but there are other flights that I want to fly..." he groaned.

"The flying to other two-leg nests?"

"Yes, no other kin can do what I do because of what I know about two-legs. It feels like a loss to all for me not to do good out in the world and make more peace."

She walked around in front of him and then sat down.

"A loss? To who? Who do you think you should fly your life-flight for?"

"To all the ranges in a way. I can and should make the world better for all two-legs and kin."

"No Shadowwing, you should not fly for them all. The ranges of the world are too big for one kin to change, even for you."

He groaned softly.

"But if I do not find a way to fly this, who will?"

She stared up at the sky for a moment.

"Shadowwing, I never told you about my good-sleep-vision I had as a hatchling, did I?"

"No, what was it?"

"It was after my sire took me up to this world-range the first time. I wanted to fly high and tag the moon. But it flies in a different world-range than we do. I could not tag it. My sire taught me that life-lesson long ago even if I had to learn it again. Know what you can fly and what you cannot fly."

He sighed softly.

"That feels like letting your wings fail you. What are we if we do not try to make a better world be? If we do not hope?"

"What are we? A good and warm sire and dam who will nuzzle, teach, and be there for our little ones and each other, that is what we will be. Is that not enough for you?"

"I," he looked out over the village, "it is warming, but it feels like it makes my life smaller."

She blinked and chuckled at his words.

"As I said that two-legs and kin being together makes life smaller?"

He wondered for a moment before he could reply.

"But that needs peace in the mixed-nests first," he offered.

"And peace and warmth starts in every nest that each mated pair makes," she countered.

He softly hummed as he considered her words.

 _I guess that makes sense in a way. That is still such a change though. It feels like the same problem that my own dad had. Two different duties, one to me and the other to the tribe. He didn't do the best job balancing them._

 _I will try my best._

Then he stepped over to her side and put a wing over her back.

"I understand that," he whispered.

* * *

Shadowwing landed and bounded inside the cave. He saw Green-Wings resting peacefully at his brother's side while Rain-Eater rested on his father's head. Dawn-Singer and Aurora were nowhere to be seen.

"Brother, I must talk to you."

"Yes? What about?" Was-Grounded answered.

"First, how is Green-Wings?"

"Heavy, she will drop her egg in a pawful of suns."

Shadowwing then chuckled softly at his brother's words.

"That is why I want to talk to you. Luna can feel an egg now."

Was-Grounded's ears went straight up and his tail started eagerly swaying.

"Liver-truth?"

"Yes."

Then Was-Grounded laughed softly with amusement and warmth in his eyes.

 _Oh, please not..._

"Well flown, brother!"

… _you too..._

"Thank you for teasing me again..."

"Who will if I do not?" Was-Grounded laughed.

Then Shadowwing lay down before him.

"What should I know? Guide my flight. You know more about caring for a mate who is heavy with or sitting an egg."

Was-Grounded hummed softly and nudged his nose.

"You should bring her much fish and hunts because she will not leave the egg except for very short times. Hmm, you should bring her long-tooth-grass also for when she drops the egg."

"Why that?" he blinked.

"It helps her feel warmer and not hurt from dropping the egg. Trust my flight on that. And you should listen to her song of life."

"Song of life?"

Was-Grounded purred very deeply.

"She will sing to the egg. I will say no more than it will warm your liver very much."

Shadowwing blinked as he considered all he had been told.

"Is that all I must do?"

"Yes, she will know what to do with her egg. She will nuzzle, hum, talk, and sing to it. All that you must do is be there for her. And you will also need to sit the egg also and talk to it. You want your little one to know your voice, yes?"

"Yes, I do."

"The more words it hears even within the egg the better for it. The sooner the little one will talk after it hatches, I think. That is what Green-Wings told me."

"And what else after it hatches?"

Was-Grounded chuckled heavily.

"Then you will have no free-flying suns at all."

Shadowwing grimaced and gave a wary hum.

 _Gods, this is very serious. How am I doing to do this now? Being Alphas here is not too bad since we can split the duties, but everything else..._

Sigh.

* * *

Luna flew over to Was-Grounded's and Green-Wings's den. There was something she wanted to talk about, and it was clearly a good time for them both as she knew that her time to drop her egg was nearing. It was a feeling that she had never had before, to know that she was carrying a precious egg inside.

She gently touched down outside the den and announced herself.

"Luna?" Green-Wings answered.

"May I enter your den?"

"Yes, come see the egg!"

She eagerly bounded inside and walked up to the resting female Night Fury at the rear of the den. Green-Wings had a truly liver- and life-warming thing between her forepaws. It was a dark egg with a blue shimmering haze, almost like mist, on its shell.

"Moon-kin!" Rain-Eater struck and attacked her tail.

Her warm purr echoed through the den as she lay next to the kin Night Fury and gently swayed her tail in an attack at Rain-Eater.

"I wanted to talk to you about egg-sitting. You have done this with four eggs now. What should I know? My dam told me much... many season-cycles ago, but you have life-knowing and are here now."

Green-Wings hummed softly and looked down at her egg.

"You know about sitting, singing, and talking. Dropping the egg hurts much unless you have long-tooth-grass. That makes the hurting not hurt. You will know what to do and when is best to drop it."

Then Luna sighed softly and looked into Green-Wings's eyes.

"I know what to do, but I wonder about Shadowwing. He does not have the unlearned-knowing that most kin would know from their sire and dam. And he still thinks much about wanting to go on flights to other two-leg nests, even though we have not flown to any," she grumbled.

"He will change when he sees his egg and his little one. Nothing will be more important to him then," Green-Wings softly purred.

"I hope that is truth," Luna sighed.

* * *

Was-Grounded snuggled closer to the egg, putting the soft of his neck against the precious shell and wrapping his tail tighter around it.

Another healthy egg with a strong hatchling within, there was no doubt at all in his mind.

And he was getting quite practiced at all he was supposed to do at this point.

"My little one..."

"Sire?" Rain-Eater hummed.

"My other little one still in the egg," he clarified.

"Grr," Rain-Eater growled and pounced on his back to begin some backfin gnawing.

Was-Grounded endured the attack and waited patiently for Green-Wings to get back from a quick and necessary departure from the den.

"What a world you will see when you hatch, little one. The winds and skies of life will be warm always. You will never go hungry or fear long-tooth-sticks. You will not need to fly far to find a mate. Your life is here, waiting for you."

He purred to the egg long until he heard wings approaching.

She landed, bounded inside, and ran up to him.

 _And my flight here is flown._

He got up and stood aside as his mate retook her place of privilege and wrapped the egg in her tail. Then he considered her, a question on his mind.

"My mate, what do you think about this range now?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I remember all that you said about two-legs when I found you in your old range. What now? We have both seen how warm the two-legs are to us and to our little ones."

She purred back at his words.

"Yes, they are to Dawn-Singer and Aurora. The young two-legs see them almost as kin of their own. And the other two-legs are warm to their bond-kin. I wonder what will happen to those kin after many season-cycles being two-leg-bonded."

A wary hum followed.

"I would not say the two-legs are kin to me such as Kin-liver, but they are warm to us all," she added.

He nuzzled her nose at that, quite agreeing with much of her thoughts. But there was something else that needed to be brought up to get her thoughts on.

"Shadowwing told me where Luna is from. She was hatched in a hidden world under the ground."

Green-Wings blinked at that and gave a curious warble.

"Yes, it is a world with no two-legs, and the two-leg nests do not know about it."

A moment of silence passed between them as they both saw understanding in the other's eyes.

"You are thinking about if we should nest there instead of here," Green-Wings whispered so that Rain-Eater would not hear.

"I was. We are a part of this twisted range now. I am an Alpha for the kin, and our little ones hold some of the two-legs close to their livers. But we do have a place to fly to if we must. If the danger becomes too much here."

"That is good to know. I will talk with Luna about that world and learn more about it. How many suns now do you think it will be for them before Luna and Shadowwing have their egg?" she wondered.

The question alone brought out a thrum from them both. They had taken to the skies together in the new-life-season well before Shadowwing and Luna had apparently become mates in her distant home-range.

"Any sun now," he answered.

* * *

Shadowwing walked into his cave after the end of another long and trying day.

 _Finally, time for some rest and..._

"I am hungry," she announced.

"But… I just flew back here."

Luna stared at him coolly and then, seeing that he seemed unmoved, grinned gummily.

He groaned and hung his head in total defeat.

"You win that flight. Again. I will fly to get fish for you. Any preferences?"

She thought about it for a moment.

"No."

 _What! Every day it is something different! This fish one day, that fish another, different sizes of fish, different numbers of fish, different colors of fish, different combinations of fish, smoked fish, live fish, plain fish, and grrrr! You change your mind after sending me on my way to get what you wanted first. Now you don't have any preference at all!_

 _Females…_

He very wisely said none of what he was thinking out loud.

"I will get you some fish."

He watched her carefully lay back down on their rock bed before he bounded out the entrance and took flight.

 _Well, any excuse for more flying I guess..._

He spied Was-Grounded, Aurora, and Rain-Eater, now a yearling, off in the distance on a small grassy plain. Dawn-Singer was likely back in Haven and talking to or playing with his friends. Green-Wings was surely back at their home cave and tending to egg number four at the moment. That hatching could happen any day.

They were a happy, growing family.

 _Is that what it will be like for me? I hope so._

Luna had told him that it could happen any day now. He had no reason to question her pronouncement. She certainly looked ready if he was any judge of such matters, which he most definitely was not.

He continued on into town and landed at the nearest filled station. He spent a couple minutes digging through the available selection before finding an adequate couple of fish. Not wanting to lose any more time and risk her frustration, he flew off a moment later and hastened his flight home. Then he landed and bounded inside.

"Luna, I have your fish."

He missed her and looked around for her. She had walked away from their sleeping-rocks and was sitting motionless at the rear of the cave. Back on the nest-box filled with sand. And she had her nose buried in the dragonsbane that he had brought to her over the last few weeks.

 _Wait..._

He dropped the pair of fish and ran over to her.

"Are you well?"

"Shadowwing," she hummed, "the egg is coming."

He completely froze, not knowing what he was supposed to do.

"What should I do?" he whispered.

"Stay with me. I know what to do."

"I will."

He remained at her side, put a wing over her back, and began nuzzling her neck to take her mind off everything as the minutes passed and faint tremors shook her. Though she did not seem terribly disturbed by it so far.

"Does... it hurt?" he whispered.

"It would, but you brought me long-tooth-grass. That helps much, and you brought it without me asking for it," she purred.

Shadowwing softly hummed back to her.

 _Good thing he knew what he was talking about..._

Then the faint trembling that he had felt in her body was gone, and she relaxed against his side.

"Done," she whispered as she stepped away.

They turned around as one and stared. There on the sand and still coated with slime was a perfectly shaped egg. It was mostly black with several streaks of white throughout.

She was the first to move. Very slowly, as if stalking prey, she crept closer to the egg. She lowered her nose to the egg and gently nudged it, carefully rolling it over on the sand once. Apparently satisfied with something, she lay down with her forearms on either side of the egg. She carefully lay the soft of her neck against the top of the egg.

Then she started to sing.

He was completely transfixed by the song. It was completely unlike anything he had ever heard before. The melody was slow and calming without any clear words. But he still felt a burning on his scales and his heart and remembered vivid images in his thoughts.

 _A hidden nest of light wings and play..._

 _Glowing green light and rocks in the dark..._

 _The wide open sky above..._

 _Season-cycles of searching all alone..._

 _Curiosity and a trap..._

 _Darkness, badness, wrongness..._

 _Freedom, healing, and a dark wing filled with warmth..._

 _Warm life-fire, kin-bond two-legs, and safety..._

 _Protection, hereness, life-giving, and hope..._

 _A future waiting for you..._

Then her song ended, leaving only their shared croons in the cave.

"Shadowwing, come here," she whispered.

He stepped toward her, and she lifted her head so that he could better see the egg safely tucked away between her forearms.

"It lives," she hummed.

"I… it is… you are… this is… very warming," he sputtered.

"As well-spoken as always," she teased.

She turned back to the egg and began to lick the slime from its surface. Its white streaks stood out all the more vividly as it was cleaned. Finally, she finished and looked up at him.

"Shadowwing, you have... given me what I thought I never would have."

"It was my... pleasure, I would do it again," he answered slyly.

She chuckled back at him and gave a very great sigh of relief.

"You will many times. I am very warmed that we can make life together."

He stared long at the black and white egg just a couple paces from him. It was just a matter of keeping it warm. That tiny little shell was all that would protect the baby within for about another month. Well, that and both of their efforts. How hard could that be?

The weight of responsibility suddenly felt crushing. What if something bad happened? How would his child take to learning? Would he have a son or a daughter? How much would this impact his life's mission from now on?

"Should we move it now?" he asked.

Valka and a couple of men from down in the village had come up to the cave and built another small sandbox near the main fireplace. The new sandbox was deep enough for the egg to rest in its bed of fine sand and was more than sturdy enough for one of them to lay upon to stay with the egg when they sleep. There were also several rocks that could be regularly heated by the fire and then put in the sand to help warm the resting place.

"Warm the sand first," she instructed.

He did so with a wide, streaming flame on the sand for several seconds. Then the sand felt quite warm to the touch, and he purred in satisfaction.

Even though he had seen Green-Wings do it before with her own eggs and children, his breath still caught when Luna bent down and fit her gummy jaws around the egg. She carried it, carefully set it down in its new sandy nest, and then curled into a tiny ball around the precious egg.

 _Oh gods, what have I gotten myself into now._

* * *

"Yes! Of course I want to see it! Don't tell me anything..." Valka cried aloud in joy.

And she was on his back seconds later as they flew up toward the cave on this warm autumn morning. They landed, and she eagerly hopped off at his side and ran inside with him.

"Luna! Kin-liver wants to see the egg."

Luna lifted her head and hummed softly at Valka. Then she lifted her tailfins from her side and waited as Valka slowly knelt next to the warm sandbox.

"Look at it... the white streaks... so beautiful," Valka giddily chuckled.

Luna warmly hummed at her without moving from her place. Then Valka stepped back and leaned against Shadowwing's side.

"So that is what a Night Fury and Light Fury egg looks like. I wonder what the hatchling will look like."

 **Only one way to find out**

"Wait..." she groaned.

"Is it here yet?" Was-Grounded's voice called from outside the cave.

"Yes!" Shadowwing answered him.

There was a brief moment of silence or surprise. Then a scrambling Night Fury dashed inside the cave at full, eager speed. He ran up to them both and sat down on his rear as he beheld it, plainly visible at Luna's side. His warm croon joined the other two in the cave as he closely inspected it.

"That looks different. None of ours had any white marks on it," he chuckled.

"Green-Wings is not a Light Fury," Luna laughed.

"No, she is not. I am warmed for you both."

He spun around and then nudged his brother in the shoulder.

"Well flown..."

"Did you need to say that?" Shadowwing groaned after rolling his eyes.

"Yes," Was-Grounded toothilly grinned.

* * *

Her warming hum never stopped.

Perfection and goodness.

That was all that the world was now.

Everything went into this one, most important flight.

Warming and singing to the egg and little one within.

Stoking the embers of the life inside.

"You will be something new and special, my first. Here you are, growing and becoming and learning even now."

"Your sire is... very twisting in his thinking and warming in his liver. His great secret though, no, that will not be told. I still think he always had the life-fire of a kin. Two-legs..."

She gave a heavy sigh and breathed on the egg.

"... you have much to learn about them, and you will in this strange and twisted range. But for now..."

She closed her eyes.

"Rest now little one... make not a sound... you will fly above the ground. Small you are now... you will grow and see... how great you will be. Moon of mine... dance and play... all your chills away. Rise and hunt... laugh and sing... then sleep under my wing. Strong and free... you will fly high... with the clouds in the sky."

She was still singing when he returned to the den, walked over to her, put a wing over her back, and lay himself down to stare longingly at the egg along with her.

* * *

Valka sat down between Dawn-Singer and Aurora while Rain-Eater lay on her lap. Was-Grounded and Shadowwing stood next to each other before Green-Wings.

They were all watching it happening.

The egg with an almost shimmer on its shell was very cracked.

"It is a female. I know it!" Aurora hummed.

"How do you know?" Dawn-Singer asked.

"You are a male. You cannot understand."

Dawn-Singer rolled his eyes.

"If Kin-liver was not between us, I would pounce on you now..." Dawn-Singer hissed.

"You would try... and I would foul your flight..." Aurora muttered.

"You are foul, yes. You need a bath," Dawn-Singer answered.

"Brothers..."

"Sisters..."

Shadowwing chuckled deeply at their silliness.

Then the final break happened. A large chunk of shell fell away as a tiny head without any frills emerged. It took a few more moments before the little female fully escaped the shell. Then the completely healthy, sleepy, and well-fed hatchling was snug under a green wing shortly thereafter.

"Another girl, you have a sister now Aurora!" Valka laughed.

 **I needed help against my brothers**

"Oh, do you?"

Aurora smugly purred.

"Do you have a name yet for her?" Shadowwing asked.

Was-Grounded and Green-Wings hummed for a moment.

"Her egg was almost like it was covered in mist. Maybe Mist-Wings?" Was-Grounded proposed.

Green-Wings purred in consent as she bent down to nuzzle her newest hatchling.

"Mist-Wings..." she hummed.

* * *

"Think you could help me heat this up Hic?"

 **Who is that Gob?**

The blacksmith gently flicked a large ear that was within striking distance.

"Oh, come on we don' have forever. And ya don't want ta keep the... light o' yer life waiting on ya ta get back, now do ya?"

 _Fair point I guess..._

He stepped over to the furnace and added his fire to it, an intense blue flame that seemed to be able to hold far longer than should be possible.

"That'll do just fine. Thanks, nothin' quite like dragon fire ta give Gronkle iron that extra special touch."

Then he looked around the forge with a great sigh.

"Alright, out with it... what's wrong?"

 **It is so much Gobber**

 **The new egg, being Alpha, the trappers**

 **And the baby will take so much time**

"Yeah, so? Sounds like what every new dad in the history of eh, ever, goes through."

 **But peacemaking is what I am good at**

 **Even if I know better now**

 **Not everyone can be reasoned with**

Gobber crossed his arms with a frown.

"Ok, what is wrong with doing that here? Being happy with where ya are and protectin' the peace here at Haven. Gods above, there is plenty still ta do here. I mean, just the other day we had the Rumblehorn incident. At least the trappers are not really doin' anythin' and we've been able ta pull back all the patrols a bit."

 **True but**

Gobber put his hand on his shoulder to interrupt him.

"Ya don't owe the whole world yer life. Ya have a beautiful wife... mate, yeah... who is head over tail for ya, a tribe that loves ya, and yer brother and his family are all here with ya, I canno' see what the problem is."

A quiet moment passed between them until Shadowwing sighed heavily.

 **I guess change is hard**

"That it is for sure, but that's life. Ya move on and have different priorities. Every day ya don't change is a day ya dinno' grow. Ya have no idea how much yer father changed after he married Val. So much stupid stuff he stopped doin'. He learn'd what really matter'd."

Gobber sighed and looked around the forge.

"I think I can handle it all from here. Ya should go to yer Luna. Ye've been gone a long time today, and we got through most of the work."

Shadowwing nodded with a sigh.

"Oh, ya might want ta take her some fish, just a hint. I don't think dragons care fer flowers..."

Shadowwing huffed and chuckled softly.

 **I will**

 **Thanks for the advice Gobber**

"Don' mention it. Just get ta it."

Then he spun around and darted out the forge to return home, picking up some fish on the way back.

As usual, she was curled up around where the egg was hidden.

Her head lifted at his arrival, and a warm croon filled the den. He bounded over to her and bent down so she could take the large salmon from his jaws. The fish vanished in one piece. Then he brought up another freshly-eaten fish from his belly and let her eat it as well.

He was rewarded with a neck nuzzling that always filled his heart with warmth. And there was a twinkle in her eyes.

"My mate, how was the working this sun?"

"Long and tiring..."

"You chilled Alpha, I have more work for you now..."

"What?" he groaned.

She got up and bounded away from the sand, leaving the egg sitting there on the warmed sand.

"You sit it."

His eyes went very wide in surprise and alarm.

"Hhhhhow?"

.

.

"By sitting."

He blinked.

She blinked.

"I will relieve myself and fly to warm my liver. Learn by doing!"

And like that, she spun around, gently stroked his head with her tailfins, and was gone.

He turned and stared at the egg sitting there on the sand.

 _Oh gods..._

It seemed to be taunting him even as it remained motionless.

 _Ok, how to do this?_

He carefully hopped up onto the sandbox and lay down with the egg between his forearms. Then he curled his tail and tailfins gently around the precious shell.

Silence followed except for his soft and completely involuntary purring.

 _I might as well..._

Then he slowly bent down and put an ear to the warm eggshell. And he gasped at a very, very faint heartbeat.

 _My little one..._

"This... is... amazing... whatever you will be. You will be my first... son or daughter. I truly do not know these skies that I will fly with you."

Sigh.

"I will show you the world and the winds of life. I will be there for you..."

The egg faintly shifted. It was just slight enough that it was almost not noticeable, but he saw it and felt it in his heart.

* * *

She waited barely outside the den after having returned from her flight. There was nothing more important at the moment than watching her life-mate as he curled around their egg, hummed warmth, presence, and care to it, and whispered words to it.

 _The little one is getting stronger and stretching itself now. Was-Grounded and Green-Wings had Mist-Wings hatch several pawfuls of suns ago. Ours should be soon also._

Then she eventually answered the need to retake her rightful place and bounded inside. He stepped aside and waited as she coiled the egg in her tail. Then he lay down next to her and put a wing over her. They fell asleep together while filling the den with warm, peaceful croons.


	70. III - Shattered Illusions

_**Author's Note – This is a major turning point, as becomes very clear from the first word, and plenty of the 'surrounding world' is introduced indirectly. This chapter might come close to an M for violence.**_

* * *

" _Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself." - Leo Tolstoy – Short Stories_

* * *

Shattered Illusions

* * *

Eret, son of Eret, stood on the bow of the sloop, his muscled arms crossed behind his back, the breeze rustling his hair, and a frown on his face. He was determined and confident despite the danger.

His moment was approaching. The place was perhaps a single day of sailing ahead, and he knew how dangerous this mission was. Everyone had heard the stories. How those cursed Night Furies had ruined his previous business associate and one of the last hopes for people against the dragon menace. How they had done the impossible and probably killed the King dragon that Bludvist used to keep the others peaceful. And they had definitely killed scores of brave men who were only doing what they were paid to do and to provide for their families back home. The dragons killed them with magical fire that burned like the sun.

Or so the stories would have one believe.

Even with his former client now gone though there were other people he knew of throughout the lands who would pay handsomely for a living Night Fury and especially for a baby or an egg. The most significant bounties that he knew of were definitely the ones posted by the leaders of an entire company of specialized dragon hunters and another by a private contractor who had made quite a reputation for himself among certain circles, despite coming across as a bit of an obsessed fanatic in some ways.

There were even whispers of a merger of operations, or a joint venture, between their two organizations.

As for himself, his own skills were completely limited to trapping dragons. There was nothing else that he was good at doing and could do to earn his keep. Plus, trapping was fun. It was a contest of man against nature and of will against instinct. A contest which he was very good at winning because of his superior methods.

He had looked everywhere for leads on where to find his quarry. Eventually, he had heard a rumor in a tavern about a hidden place on the northern mainland which had many dragons roaming freely and several of the black beasts in particular. How this rumor spread was anyone's guess. Most amazingly about the story though was that people who lived there did so without fearing or being bothered by the creatures. Some of them were even apparently do-gooder dragon riders who cared for the beasts!

It seemed one of the absurd rumors that one can hear in a tavern and get drunk laughing over. But he knew far better. Several more days of investigating had yielded the location of the supposed place and they had set sail the same day without telling anyone. Completing this mission would secure the fortunes of himself and all his crew for the rest of their lives.

The plan was quite simple and one that they had been through before with other dragons and with much success.

Not many people in this region of the world took the time to see the obvious like he had. Basic questions never crossed their minds, such as 'why is the plant named the bane of dragons?' He did ask himself those questions and learned what a powerful sedative effect the essence of that plant contained. He had the filled vial down in his quarters, and there was certain to be good fishing in the area.

All he had to do was find the place and land during the night. Everyone native to that place would be asleep, and he would be long gone by morning. And the best part of all was that there was no violence needed at all. No fighting, no weapons, and no blood. It was perfect.

The trading vessel, conspicuously absent any wares for sale were anyone to check, sailed on towards destiny.

* * *

Luna was sitting by the sand nest, the egg clearly visible at her side and under her tailfins. Even now she could feel the strong hatchling-to-be within occasionally rock or shift within the egg to test the egg's shell. It would not be long now.

"You are a very strong one, my little one. Break your shell, stretch your wings, and see the sky with us. And I will be here for you to nuzzle you, hum to you, lick you, feed you, warm you, sing to you, talk to you, play with you, and be your dam... mother."

The egg visibly rocked slightly as she finished speaking.

Then she looked up at her mate's approach and purred deeply to him.

"My love," she greeted him.

"Luna," he replied as he softly nuzzled her neck.

"Everything well down in the two-leg nest?"

"Yes, all is very quiet."

He looked down at their egg as evident pride shone in his eyes.

"Do you think it will hatch soon?" he asked.

"I think so. The little one has been pushing against the shell. I think it could be any sun now."

"I would like to go flying some. I have not flown to warm my liver in a few suns, and I want to while I have a chance," he whispered.

She seemed slightly disappointed at his reason, and her ears drooped. He noticed.

 _Perhaps she also wants to fly but will not leave the egg now._

"I will bring you a big fish when I get back. And I will sit the egg also so that you can fly some before it hatches."

At least that seemed to make her happier.

"Do not fly too far. I will call for you if it starts to hatch," she hummed.

Shadowwing nodded once, turned away, and left his cave. The early evening breeze caressed his wings moments later as he lazily drifted on the currents, completely alone with his thoughts.

Would it be this night? Tomorrow?

There was no way to know, and it was making him more anxious every day. It was an anxiety born of eager anticipation and fear. He had no idea how to actually be a father. Becoming a father was easy and very pleasurable. No, it was the prospect, the impending reality, of becoming a daddy that was truly frightening.

The time while his baby was still in its egg was very peaceful and free of stress compared to what he knew was in his future, as Luna, his brother, Green-Wings, and Valka had fondly assured him several times already. Soon he would have to protect and provide for, play with, and teach his first son or daughter.

His ears drooped slightly as it all weighed on him.

 _What if I make mistakes? My own father certainly made many mistakes. He ignored me in his work being Chief and answering every small problem in the tribe. So much of that could have been left to the people to resolve on their own, but he needed every excuse to be out of the house. And he tried to make me only what he wanted me to be, never what I wanted to be._

The responsibility and loss of freedom also weighed on his mind. How would this change in his life impact his mission? His mission to spread peace and trust throughout the lands. That was his real purpose now.

Would Luna and his baby be able to travel with him around the world? What about Was-Grounded, Green-Wings, and all their children? Would they ever want to join him or would they want to stay here and be separated from him far more?

What did he himself really want? What mattered most to him?

It was all confusing and frustrating.

He landed on the cliff as the sun began to set over the distant horizon. He watched until the sun completely disappeared and all the light was gone. Then he stayed there staring up at the night sky. It almost seemed like it was symbolic of his old life fading into something new, something unknown and hidden in the darkness of night.

Then the stars came out.

This was one thing other than flying that never got old. He could remember looking up at the sky long ago with very different eyes and feeling wonder at the thought of what the little lights might be. The very same wonder that he felt even now. The only idea he could ever come up with was that they had to be similar to the sun, only very far away. No matter how high he flew now, they never seemed to get any closer. On the other hand, there were the ones which seemed to fall from the sky during the night. Those certainly were not like the sun.

And there was also how Luna especially liked looking up at the stars and the moon, from which she had taken her name long ago.

There was still so much about the world to wonder about and doing so made it very easy to lose track of time.

He blinked as he realized that he had been gone far longer than he had planned.

 _Duh duh da, I am dead. She must be waiting for me. I better get the fish I promised her._

He jumped from the cliff, fully intending to fly back to the village and acquire a plump fish for her, when he spied a strange boat pulling up onto the shore.

 _I wonder who they are. We almost never have visitors. Hopefully not trappers, but we haven't seen any of those ships in weeks._

He winged toward the shore and landed a safe distance from the boat. There were four people on the boat, several torches in hand. They were not familiar and were definitely not from Haven.

It looked vaguely like Trader Johann's ship was designed.

 _Perhaps they are merchants._

Regardless, there was a good chance that they were not from nearby and were unlikely to know the truth about dragons. He looked closely at them and did not see any weapons on their persons. At least, there were no large weapons. That was reassuring.

 _It looks safe enough._

He began to walk closer to the four people; his gait calm, his mouth closed, and his wings tucked at his side to look as peaceful as possible.

* * *

"Alright lads, get those torches lit. Those supply bags filled? Got the nets and fish ready. Gotta be ready when we find the dragons!" Eret called.

A chorus of 'ayes' followed as they began to disembark.

They had so far made it without being seen, as far as he was aware. He was sure that this was the right place since they had seen several dots flying above the peninsula from afar. The settlement they had seen near the mountain was also clearly visible in the dim light because of its many torches.

He jumped from the deck and splashed into the water and the soft sand. The place did look beautiful now that he was on shore. A thick underbrush covered the ground beneath tall, rich pines and other evergreens. The mountains toward the horizon rose high above the surrounding landscape and the clearly snow-capped peaks were obscured behind clouds.

He had a job to do and time was wasting.

The four men waded through the surf onto the shore and began to assemble their supplies when they saw a shape moving toward them through the darkness. A large shape.

A couple moments later, he realized that it was a dragon. And not just any dragon.

It was a Night Fury.

 _I can't believe my luck! I already found one!_

Rather, it found them. His other men gasped when they noticed what had found them.

"Steady men, don't do anything to it."

The Night Fury looked over at him as he spoke. He kept his eyes on the creature the entire time.

"Beren, go get the fish. You know what to do."

Beren hopped back on the deck of the ship and disappeared below deck.

He took a moment to consider the Night Fury standing about twenty feet from him. It looked like a male to him from what he could see of its body shape, and, fortunately for him, it clearly was not afraid of humans. It was just standing there and looking at him with its wide-open eyes reflecting the torchlight. As if it was waiting for him to do something.

 _Perfect! This is too easy._

Beren reappeared on the deck a few seconds later, a large cod in his hands. He walked up to him and handed the fish off before nervously backing away. This dragon was a Night Fury after all, and they all knew the stories.

Everyone in all the isles and far along the coastline did.

The dragon saw the fish in his hands and blinked at him with its head slightly tipped to the side. He held the fish out before him and slowly walked toward the dragon.

"Here you go. Here is a nice fish for you."

The Night Fury rumbled at him and began to walk toward him with its mouth conspicuously absent any teeth.

He could not help but quake a bit as the creature approached, even though it had done nothing threatening toward him. It stopped, sat down on its haunches, and stared at him without immediately snatching up the fish or growling at him. This was bizarre.

 _It must be testing me! I cannot show fear._

He stood motionless and forced himself to keep his composure as the dragon seemed to be considering what to do with him. He reassured himself with the knowledge that it was not afraid of him and was unlikely to see him as a threat. It was clearly accustomed to being around humans.

It made its decision with another rumble and bent down to gingerly pick the fish out of his extended hands. It tossed the fish up into the air and ate it in one fluid motion.

He smiled. It would only be a few moments before the poison took effect.

* * *

He was amazed at these complete strangers. They were not terribly afraid of him. Not only that, but they gave him a large fish as a gift.

A juicy cod no less.

All without him showing them that he was different. He did not even have to show them that he could write and understood everything that they were saying.

 _I should thank him. But not how Toothless did for me long ago. That would be funny, and I do not think that they would want to share a bite from..._

He was about to reach out and begin writing in the sand when he felt a sharp pain in his chest. He recoiled away from the man in surprise and waited a few moments to see if anything else would happen.

 _What was that!_

A burning fire seared through his belly and all his limbs twitched in pain not a moment later. His head began pounding and flashes of light began filling his vision while he tried to stifle a roar of pain.

All that came out was a whimper.

 _What!_

 _Wh..._

His vision started fading and everything was a confused blur. The nearby man's outline was warping and twisting. He fell in place as the sand rushed up to meet him.

Thud.

None of his limbs responded to him. He could do nothing but lay there immobile and growing more depleted by the second. He forced his eyes open and thought that he saw the man walking towards him with something in his hands.

 _What… did…_

 _._

… _he…_

.

.

* * *

Eret, restraints in hand, stood over the downed Night Fury. He gave the dragon a soft nudge on its neck with his boot to make sure that it was unconscious. Finally convinced that it was, he turned to his men while grinning wildly.

"Alright lads, it's down. Easy enough. It'll be out for a few hours. Those do-gooder dragon riders did all our work for us. They got the beasts to not fear us. Bring the rest of the ropes for this one and let's get this done."

They brought out the ropes and quickly had the dragon completely bound at the legs and wings. They also wrapped its jaws tightly. They had suffered some bad experiences with dragons getting their jaws loose when no one was watching.

After checking on the bindings one last time, the four trappers left the coast, found a way up the somewhat navigable slope, and walked into the hills. None of them had ever been here before, but they knew the kind of landscape in which dragons liked to nest. It would not be hard to find the den as it would likely be in a cave up against the mountains. Even better was how far this was from the village. No one would have a chance to see them.

Eret smiled to himself and was impressed with how easily this plan of his worked.

 _Why has no one else thought to deal with them this way? This is why I get paid the most and lose the least people. No point for senseless death after all._

He held his torch highly and proudly as he led his men up into the forest.

* * *

Luna nuzzled her egg once more, got to her feet, and wandered back to the mouth of the cave. She smelled the crisp air and heard the calls of various creatures of the night. It was a very dark night because of how the moon was now obscured by cloud cover, but she had no difficulty seeing clearly. She stood there for a while, silently enjoying the peace while also wondering where her mate had wandered off to.

 _I wonder where he has gone. He shouldn't be gone for this long to only fly and grab a fish for me._

She left the entrance to the cave and walked back to the nest. She snuggled up around her egg and was tempted to fall back asleep. She almost did except for the occasional wobble by the egg and the fact that he was not there. Some feeling in her liver told her that the egg was nearing its time to hatch and then…

It was something that she had once never thought that she would have. A tiny hatchling of her own with a mate who was devoted to both her and their little one. And not just this one hatchling but many more in the seasons to come. The thought of all she had was always enough to make her purr in delight and feel a warmth in her liver.

 _He truly should be here when his first little one hatches. But if he is not, I will be here for my little one and to give it a first fish meal._

She could hear a scuffling sound outside.

"What took so long?"

There was no response.

"Shadowwing?"

.

"Was-Grounded?"

.

Nothing answered.

Instead, she saw the light from several torches and heard the patter of feet. Two-leg feet.

 _Why would they come here now?_

Something about this felt bad-wrong, and she curled around the egg a bit more closely with a faint grumble.

Four two-legs walked into the cave and immediately set their eyes on her. The air gradually carried their scents to her. There was something about their smell that was familiar, but she could not quite place it.

They began talking to each other, and she was able to recognize a few words, such as Night Fury, she, beautiful, and fish.

She glared at them while slightly showing her teeth and spreading her wings in warning. They were strange two-legs with an unknown purpose and that made them possibly dangerous. Not to mention they were in her den without being invited.

Then the flight-Alpha approached her with a large fish in its paws. He was clearly offering her a fish gift. A peace gift. The good two-legs on their range frequently gave her, Shadowwing, Was-Grounded, Green-Wings, and the little ones fish gifts.

Something still felt wrong about this. This one did not approach with any deference or head slightly inclined in respect. She also did not recognize him. He and his flight had walked into her cave in the night without even announcing themselves before doing so. Their smell was also not the same as the other two-legs she knew. She looked away from the flight-Alpha of the group and glanced at the other three. None of them seemed to have any hurting-things, but they had moved uncomfortably closer to her on each side. They were all staring at her, or more specifically, at where she was sitting.

Even with her limited knowledge of their expressions, she clearly saw it in their eyes.

Greed and wanting.

The smell. She finally recognized it. The faint mix of musk, sweat, fish, and many different kin.

They were kin-thrall-makers.

She fully bared her teeth and wrapped her tail more tightly around her egg while hissing outright at the Monsters. She was not going to eat the fish that they brought. She would never trust them or anything that they would offer.

And they would die if they stayed here or threatened her or her egg.

* * *

They stared in open amazement.

The Night Fury was a glorious specimen, even aside from its impossible white color that almost sparkled in the torchlight. His years of experience made him certain that this one was female from its body shape and the way it seemed to be protecting something.

Eret turned to his comrades with a smile.

"Lads, we found the other Night Fury. Isn't she beautiful, never thought they could be that color, eh? Give me the fish and let's get what we're here for, boys."

He was handed the specially prepared fish and knew that this was his time to shine.

"Are you sure about this boss? You don't have a weapon," Beren pointed out.

"Exactly, you saw how the other one was subdued. We just do the same here."

"Yeah, but I don't like how this one is looking at us."

It was true. This female had her upper lip lifted in what was almost a snarl and its eyes were narrowed as it glared at them. The light from the torches gave its eyes a demonic tinge and there was a faint rumbling in the cave.

 _Of course it would be more suspicious of us here in its cave._

"Uh, boss. What is with all the stuff?"

There was certainly a strange amount of things in the cave. Packs, scrolls, boxes, and other oddments.

"Must be one of the rider's dens. Maybe their Chief or something. Doesn't matter though. Watch and learn boys."

He held the fish out on his open palms and began walking toward the dragon. Its only reaction was to open its eyes slightly more and continue looking intently at him. It softly growled when he was a few paces from it. He stopped and lifted his hands in front of him.

"Here you go girl, take the fish."

The white Fury stared at him for several moments of consideration and then sniffed at the air. He saw its eyes narrow at him as it gave a deep snarl and bared its teeth openly.

He took a step back in surprise at the dragon's untrusting reaction.

 _I don't get it, why didn't it eat the fish? What is so different about it?_

As far as he knew, there was no way for a dragon to know about the poison. He hadn't done anything differently from how he had handled the male.

"Ok lads," he whispered, "we gotta do this directly. Remember to go for the head."

"Got it boss."

He waved the fish around again to distract the dragon for the moment his men needed to act. It turned back to snarl at him again.

The men yelled and charged as one on all sides.

* * *

In any other situation, she could have easily repelled them. She could have readied her fire to dispatch the two on her left, whipped the one on her right with her tail, and pounced on the Alpha in front of her. But she could not do any of these.

She could not move away from her egg. She could not roll and struggle without possibly crushing it.

The first one which jumped on her neck had pulled a bit of false-vines out from somewhere. It tried to fasten the loop around her jaws, but was not able to do anything because she threw back her head and sent him flying into a wall. She snarled at the others and dared them to approach.

There was a brief pause as no one moved. Then she heard the beast that she had tossed crawling around her side toward her tail. She swung around, fully intending to maul the beast who dared to threaten her egg.

The next thing she knew was that the other three had jumped on her neck and were holding her down with their weight. The Alpha was roaring commands to his flight-mates but she could barely distinguish his voice over the yelling.

All she knew was pure anger and dreadful fear. Being held down by thrall-making two-legs many season-cycles ago. Fighting and resisting them then and now.

She rolled to the side, crushing one of their legs with a satisfying snap followed by a howl of pain. And something heavy slammed into her head, filling her sight with bright flashes of light and sending her to the ground with a ringing in her head. One of the weights on her head removed itself and was replaced a moment later.

There was a distinct yell of triumph audible over the other noises of command.

Her vision cleared enough for her to see the flight Alpha running toward the cave entrance. It held something dark and rounded in its hands.

 _No!_

That monster was going to take her little one away from her!

 _Never!_

She inhaled deeply despite the weight on her neck, pushed off with her hind legs while tucking in her wings, and rolled over in place. The wind was completely knocked from the beasts she fell on and bones snapped as her entire weight crashed down on them. The remaining one yelled, drew a thin-tooth weapon from somewhere, and lunged at her, intending to drive it into the soft of her exposed throat. A quick lunge to the side let her dodge having the weapon sink into her throat, but it did bite her and spill life-water.

That small bite into her neck did not hurt nearly as deeply as the buried memories it brought to life. Badness and wrongness, hidden and forgotten under her thoughts until now, that reached cold claws up into her liver and shattered illusions of her own strength.

Being restrained by ropes and the trap. The scratches from claws on her side. The remembered grunting from above her and the weight on her belly. And the comforting lies from her own thinking which she had believed. The twisted reality known in all its pain.

She screamed in pain and rage and flared her right wing at the beast, sweeping it off its feet. It took only a moment for her to tear the false-vines and mouth-closing thing from her jaws. She grabbed the beast around its torso with her sinking teeth and crushing strength, closed her eyes against its clawing fingers, and hurled it into the nearby cave wall.

The beast screamed for the fraction of a moment it was in flight and hit the rock wall face-first with a snap. The body fell to the ground completely motionless. She turned to the other two, both cowering on the ground with their different wounds. The first of them growled in defiance in its own way and reached for a thin-tooth weapon. Red was all she saw.

She leapt on it, crushing its chest further and carving it up with her claws, tearing away belly-bones and inside parts, until it went still with its front completely torn open. Her wrathful fire burst forth and consumed the other Monster in a flash of white, leaving only charred meat and bone behind. Then she spun around and bounded from the cave to chase after the flight-Alpha with death burning in her liver and life-water dripping from her claws and teeth.

* * *

Eret had turned around the instant he heard the first piercing scream behind him.

 _They had it controlled! What did they do wrong? Inexperienced!_

He could see the dragon seize Beren in its jaws and hurl him out of sight. Screaming followed, and then a bright flash came from within the cave moments later.

There would have never been any confrontation if this had gone according to plan. The beast would never have known the egg was missing until he was long gone. There had been no reason for him to doubt that he would be successful so he had not brought a weapon.

The way that the blue eyes, burning with dark fire, fixed on him and the gleaming teeth were bared was enough to instill complete terror in almost anything. He could see his own death reflected in the hateful eyes.

 _Oh gods..._

He ran, still holding the heavy egg against his chest. Maybe he could lose the female if he could make it to the dense forest. But that was too far away. There was no other choice.

Or was there?

 _It wants the egg..._

He bent to the ground, quickly set the egg down on the grass, and ran as fast as he could, hoping and praying to whatever gods had looked out for him so far in life that the beast would stop and take back what it wanted.

And he flew like the wind as he ran for his life.

* * *

She glared coldly into the night, seeing nothing and feeling nothing, as she bounded after it.

The Monster bent down to the ground for a moment. Then it resumed running far faster than it had before.

 _No mercy!_

 _Death!_

 _I will tear off your head!_

 _Rip you apart and eat your..._

She pulled up, scrambled to a stop, and stared at the dark thing on the grassy ground in her path.

Her egg, whole, unharmed, and wildly rocking.

The Monster left behind the egg. Chase the Monster in wrath or turn away and take back her egg?

Her pained roar at the Monster sent the night birds flapping away wildly. Complete silence was all that followed.

She bent down, closed her maw around the egg, and gently lifted it from the ground. Much of the wrongness and badness with the world faded as she protectively held the safe, unharmed, and hatching egg. Her breaths slowed and thinking became clearer again.

 _I cannot go back to the den. Not now. There might be more of the Monsters._

Then she took to the skies and turned for another cave where there was certain to be safety in numbers. But the pain and chill around her liver was still great.

 _Where are you? Why were you not here?_

 _What did we do to you two-legs? You Monsters..._

The cut in her neck stung as she flew alone. The near death and taking of her little one in its egg cut very deeply. Old memories were brought up again, never to be forgotten. Old fears long forgotten were remembered.

 _'Filled with danger... danger... danger...'_

* * *

Was-Grounded's head immediately shot up in alarm. He had heard… something, but it did not sound like it could be. It sounded like a roar of anger from a...

A glance at Green-Wings and their three eldest, all piled together in a tangled heap, and the hatchling under her tailfins at her chest showed that they were all still soundly sleeping. All was good with his world.

He yawned widely, got to his feet, padded over to the entrance to his cave-den, and stared out over the night landscape while stretching his legs and wings. The bright moon lit up the range in pale light on this cloudless night. He gave a sigh of contentment as how peaceful everything was. There were no sounds other than the occasional wingbeat of a bird and the small bugs of the forest. Life was peaceful now also.

 _I am imagining things. Maybe it was only a bad sleep-vision._

Then he turned to walk back to Green-Wings's side and took a moment to stare at his life-mate, his warm croon filling the den, and appreciate how beautiful she was. That she wanted to become his mate all those cycles in the past was not surprising since none of them had seen any others of their kind, the rot-livered empty-head one that he and she had killed together did not count.

But that she had come to think of him as not just a mate but as her life-mate and as a kin who she knew would always fly the winds of life with her was a constant reminder to him that the sky-breath had favored him and guided his flight through a fateful meeting.

There was no way to know how different life would have been if events had flown differently. If he had not been hatched new with free flight, if he had not been made a thrall, escaped, wandered the wild, and learned about the possibility of making the long flight toward the hatching sun, he would never have found her. All these dear and liver-warming little ones would never have been.

He was about to recline at her side again when he heard the very surprising sound of approaching wings. He turned and bounded over to the den's mouth.

 _What? No one flies here at night._

And he saw the sparkling white of Luna's wings as she heavily landed outside his den. He jumped to his feet and ran over to her. She was breathing wildly and blue eyes shone with fear. There was also a strange smell near her. Much two-leg life-water was spilled on her and tainted her white scales and hide.

 _Luna, what happened to you?_

She bounded straight up to him, and that was when he saw the egg in her mouth. A dam would not move her egg from the nest unless there was great danger.

"Luna, come in my den," he whispered and turned back for the den as she followed closely behind him.

He led her to the rear of the den where the egg-sitting and hatching-sand was kept.

"Put the egg here."

She did and then curled protectively around it with it hidden under a wing. Several wingbeats of her soft whining followed before she recovered herself and spoke softly.

"Was-Grounded, do you know where Shadowwing is?"

"No, I was going to ask you. What… what happened to you?"

She exhaled deeply and then looked up at him. He recoiled when he finally saw the drying life-water around the cut in her neck. That needed to be tended.

"May I lick the hurt, Luna?"

"Please..."

She extended her neck and let him lick the cut clean. She sighed softly with relief as he licked it and the soothing cooled the sting.

"My thanks, Was-Grounded."

Her normally soft voice was filled with death when she then answered his earlier question.

"Thrall-making two-leg Monsters walked into my cave-den."

He snarled softly.

"They attacked and held me down. Their flight-Alpha took my egg. I killed the flight and chased the flight-Alpha. And… it left the egg on the ground so that I would not chase it. The Monster ran into the trees."

She went silent for a moment.

"I thought there might be more Monsters, more two-legs here. Would you find Shadowwing? He was out of the den when the attack happened, and I do not know where he is," she moaned.

"Yes, I will," he answered.

He paused the moment he saw her begin to unfurl her curled wing and tailfins and lift them away from her side.

The egg was visibly rocking on the sand and had a large crack down its side.

He quickly made up his mind about what he had to do and nuzzled Green-Wings's neck. She rumbled in pleasure at his touch and opened a single eye.

"Green-Wings, wake up," he urged her as quietly but firmly as he could without waking up the rest of the den.

"What is it, my life-mate?" she whispered.

"Luna is with us. Something bad has happened."

Green-Wings was instantly fully awake and craned her neck to look at them both.

"What happened?"

"She was attacked by two-leg kin-thrall-makers who tried to take the egg."

Green-Wings glanced back at Luna, and then looked out toward the cave-den's mouth with a suspicious growl.

"Shadowwing is missing, and I will find him. I told Luna that she can stay with us to be safe while her egg is hatching."

Green-Wings hummed in agreement.

"Yes, go find him, but fly with care. I will stay awake with her."

She moved over to Luna's side. Was-Grounded threw one last glance back to where Luna was gently nosing the egg, and then he walked outside the den, spread his wings, and took to the sky.

* * *

Looking back over his tail, it was clear where Shadowwing would be found. He had been soaring around Shadowwing's cave and looking for any sign of him when he finally realized the obvious. The dead two-legs had not been kin-friends and could not have been from this range. They had probably come by water-walker.

He immediately winged toward the ocean and quickly noticed a beached water-walker that was completely out of place by the shore. And a dark, motionless lump lay on the sandy beach nearby the water-walker.

The liver-chilling fear filled him at the possibility that Shadowwing may be dead. It was the worst thing he could imagine, short of one of his own little ones being killed.

They were brothers. They had survived so much danger together for the end to come because of a cold-livered attack at night.

"Shadowwing!"

He landed heavily on the beach in his haste and bounded over to Shadowwing's side. The first thing he saw, that Shadowwing was breathing and did not seem to be wounded, made him cry out in relief that his brother was only deeply asleep.

Then he noticed the ropes. His brother was completely restrained; his wings tied down against his side, his legs tied together, and ropes looped around his jaws.

He seethed and growled in anger as the thrall-maker's flight seemed clearer. Taking the egg, that was obvious, but they also seemed to want something with Shadowwing from how thoroughly he was restrained.

 _Thrall-makers…_

Luna's words echoed in his memory.

He took several deep breaths to calm himself. Then he walked over to Shadowwing's side and sliced the restraining ropes with a single extended claw. Then he walked around in front of Shadowwing and sat down while facing him. He raised a forepaw and nudged his brother in the shoulder.

"Shadowwing," he said gently.

Shadowwing stirred briefly but did not awaken.

He shoved a bit harder and huffed directly into Shadowwing's face.

Shadowwing groaned and weakly raised a paw to shove the offending weight away. When it did not move, he growled in annoyance and opened his eyes. He blinked once, twice, three times before appearing to recognize who was standing before him.

"Ttloooolehth. Braughthrr..."

"I am here," Was-Grounded hummed and nuzzled Shadowwing's muzzle.

"My 'ead urttss..."

Shadowwing groaned deeply while saying this and began stretching his limbs.

"What happened?" Was-Grounded asked.

Shadowwing, a slightly pained and tired look in his eyes as he slowly recovered his wits, slowly looked back up at his brother.

"I was out on a flight... after the sun went down. I saw a strange water-walker here on the sand... so I wanted to show them that we are not bad. They did not seem scared of me and they even gave me a fish... I ate it to show them that I am a friend... Then I... I remember that my head and belly hurt and I felt like I was falling."

Shadowwing then looked down at his sides, noticed the ropes, and froze.

"Why are there ropes?"

Was-Grounded suspected that since Shadowwing did not look up he already knew the answer.

"They were thrall-makers."

Shadowwing groaned once and collapsed back to the ground, clearly deep in thought.

"They must have done something to the fish to make me get sick and fall asleep. But why? What did they want?"

His eyes narrowed and quickly looked up.

"Where are they? Is Luna in danger?"

Was-Grounded shook his head.

"No, she is not in danger now. She killed most of them. Only the flight-Alpha escaped into the trees."

Shadowwing recoiled in shock and stared off into the distance.

"They attacked her with little-teeth and ropes. And they…" Was-Grounded paused.

His voice trailed off as he did not want to have to tell Shadowwing what had happened.

"What," Shadowwing's voice took on a desperate bite, "what did they do? Tell me!"

"They tried to take the egg. She killed them and got the egg back. They are both at my cave now because there might be more thrall-makers. The egg is hatching now."

Shadowwing was immediately on his feet, though they were heavily trembling.

"My egg is hatching? My little one..." Shadowwing groaned.

Was-Grounded spread his wings and stepped back from Shadowwing.

"Do you think you can fly?"

Shadowwing stretched and flexed his wings several times before nodding.

They were both aloft a moment later, leaving Shadowwing to his confused thoughts.

 _They attacked her... She killed them and saved the egg._

 _I was not there to protect them. I already failed them._

It was shameful. The first thing he was supposed to do as a father, simply be there, he had failed at doing. And he had apparently almost gotten them both killed.

Neither of them said anything to each other on the fast flight. They alighted on the cave entrance. Was-Grounded folded his wings and eagerly bounded inside the cave. Shadowwing hesitantly followed with an odd mix of apprehension and excitement.

"Green-Wings! Luna! I found him. He is safe!"

"Where is he?" Green-Wings called back. She appeared in front of them and ran up to nuzzle Was-Grounded's neck. Dawn-Singer, Aurora, and Rain-Eater followed their mother to the front of the cave while the newest hatchling, little Mist-Wings, sleepily perched on her back.

"What is the problem? Why is Luna here?" Dawn-Singer rumbled.

Green-Wings almost answered but instead turned to Shadowwing.

"Shadowwing, you should... go to Luna. She wants to see you. And young ones, we will go with your sire out of the den."

He nodded softly as Dawn-Singer, Aurora, and Rain-Eater followed Green-Wings to Was-Grounded's side outside the den. Then he crept inside the cave and saw her.

Luna lay curled into a small ball at the rear of the den with her head tucked under a wing.

 _What must she think of me? Does she hate me for not being there?_

He sighed and growled at himself.

 _She should. I definitely deserve it. I really messed this up…_

She tensed at hearing his approach and lifted her head to look at him.

He cried out and moaned when he saw both the thin slice in her neck and the drying blood on her neck and chest. Shame and guilt wracked him anew.

"Luna, are you...?"

She briefly hummed.

"It does not hurt much now. Was-Grounded licked it for me," she whispered.

That was not good enough for him though. He hopped over next to her and began to lick the cut clean himself.

"Thank you," she mumbled in appreciation.

"The egg? Where is it?"

She said nothing and glanced to the side toward the cave's wall where the shattered remains of a dark egg lay. In the same moment she lifted first her wing from her side and secondly her curled tailfins.

And he whined softly at what he saw.

The hatchling was pure black, had very smooth scales, and had a head that looked a little big for the rest of his body at the moment. He also looked slightly different from a pure Night Fury. He had what looked like slightly smaller frills on his head, perhaps shorter and more rounded wings at their tips, only one short and narrow fin-ridge down his back, and a lengthier tail than any of the other hatchlings he had seen. He was dozing peacefully, his tiny chest rising and falling, his head on his forearms, and his eyes motionless under his eyelids. The unfinished remains of a fish from Luna's belly were next to him.

His son.

"Oh son, I am... so sorry," he finally whispered after staring for a long time.

Luna recovered the baby with her tailfins and replaced her wing to keep him warm.

"Shadowwing, what happened to you? Why were you not there?" she whispered.

Shame. Betrayal. Anger.

They all seemed jumbled in his mind.

"I… they tricked me."

"What? What do you mean they tricked you?"

"They… tied me up with ropes and made me go to sleep. Was-Grounded had to wake me up and cut me free."

She stared at him. Something seemed lacking about his explanation though, and she grumbled in confusion.

"I do not understand. How did they make you go to sleep or tie you up?"

He was caught. What could he possibly say that wouldn't stress his mistake? What exactly was his mistake though? It was bad luck only.

"I saw a new water-walker, and I went to see who it was. There were four two-legs there, but they did not seem afraid of me. I wanted to show them that I am not a Monster... and I ate the fish that they gave me... then I got sick and fell into sleep."

Her breath caught for a moment when she remembered that she had been offered a fish as well. If she had eaten it, if she had trusted the two-legs or had not recognized their smell, the same thing would undoubtedly have happened to her.

And the thrall-makers would probably be long gone, escaping with an egg about to hatch. With her egg and little one.

"And they made the fish rotted so that you would get sick. You ate a fish that thrall-makers gave you…"

He winced as he could clearly hear the scorn in her voice. It was not something he was used to hearing.

"I did not know. They seemed warm."

She actually snarled at him.

"But you trusted them! They gave me a fish, and I did not eat it. What did they do to get your trust? How did they show you that they deserve any warmth or trust?"

He remained silent.

"Or, maybe you gave them your trust because you wanted them to be… kin-bonded. Because you still think you can change all of them and are a world-changer!"

"But I... I can talk to the two-legs, I can show them that we are not Monsters..." he whined.

She recoiled and leaned away from him.

"Shadowwing, you can talk to one who does not want to listen and they will not hear you!"

He closed his mouth in alarm and said nothing into the brief silence that followed.

"Shadowwing, what do you want?" she whispered.

That was not a question he had been expecting.

"What do you mean?"

"Why are you on your flight to change all the ranges and nests? You are not a two-leg, and you owe those Monsters nothing!"

Why was he? He had been devoted to this cause for years. He had changed the minds of many different tribes on the mainland. Even before the terrible tragedy at the ice nest that had shattered so much of the peace, what had been then was proof then that peace was possible between the humans and dragons.

"That is who I am."

"No!" she yelled, "that is not a reason! Those words are empty!"

She closed her eyes, seemingly in pain, and looked away from him. She said nothing for a long time until the flood burst.

"When you and your brother got me off the thrall-island season-cycles ago, I told myself that I would never have or want a mate. I thought I was too hurt. I changed since then. I am not who I was then and neither are you! You are not only Shadowwing, the twisted kin who once was a two-leg in a past-not-now-life and who wants peace and bonding between two-legs and kin. You promised to be my life-mate and you have a little one now! What are you going to do with us? Do you think that we will fly to all the ranges of the world and put ourselves within snap of the two-leg-Monster's trap with you on your... flight to others? Will you risk us so you can flame your own liver and be a... savior and range-changer! Are all of us nothing to you!"

She stopped and gasped for breath between her snarls.

"Two times now you have not been there to protect those you say you care for! All because of this one flight you want to fly! I will protect my little one, even from you... if I must!"

Silence fell.

He stood completely still, pierced to his heart by her fierce words and bared teeth. They cut directly to the core of who he was and what he stood for.

"What are we to you, Shadowwing?" she eventually whispered.

A savior and world-changer because of his special situation…

Prideful and stubbornly trusting his own way even now...

An always present need to feel affirmed by others...

To not be useless to the wide world around him...

To make up for years of being useless to the tribe before...

He had told himself that he had a duty to the rest of the world to make it a better place for everyone. A duty to the rest of the world imposed on him because of his unique circumstances.

He had chosen to have a duty to Luna, their future children, his brother, and everyone else here at Haven.

 _'What are we to you, Shadowwing?'_

"You are the wind in my sky... you are everything..." he gasped.

She blinked as he slowly walked forward, keeping his eyes on the place where his son was hidden. He submissively crouched down on his belly, and she slowly removed her wings and tail again. The sleeping hatchling had awoken somewhere during their argument but had remained frozen and silent the whole time.

And he stared into deep emerald eyes that blinked rapidly at him.

He almost touched his hatchling with his nose but settled for breathing in his scent. There was not much there to smell yet, only a bit of dirt, fish, and something between himself and Luna. It still filled his heart and limbs with warmth and protectiveness.

The hatchling looked up at the giant head so near to it, blinked, and bunched its head up near its shoulders in suspicion. A soft purr escaped his throat, and his son immediately reacted by perking up and getting to his feet. His son raised a tiny forearm and began playfully batting at his nose.

He completely broke.

She did not need to ask what he had realized or decided. She rumbled softly in profound relief and let him get acquainted with his little one for as long as they needed.

As he looked down on and nuzzled his newly hatched son, he could not help but feel afraid. This was a little person whom he would be responsible for, now and long into the future. He would have to show him how wonderful life was, teach him how to fly, talk, and write, and be his daddy. And protect him and her both from dangers.

He would not repeat the mistakes of his own father, the foremost one being abandoning himself to work and missions and therefore neglecting and being blind to the needs of his own.

It was necessary to move on and let go, even if that meant turning his tail on things and missions that had previously seemed important. There was something more important in his life now.

He froze when she warmly nuzzled his neck and purred into his ear.

"What are we going to call him? His name?" she softly rumbled.

He finally tore his eyes away from the baby who was already yawning and preparing to go back to sleep.

What should they name him? He definitely had no plan to follow the Norse naming convention of bestowing a hideous name to be finally shed upon reaching adulthood.

It should be something short and simple. Something befitting a Fury. Beautiful and a little mysterious. But it should also have meaning to her.

He watched as his son curled his tiny body up into a ball and rested against her side.

"Moon-Dancer?"

"Why that?" she warmly hummed.

"You are warmed by seeing the moon. And we might have... made him in our sky dance in the moonlight."

She thought for a moment before crooning in satisfaction.

"That is a good name. He is Moon-Dancer."

And he stepped over before her and hung his head.

"Luna, you were... I… am sorry... very sorry."

She softly nuzzled his forehead.

"I know, Shadowwing. You will not fail us again. I trust you. This would not have happened if we were somewhere safer though," she whispered.

He looked up at her and noticed that something seemed different in her eyes. There was a wariness or distance in them that had not been there before.

"What do you mean?" he weakly asked.

She almost answered before she paused.

"We talk next sun. We should sleep now."

As one, they both looked at the already sound asleep Moon-Dancer. They stared for several minutes before he excused himself to tell Was-Grounded that it was safe to bring their entire family back in. There had been a bit of roaring and yelling after all. The adults, after briefly conferring, agreed that it would be safest for all of them to remain together until the village could be informed about what had happened. Then Was-Grounded and Green-Wings stepped over to Luna with a wordless question.

She lifted her wing and let them bend down and sniff Moon-Dancer. Was-Grounded's warm croon joined the others an instant later.

"He looks like both of you. Both Night Fury and Light Fury. What is his name?" Was-Grounded softly asked.

Shadowwing answered, much to Was-Grounded's and Green-Wings's approval.

"No more twisted-naming from you now. Good. You both sleep. I will stay awake and guard us all," Was-Grounded whispered.

In a few short moments, all of the Furies were curled up together in the same cave to get what rest they could. Shadowwing was tucked tightly between Luna on his left with Moon-Dancer between both of them and his watchful brother on his right. The other children were in their usual tangled heap on and around their father and mother with tiny Mist-Wings at her mother's side.

Everyone would find out about the attack, the dead bodies would be disposed of, the leader who had fled might be caught, and life would go on tomorrow.

But Shadowwing knew that he would never be the same again. What had seemed important before now was not anymore. Family came first, and he could not be blind. That final vestige of stubborn trust in his own way had been burned away by the thought that Luna and his own child could have died because of his own blindness and mission of spreading peace.

The thought of humans from distant tribes now filled him with suspicion and fear instead of hope. Someone from beyond, someone whom neither he nor Luna had ever harmed, had reached out and almost plunged a knife into everything he loved. Someone had almost cut out his own heart in a way.

One thought, one thing that Luna had said, kept disturbing him as he gradually drifted off to sleep.

 _'This would not have happened if we were somewhere safer...'_

* * *

 _ **Author's Note – That could have ended far more tragically. Congrats to guest reviewer Ryavrel for indirectly predicting that Hiccup might still make a mistake because of his mission of peace (being too loose with giving of trust).**_


	71. III - Paradigm Shifts

_**Author's Note – And now we will get to see the fallout from the last chapter.**_ _ **Also, most chapters from now on will average closer to the 6,000 wordcount, so they will be a bit easier to get through.  
**_

* * *

 _" _Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom." -_ Viktor E. Frankl – Prisoners of Our Thoughts_

* * *

Paradigm Shifts

* * *

Valka woke up before dawn as was normal for her now. However, this time she did not arise on her own. Instead, she was woken up by a familiar heavy beating on the door.

 _Why would he be up this early?_

She threw on a nightgown and opened the door to meet him.

Having lived among dragons for well over twenty years, she was an excellent judge of their feelings. It was even easier for the more expressive of dragons, the Night Fury being the foremost of them.

Shadowwing looked shaken, shocked, and scared.

"Son, what is wrong?"

He ran straight over to the table the moment she moved out of the way.

 **We were attacked**

"Attacked!"

 **Four strange men attacked us**

Valka stared, horrorstruck at the news. A terrible idea briefly tore at her heart.

"Is Luna okay?"

Yes, he quickly nodded.

 **She killed three of them**

 **One ran away**

Valka did not even flinch.

"The egg?" she warily asked.

 **Hatched a boy**

He set down the pencil and stared at the paper.

She was speechless. From the most horrible news that she had received in years, to the shocking report that Luna had killed several of the attackers, to the most wonderful news in seconds. The egg had finally hatched a healthy baby! The moment that she had dreamed about for countless nights had finally happened. She was a grandmother, albeit under perhaps the most bizarre circumstances imaginable.

And he looked completely forlorn, absolutely inappropriate for a new father who just saw their newborn... newly hatched, baby into the world.

"Why are you sad?"

Several moments passed and his expression changed. Even she could see his evident shame and self-loathing.

 **I was stupid**

 **The men tricked me with poisoned fish**

 **I was not there to protect her**

"Oh, son," she walked over next to his head and began rubbing his chin.

 **She almost died because of me**

"Do not blame yourself."

He only grumbled at her words. It was obvious that he did blame himself for whatever mistake he had made.

"Do you remember when I told you how many dragons were caught by trappers in my years in the nest? Do you know how many dragons died in traps or when fighting back against the trappers?"

He slowly shook his head.

"Too many. I blamed myself at first for not being there to save all of them. But blaming myself did not help them. I had to do my best and learn from my mistakes. So you made a mistake and were tricked. I know that you will not let that happen again."

He sighed deeply and nodded once.

 **We should send out scouts**

 **Find that one other attacker**

 **Find out what they knew**

 **And who sent them**

She nodded in agreement.

"Let's go now."

And they left her house and went into the center of town where the alarm bell had been placed. She furiously rang the bell and sent up a massive clamor of noise.

"They will not be happy to wake up so early," she chuckled.

Sure enough, everyone started rising and filtering out into the village square in various stages of undress or unwaking. Some of them might even be sleepwalking.

"Whazzgoinon?" "This is too early." "My wife needs sleep." "Where's the ale?"

"Dragonheart, do you know how early it is?" Thorvald cried as he rubbed his eyes.

"The Night Furies were attacked!" Valka shouted.

Silence ensued.

"What!" "Lemme at em'." "Who dunnit!" "I'll attack every trapper I see, with my face!"

 **Luna killed three of the four**

 **The leader vanished**

 **We should find him**

"And what do you plan to do with him?" Thorvald warily asked, all his sleepiness gone.

Teeth snapped into place alongside a deep growl.

 **Depends on whether he has anything useful to say**

 **I am still thinking about how to kill him slowly**

"We will see. Gotta find him first. Everyone! You heard it. There is someone out there to find and track."

 **Their ship is beached down the shore**

 **Find him with the tracker dragons**

And a dozen set off for the distant beach within moments along with another dozen heading out into the wild to begin randomly searching.

Valka came and stood by his head after the crowd had dispersed.

"So, can we go to your cave? I want to see him."

 **Not mine**

 **The bodies are there**

 **My brother's cave**

"Oh, ok. We can have those bodies taken care of later. Do you mind?"

 **What about Cloudjumper?**

"Let him sleep, you know that he is not a morning dragon."

He nodded and crouched down to help her up. She hopped onto his back and lay herself flat.

"Ready," she said.

He flared his wings and took off as gently as he could. He flew calmly toward the cave as the sun began to creep above the horizon. They landed smoothly outside the cave after a few minutes of flight. She gracefully dismounted and walked alongside him into the main cave chamber, her heart nervously thrumming in excitement.

She saw the pile of sleeping Furies exactly where she expected them to be. Luna and Was-Grounded lifted their heads as she walked toward them.

Shadowwing kept his voice to a whisper.

"I told her what happened. She wants to see Moon-Dancer."

Luna looked directly at Valka and gestured her closer. Both Shadowwing and Valka walked forward as Luna gently moved her tailfins.

Valka gave a very soft gasp and stared, completely transfixed at the sight. Shadowwing stared as well, unable to feast enough on the sight of his son. The way his son's tiny back rose and fell with every breath. The way his eyes twitched under his closed eyelids. And the tiny differences between him and the other pure Night Fury hatchlings that had been before.

All of it was perfect to him.

Valka slowly sat down right next to Luna's side. She so looked like she wanted to pick up little baby and cradle him in her arms. But she also knew that a sleeping baby was a very good baby.

She settled for gently rubbing Luna's cheek. Not wanting to disturb her hatchling, Luna settled for giving her a soft croon in return. Valka paused for a moment though as she saw the healing slice in Luna's neck. Then she gave a very soft hum of her own, almost in imitation of a comforting sound she frequently heard from these very dragons.

Then she stepped back and followed him outside the cave to where there was more dirt.

"He is beautiful. I'm so happy for you!"

 **No crying mom**

"I'm not sure I can avoid that. Does he have a name yet?" she said while wiping her cheek with her sleeve.

 **Moon-Dancer**

"Moon-Dancer, why I am not surprised that you did not want to follow tradition? Though, I guess it would not be your tradition. That is a very good name. Has he been awake yet?"

 **Yes, he pawed at my nose**

Valka's eyes gleamed with mirth, and she chuckled heartily.

"I remember when you were almost that little. Gods above, you were cute. You actually tried to grab my nose too. Seems like all babies do that."

 **Or chew tails in my experience**

Then she laughed outright.

"So, Skald and I were thinking about what to call your baby. It is not really a Night Fury or a Light Fury after all. He is something new."

 _Hmm, I guess that is technically true._

 **What were you thinking?**

"Well, when do light and night touch during the day? When is it twilight?"

 **Dawn and dusk**

"Exactly. Dusk is the ending of the day. Dawn is the beginning. We were thinking we would call him... and any of his future siblings... Dawn Furies."

He hummed warmly at the thought. There was something inherently hopeful about that name.

 _I like the sound of that. Although..._

 **This does mean that Night Furies**

 **Might stop being eventually**

 **In a way at least**

Valka somewhat solemnly nodded at that and gave a half-shrug.

"Who knows? There have to be other pairs out there somewhere. And you and Light Furies are the same in every way that matters. I wonder how many of them there are in the world."

A pause followed as they both did not seem to want to take the next step. Then Valka sighed.

"We should go look at your home and see what happened there."

He nodded in resigned agreement and waited for her to mount him. They were swiftly flying to his home cave a few moments later. It was sure to be painful to see but it had to be done.

They dove and landed outside the entrance, and she hopped off his back to walk inside with him. Without saying a word, they walked in with the morning light somewhat illuminating the terrible scene inside. Together, they looked around at the near warzone and saw several nets, ropes, and knives discarded around the cave.

And bodies.

The three bodies were mostly located in the rear of the cave near where Luna had taken to sleeping with the egg. One body was burnt to a crisp, another's torso was completely shredded in a pool of blood and bones, and the third had its neck bent at an impossible angle.

Shadowwing barely kept himself from feeling nauseous as he beheld it all. Then he froze as he smelled something else. Something that had never been in the cave before. Something that he had tasted once before when he had given necessary treatment to a small but important pair of wounds.

Luna's blood.

It had dripped on the ground near the egg's sand-nest.

 _They... almost killed her._

It seemed so much more real at the moment, how close to tragedy this had nearly been. He did not even realize that he was growling openly.

"What is it?"

He stopped and relaxed with a weak sigh. Then he stepped over to the dried blood and drew a talon along his neck.

"She is very lucky that cut is not deeper. It might have been... much worse," Valka slowly answered.

He could do nothing but moan softly in response. They looked around in silence for a few more minutes before they turned as one and walked back outside.

All the blood and bodies in his cave made him tingle and feel like there were bugs crawling all over him and burrowing under his scales. He darted out of the cave and ran several lengths before he came to a stop and took several deep breaths. Valka ran up behind him a moment later and rested a hand on his neck while he kept his eyes shut.

"Are you ok, son? That was… not nice to see."

He nodded sharply.

"When I get back to the village, I will send some people up here to get rid of those," she waved a hand toward the mouth of the cave.

He thought of the bodies in his cave. The same cave that had his scrolls, maps, and that he had called his own for a year and a half. The same cave in which he had started teaching Luna, Dawn-Singer, and Aurora their letters. The same cave where he and Luna had spent every night under each other's wings and where she lay and tended to Moon-Dancer's egg.

Surely the blood that had been spilled could be washed away in time.

But the trappers had come for them once and others might come again. How had they even known how to find this place? Maybe the leader would give some answers if caught.

 _Luna was right. This would not have happened if we were somewhere safer._ _I will not risk them out here like this._

Sigh.

 _She definitely won't like the idea of living in the village at first, but for Moon-Dancer's sake she just might agree._

He looked around at the ground for a clear patch of dirt.

 **No, it is not safe here**

 **I want to live in the village now**

"Are you sure about that? I know you have talked about this before, and she did not want to live with us."

 **I cannot let this happen again**

 **It would be safer for us all**

 **She will agree to keep him safe**

Valka was quiet for a long time in thought.

"Well, it would not do for you all to live in a barn or even one of the pens built for the other dragons. You will need a proper house. How about this, you and Luna talk about it and let me know if you want anything special. Then I will talk to Thorvald, Gobber, and the rest of the village. They will gladly help to build it if it means they get to see their beloved Furies more, especially to help protect you after this attack."

Then she softly chuckled.

"Nords can be very quick in rebuilding, they had a lot of practice at that. I would guess that we could have a place up for you within the week. It also helps if their Elder recommends they do it for their beloved dragons."

He nodded in agreement. Something about living in a proper house felt necessary now, especially since he wanted Moon-Dancer to grow up around humans and to trust them. What better way than to have his home be among them? To grow up from early in his life always seeing them and knowing them. That might be the only way to truly bridge very different communities since children do not naturally try to carry the prejudices of their parents. Not to mention there was the added safety that being part of the community would bring.

He flew Valka back down to Haven and then turned back for the other cave after letting her off.

 _Ok, how best to approach this? Safety, definitely safety. She will want to do anything to keep Moon-Dancer safe now, as will I._

 _Hmm, what about my brother and Green-Wings? Would they want to come down to Haven too? The same reason might work for them. And their children are already closer to the humans than either of their parents will probably ever be._

And then he grinned to himself as a devious plan formed in his mind. There was something he could do for his brother, Green-Wings, and the whole family as well.

 _There is no way that I am telling them. This will be a surprise._

He alighted outside the cave and entered. By now though there was a lot more activity inside the cave. Only Green-Wings remained in her place to attend to the still dozing Mist-Wings. Everyone else was awake and was very interested in the most recent acquisitions to the den.

Moon-Dancer was awake under Luna's protective tailfins and was looking out wide-eyed at the gathering. The hatchling shied away from all the inquisitive noses, at least until he came close himself.

"He is very small and he looks different from us," Dawn-Singer observed.

"He will grow big one sun," Aurora rumbled.

"Play with him!" Rain-Eater hummed.

Mist-Wings dozed on.

Shadowwing was barely listening to them at all though. All his attention was on the tiny set of green eyes gazing up at him from under her white tailfins. Then he bent down and gently nuzzled his son's tiny nose.

"Hello, my Moon-Dancer."

The hatchling mewled happily and licked his nose.

 _Whatever works for you, my dear son..._

Then he looked up at Luna. He again noticed that wariness in her eyes, a look that had not been there before the attack.

"Luna, I need to talk to you."

"What about?"

"About where we live."

She tilted her head slightly in puzzlement.

"You spoke truth when you said that this would not have happened if we were somewhere safer. I think that we should have the two-legs make us a big tree-den down in the Haven-nest."

He paused to observe her reaction. The other children also started in surprise and began muttering among themselves.

"Why?" she asked.

"Think about it. They always have flights looking for bad two-legs and thrall-makers. They want to protect their kin. It is safer down there than it is up here. What if more bad two-legs find us here when we are sleeping? Or," he hung his head and only continued in a whisper, "what if one of us is not there to help protect the other?"

He softly snarled at himself and his own words.

"It would be much safer for Moon-Dancer to have more eyes protecting him, as our two-legs down there always will. You know that they hold all our little ones close to their livers. What do you think?"

She said nothing for a while.

"It is a very twisting idea. I do not have many good memories from being in things made by two-legs. You know that," she eventually whispered.

"Yes, I do. But this will not be like those bad places were. This will have big walls to the den with more than enough room to stretch our wings. It will have dirt and sand to make picture-words in, a place for fires on cold nights, a good place with clean sand for eggs, and," he hummed, "it will also have a rock-bed that we can burn for warmth."

He saw the confusion mixed with thoughtfulness in her eyes.

"What do you think? For Moon-Dancer to be more safe, will you fly to this new den that will be?"

"There is something else we could do," she answered.

"What?" he tilted his head in confusion of his own.

"There is another place where we could always be safe. A place where there are no two-leg Monsters now or ever. A place that you know well now."

He blinked and gasped at the idea. Words failed him for several moments.

"Luna, we cannot do that. I am an Alpha to all the kin here. I cannot turn my tail on these kin or on all these good two-legs here. They have not wronged us."

She blinked and sighed. Her voice was very calm but also cold when she spoke.

"I do not know if I can trust two-legs as I did anymore. We did no wrong to those two-legs, and they attacked us... in our own den."

"But Luna, please, do not think there is rot in those who are not rotted. It was not our two-legs who did this... they did not hurt us," he whimpered, aghast at how calm, cold, and certain she seemed now.

Her terrifying words spoken on the long flight to Haven from the hidden world returned to him in that moment.

 _'If you must choose the two-leg world or me, what would you choose?'_

So much hinged on this very moment.

 _Luna don't do this..._

What would she do or say? If she demanded that he fly with her now, what would he do?

 _'I... gave you my liver and life-winds. I would choose you...'_

"What will you do, my Luna?" he gasped.

She said nothing for several long, heartrending moments.

"The Haven-nest-den that would be... Will there be any carrying, working, or pushing to bonding?" she very warily asked.

"None," he promised.

"And it would be our den only, two-legs will not go into it?"

"That is truth. None would be allowed in the den unless we both want it," he growled.

She bent down and licked Moon-Dancer's head as she relaxed very slightly.

"For him to be safe from future hunters or thrall-makers, yes, I will nest in that new tree-den."

"And Kin-liver? What about her? She might want to make a side-den to ours," he slowly asked.

"She is a ground-kin to me. I would let her nest with us."

He stepped forward and gently licked her cheek. She blinked and then tried to wipe away the little slobber. She almost looked like she wanted to chuckle but was unable for some reason. Instead, she sighed weakly and whispered into his ear.

"Shadowwing, I will only say this to you one time. If any two-legs try to claw at my nest again, if they try to hurt me or Moon-Dancer, I will fly from this range and I will take Moon-Dancer with me. I will go to the range where we became... one. You may then fly to me if you want, if you spoke truth when you said that you would choose me and not the two-legs. Do you hear me?"

Anger, pity, and sorrow warred within him. Anger that she would even suggest taking his son from him. Pity that she had been hurt so deeply by this unprovoked attack. Sorrow that so much of the trust that she had built up toward humans had apparently been cracked. Though, he quite understood that sentiment himself as he also felt it now.

"Yes Luna, I hear your words deep in my liver."

"I hope so my... life-mate," she whispered.

That brief pause in her words was like a small dagger, a warning, that pierced his heart deeper than anything spoken in anger could have.

A long, silent pause followed.

Dawn-Singer then came forward, clearly having been listening in to at least the audible parts of the talk.

"What will the big tree-den-cave look like?" Dawn-Singer softly asked.

"You will see. Maybe you will nest in one under a future sun. You did say that you liked the idea," Shadowwing answered.

"I would like that," Dawn-Singer hummed.

Shadowwing then noticed that Was-Grounded and Green-Wings had also been attentively listening earlier and were whispering to each other even now.

 _I wonder what that is about._

* * *

"Luna, are you... warm still?" Green-Wings asked.

It was only them and both their hatchlings in the den now, their mates and the other little ones having flown from the den already to begin a new sun.

There was something very not-warm about Luna's appearance now. As if the drooping ears and slightly hung head were not enough of a sign. There was something else that was very subtle. A look of weakness or fear in how she carried herself.

For a kin who had just killed three thrall-making two-legs and saved her little ones life, it did not seem an appropriate response.

"Yes Green-Wings, I... why would I not... be?" Luna mumbled.

Green-Wings huffed softly at that and lay her head back down to nose at her own little Mist-Wings again.

But seeing the fellow kin whom she considered as one of her own nest-kin in some type of liver-pain was not warming.

"Luna, talk to me. You have a chill in your liver, but the thrall-maker two-legs are dead now. You killed them, and they cannot hurt you."

A long moment of silence passed before Luna looked over at her.

"It is... not them that is chilling me. It is what I know... now..." Luna whispered.

"What do you know?"

"I remembered the truth of what happened to me when I was a thrall. I always thought that I was strong, resisted, and did not let them join wrong-kin to me."

Green-Wing's ears went back as she understood the wrongness that Luna was feeling.

"But that was false of me. I remembered the truth. I did not want them and I did fight, but I am fouled. When Shadowwing learns..." she whimpered.

"What? Do you fear that he will think less of you or not want to be your life-mate?"

"He could..."

"Shadowwing will not leave you because of that. I think that you spoke false. You are not fouled now. I do not think that his want to be your life-mate is because of how strong or not strong you were when you were trapped."

"Maybe not..."

"Luna, I joined with another Night Fury before Was-Grounded found me. The other one gave me an egg and a hatchling, but I could not... provide for the little one alone. The other Night Fury had rotted thinking and did not stay with me as my mate."

"You told me this before," Luna answered.

"But I blamed my own flight long that it happened to me and my little one. I thought I was fouled and could not be a dam ever again. Now see my life-flight and how warmed I am."

Then Green-Wings purred softly and looked down to Luna's sleeping hatchling.

"And I saw how he was staring at Moon-Dancer, at his first little one. He will want more little ones with you. More than you can count on your paws. Both he and Was-Grounded are more other-thinking than most kin, as we both know. The sky-breath has favored our life-flights, I think."

Luna eventually seemed to calm somewhat, though there was still a nervous chill in her look and feel.

* * *

A small crowd of Nords huddled around the prisoner who had been brought in within the claws of a Nightmare after half a day of searching. The man was now tied up and had his hands bound as he awaited the arrival of the Chief.

"This is all just a misunderstanding, I swear!"

The doors to the Great Hall were flung open, and the Chief strode into the Hall. Thorvald wore his Chieftain's cape, fashioned from a bear's hide, and fingered an axe clasped to his side as he walked down the main path.

He walked straight up to the prisoner and frowned at him.

"Has he been searched?"

"Everywhere. He's got nothing in his tunic or his trousers," Gobber replied.

Snickering followed, much to the prisoner's chagrin.

"Good. So, stranger, who are you?"

"I am Eret, son of Eret," the man squirmed.

Then Thorvald made a point of resting a hand on his axe.

"I am Chief Thorvald Jorgenson. What are you doing here in our lands, Eret, son of Eret?"

"I was just minding my own business, hunting for wolf pelts, when these do-gooder dragon riders snatched me up."

Thorvald scratched his head and grumbled.

"Oh, did they? Our mistake then. Release him."

Eret blinked in surprise and the other men grumbled but complied with the Chief's command. They untied Eret's bindings and pulled the ropes off him.

"Come with me, Eret."

Eret rubbed his wrists and followed the big Chief to the main table at the head of the Hall. The table had some bread, cheese, and a mug of ale on it.

"You must be hungry, Eret. Eat."

Eret took one glance at the food and drink and dug in as though he had not eaten in many days, which he had not.

"You are very generous, Chief, I did not expect such understanding."

"Don't mention it. There is something that you can do for me in exchange though."

"What is it?"

Thorvald leaned forward on the table and whispered conspiratorially.

"Tell me what you were planning to with our Night Furies."

Eret blinked and lost his composure for one instant.

"What do you mean?" he recovered himself.

Thorvald only smiled back at him.

"I know what happened last night. I know that four men attacked one of our families of Furies."

"What? No, I swear I did not attack any of your dragons."

"Do you know how I know what happened?"

"I did not do it!"

"Night Furies can talk."

Eret blinked and then laughed.

"Dragons are only beasts. Dangerous and glorious yes, but talking? Ha ha, I think you've had too much ale. Meaning no disrespect great Chief..."

"None taken, Eret. Night Furies can talk by writing. You see, they are as smart as you or me. Actually, probably smarter than me. Anyhow, they told us what happened."

"This is too crazy."

"You gave one of them a poisoned fish down on the beach."

Eret's eyes went wide.

"You and your three men attacked our Light Fury in her own cave to try to take her egg."

Eret recovered his breath several seconds later.

"How do you... know what happ...?"

"Because the Furies told us. Now you can believe me or not, I do not care. Here is what will happen now. You will tell us everything that you know. Who hired you? Who wants a Night Fury egg? How did you find this place? Stuff like that."

"And then you will let me go?"

Thorvald only smiled.

"No Eret, we cannot let you go now that you know so much about us. You tell us everything, and I will not have you thrown to the very Night Fury you poisoned. Remember that you or your dead men attacked his mate and almost killed her. Shadowwing, the Night Fury, knows that, and he knows what you look like."

Eret gulped while Thorvald brought a piece of paper and a pencil out from under the table.

"Now, I have not seen a Night Fury actually eat anyone before, but you know how they got their name, yes?" Thorvald chuckled.

"I..."

"And if you need further convincing, turn around. He is standing behind you right now," Thorvald grinned.

"I think I would have heard if a..."

Eret froze as he felt a large huff of breath on his head and heard a very deep, menacing growl start to build behind him.

"Ok! I will! Hmmrrhmrhm... my father's honor! I will tell you everything! Just don't..."

Eret remained absolutely motionless and only watched from the corner of his eyes as a massive Night Fury slowly walked around the Chieftain's table. The dragon's fierce, narrowed green eyes, such a contrast to the wide, rounded spheres they had been at their first meeting, never left his, and its sharp teeth were fully on display. There was a constant, faint growl rolling from it.

Then he saw it impossibly grab the pencil in a paw and start to write on the paper.

 **Tell me why I should not kill you now**

"It... cannot... be..." Eret stuttered.

 **You attacked my mate**

 **Tried to steal my son**

This was punctuated with a growl that even made Thorvald wince and cover his ears in faint discomfort.

"I... didn't mean... for that... I told my men no weapons... It was only a dragon..."

That was apparently the wrong thing to say because the next thing that he knew was that the Night Fury had leapt at him and tackled him to the ground. Its claws dug very slightly through his thin tunic and threatened to pierce the skin as it pushed him against the floorboards.

"I will tell you everything I know, Chief! Just don't... let him..." he struggled to breathe.

The Night Fury only breathed heavily and continued to glare down at him. Thorvald stood up with a wide grin, stepped over to him, and put an arm on the Night Fury's shoulder. It apparently reluctantly stepped back from them and let him get up, though it made a point of showing off its teeth.

"Excellent choice, so you tell us everything you know about what is going on out there in the world, and we put you to work cleaning the stables, hauling fish, and doing all the other nasty things that no one else wants to do. And you live."

"Then you will let me go?"

"Nope, your trapping days are over. You will start out as a worker for us as I said, and maybe you can get to take care of a dragon of your own someday when you have learned our ways."

Eret's eyes bugged.

"But I cannot..."

A snarl and renewed flash of teeth from the Night Fury shut him up. The faint blue glow in the dragon's maw was quite convincing as well.

"Oh, a piece of advice for you Eret since you are going to be living here. The Light Fury you attacked, Luna is her name, she was once caught by trappers and held by Drago Bludvist's people. So you see, she really, really hates trappers. And she definitely knows what you look like. I would stay far away from her if you don't want to die a messy death. Got it?"

Eret mumbled something indiscernible.

"Gobber, bring our new friend here some ale. He will need it," Thorvald announced.

The mug of ale was brought over moments later, and Eret took it with growing resignation. Thorvald only laughed while Shadowwing continued to glare dangerously and tap on the floor with his claws.

"You might want to get comfortable here. You have a lot of talking to do. And remember that dragons, especially Night Furies, know when you are lying, so you better tell the truth. Welcome to Haven!"

Eret spoke at length about how he found Haven from rumors spreading through the isles and the merchants.

"So, I figured if all the dragons have disappeared from the isles, well, they have to have gone somewhere. And then I hear about this place up the coast that apparently has a lot of dragons. This little hidden world, if you will."

No one noticed Shadowwing's slight wince.

"But how did you know that there are any Furies here?" Thorvald asked.

"It's the only place with any dragons, and there have been some sightings of a Fury or two by the other tribes near here. Word gets out."

Shadowwing slightly sighed.

 _When I went out to the other tribes to warn them about dragons... Of course stories would spread even without us telling them where we are from._

"But the part you all definitely want to know is what has happened with the hunters."

"Hunters? What?" Thorvald asked.

"So, there was a big battle a couple years ago. Drago the Fallen took..." Eret began.

"Drago Bludvist?" Thorvald interrupted.

"That's the one. The former... employer... of many trappers. Anyway, his defeat left a bit of a power gap. After all, there are all these ships of his with able crews and no remaining purpose or leader. But the survivors of that battle, basically everyone but you all here, they hate dragons, and especially Night Furies."

 _What? Why?_

"What?" Thorvald groaned.

"Yep," Eret nodded, "you see, Drago said that he wanted to control all dragons and to liberate the people of the world from the fear of dragons. Now, I think he probably wanted to use his dragon army to make himself powerful too, but that is beside the point. He said that he wanted humans and dragons to fight no more, and that is what many of the people heard. Lots of his soldiers were people who wanted to fight to secure peace and a future for their families."

Many wary, pained glances around the table followed this comment.

"And from what I heard, the Furies stopped him by killing his Alpha or driving it off or something. The last hope for peace died with Drago. That is how many of the tribes out there see it, and that is why they honor him as a fallen hero."

Shadowwing hung and slowly shook his head in disbelief.

 _They actually think he was a good man? That he was trying to bring about peace? Peace through control is not peace! We have to be free!_

"He was a monster who brought war on peaceful people and killed many I knew. The four tribes that were there had that peace between dragons and humans before he attacked us," Thorvald objected.

Eret held out his hands in a placating look.

"I'm just telling you what the world out there thinks. Anyway, everything that was left of Drago's forces joined with a group of dragon hunters somewhere. I cannot imagine that business is good for those Grimborns now. There is nowhere for them to hunt anything, except for here of course..."

A silence followed these words as they gradually sank in all around the table. Thorvald threw cautious looks at Gobber, Shadowwing, and the other advisers. Eret then threw a glance at the Fury that was clearly deep in thought from its puzzled purring.

"And you all might want to know about someone else," he added.

"What Eret?" Thorvald groaned.

"I heard a rumor about someone else who has a number of ships of their own."

"Who?"

"Grimmel the Grisly."

"Never heard of him," Thorvald announced after a pause and glance at other confused people around the table.

"You've never heard of Grimmel? Well, if the stories are true, he is the reason why Night Furies are so rare."

"What?"

 _What?_

 **What?**

Eret blinked again at the stark reminder that the Night Fury standing near him was a full member of this odd council.

"He wants to hunt down every Night Fury and is somehow very good at it."

Everyone looked at Shadowwing to watch his reaction.

 **Why?**

Eret shrugged.

"Who knows? He also takes on other dragon-related jobs as needed, but hunting Night Furies is his great mission. That's all I know. Think about that, two big armies out there with no purpose and becoming unneeded because dragons have basically vanished from the world except for here."

Silence reigned.

"That does sound rather ominous now that I say it. So Chief, what is my situation here?" Eret warily asked.

"As I said before, we cannot let you leave, but I thank you for telling us as much as you did. You showed good faith. Oskar, take our guest here to his new hut and show him his duties. Full rations and ale for him. Oh Eret, we have tracker dragons that can find you several days' march from here. Do not try to escape."

Eret gulped once.

"Wouldn't dream of it..." he groaned.

Then Eret was led off and out of the Hall.

Silence reigned around the Chief's table as everyone shared wary glances. Then Shadowwing sighed heavily.

 **A hunter of Night Furies**

 **A bunch of dragon hunters**

 **Angry tribes that want us dead**

"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up," Thorvald groaned.

"At least we know all of this before anythin' actually happens though," Gobber noted.

"And the trappers already know where we are. I guess we couldn't be hidden here forever, the other dragons themselves were flying far and getting seen," Thorvald figured.

"We can start preparing now by building weapons and armor while we can," Gobber proposed.

They looked out over the Great Hall and at how peaceable and carefree everyone seemed to be.

"Sure, we can start some preparations now, but nothing is going to happen in the winter. It is too cold for an army to move, I think. We can really start preparing and getting battle-ready in the spring," Thorvald mused.

"Yes, my Chief." "Chief." "Chief."

The others left, leaving only Thorvald and Shadowwing. Then, despite the serious nature of the discussion that just happened, Shadowwing managed to chuckle.

 **Occupational hazard**

 **Of being dragons and dragon riders**

Thorvald laughed at that. Their shared laughter helped to lighten the mood.

"I guess so. Well done by the way. Pouncing on him was not part of the plan, but it was very convincing."

 **Only a dragon indeed...**

"Good thing you didn't kill him though. He told us a lot. We don't actually know that anything bad will happen. This is all thinking about what might happen."

Shadowwing nodded and huffed.

 **You have to think like this as Chief**

"Yep, gotta protect my own."

 **As do I for the dragons**

 **Did Dragonheart talk to you yet?**

Thorvald's grin returned in full.

"She did. What is the word?"

Shadowwing explained the situation to him, including a certain detail that he wanted kept a surprise as long as possible.

* * *

Construction started at dawn the next morning. Exactly as Valka had predicted, several dozen others had been ecstatic at the prospect of being able to build proper dragon accommodations for their beloved Furies.

Shadowwing threw his own back into the construction as much as possible, which made sense because he was going to be living there himself. Valka's initial estimate of a full week to completion was wholly wrong. Piles of beams arrived from the forest, Gobber worked at the forge all night to churn out nails and joints, and the porter assembled bricks and rocks. All construction was finished in only two days because half the village turned out in their eagerness to help.

Then it stood there not far from the center of the village and only a short walk or glide to the Great Hall past a row of other homes. There was a large clearing behind the house, which made for a good place to land and take off without inconveniencing any others. The main door had a simple lever handle that could be opened from both sides but locked only from within.

The inside had a main great room with all the essentials.

A large stone bed had a little furnace space underneath where a fire could be stoked to keep the stones warm. The house's walls were made with logs treated to be somewhat resistant to fire, just in case of any accidents. There were a pair of boxes; one of which would be filled with sand and warmed with rocks from the furnace and the other which would be used for writing and teaching only. There was also a table and rack for scrolls and writing essentials for when there was a need for paper and pencil. All the stuff that needed salvaging had already been brought down from the soon to be abandoned cave.

Finally, there was an attached room as well that opened onto the outside and into the great room. That was going to be Valka's room once she moved in. It was a simple bedroom with no furnishings other than a bed and a chest for her gear.

Shadowwing took one final look around the house, hummed in satisfaction, and then darted outside to throw himself into the remaining activity.

* * *

He finished inspecting the completed construction and gave it one final nod. Then he bounded outside and went next door. She was waiting for him there, their son snugly tucked away in her maw and eagerly blinking at him.

 _I will never get used to that. Anyhow, now the moment of truth._

"This is our new cave-den. Let me show you my mate."

He tugged on the handle and pushed open the door while a small crowd gathered around outside to watch the inspection. They knew to keep their distance though. Then he let her drop off Moon-Dancer on his back while she bounded inside and began to inspect the place with him slowly following her inside.

She started nosing at everything, batting at the walls and support beams, leaping up and dangling upside down from the largest crossbeam by using her tail, sitting on the sandbox, flaming the fireplace, dropping down onto the rock bed, and flaming said rock bed. Then she curled into a tight ball on the bed and crooned softly as she looked around. He bounded up to her, dropped Moon-Dancer on her back, and joined her on the rock bed.

And the audience gathered behind outside broke out in soft cheering that the construction passed the final test of approval.

"You are twisted two-legs I say!" Was-Grounded called out as he and Green-Wings strode forth through the crowd and entered the house as well to see the inside.

"What is so twisted about wanting my own little one and mate to be safer?"

"But to live in this tree-cave-thing? Are you a two-leg?"

Luna laughed softly at that. Then Shadowwing whispered something to her and got a soft purr in response. He hopped down from the stone bed and approached his brother while grinning smugly.

"Brother, I have been thinking."

"Do you ever not?"

"No. I know that you and Green-Wings are warmed by nesting in your cave, but I think you should live in the two-leg nest as I and Luna will now."

Was-Grounded grumbled openly.

"Please listen to my idea," Shadowwing mumbled.

Was-Grounded sat down on his rear.

"Two-legs will always have fear of what they do not know, of things they do not see every sun-cycle. Living down here with them will make me, Luna, and Moon-Dancer be more a part of their nest. Be more kin to them every sun. And this is much safer for us. There are more eyes and watching-flights that can see danger afar."

"That is all true," Was-Grounded grumbled.

"All the two-legs here want you to live with them. That is liver-truth. Come down from the mountain like we have."

"Grr, they probably want us to wear the two-leg carrying-things for them," Green-Wings interjected.

"Only if you wanted to share your back and wings with them. Dawn-Singer has some of the fledglings who he lets fly with him, and they do not use carrying-things or make him a life-thrall. They will not force your flight."

Then a gleam shown openly in Shadowwing's eyes.

 _I have you now. Try to fly your way out of this one._

"I told our two-legs that you would all fly down to live with them in this nest if they would build you a big tree-den also. That is the tree-den closest to mine and Luna's. They wanted you to do that much and would be liver-chilled if you do not nest here now."

They all remembered the now suspiciously similar new construction next door.

"But we did not say that..." Was-Grounded growled.

Shadowwing hummed and smiled deviously.

"This is warming flight fouling. You can thank me now."

Was-Grounded grumbled and shot a harmless ball of fire at his shoulder.

"The new tree-den is like this tree-den with a place for fire, a place with warm sand for eggs, and a rock-bed to sleep on," Shadowwing continued after blinking away the smoke.

"Those are good..." Was-Grounded reluctantly admitted.

"And it is much closer to the fish than your cave-den is," Shadowwing rolled his eyes.

Was-Grounded perked up and hummed openly in thought at that detail.

"Closer to the food, that is good."

"Thinking with your belly?"

"It is an important thing to think about, the distance from food."

"Spoken like a true two-leg," Shadowwing teased.

Then Was-Grounded sighed heavily and looked over at Green-Wings as she too was looking around the interior of the house. Mist-Wings was again snug in her toothless maw.

"In truth, we were talking about it already. It was very chilling seeing the hurt in Luna's neck. We never before truly feared bad two-legs finding us here and hurting our little ones. Having more eyes protecting them would be good for us. Let us see the den," Was-Grounded answered.

Shadowwing took them both outside, Green-Wings carrying little Mist-Wings with them, went next door to the newly-built house, and nosed his way inside. The house was as described. He had personally overseen the details of the construction to be sure that it was good enough that he would be willing to have either himself or Luna live in it. The only difference was that it had a slightly larger stone bed since there were more bodies that would be generally piled together.

"What do you think? Do you like it?" Shadowwing asked.

Was-Grounded rolled his eyes and huffed. He glanced at Green-Wings and noted her purr of approval.

"I am going to live in a tree-den made by two-legs. If you had told me that season-cycles ago, I would have told you where to go shove your tail. We will nest here. It is closer to safety, food, and... my kin."

Shadowwing stepped over and nuzzled his brother's nose while giving him a warm hum.

 _I knew you would like it, you useless dragon..._

* * *

He patiently waited and helped bring the other Fury family down into their new home. All the children were very happy to be down in the village and closer to the others they knew. Green-Wings and Was-Grounded were clearly pleased to be closer to food and among protection for their children. Everyone seemed better off.

Then, the family finally settling into their sleeping-pile, he returned to his own house just next door and crept inside his new home.

Luna was curled around the fireplace inside with a sleeping Moon-Dancer between her arms. She was staring at the fire, her ears swept back as she lay there.

It was as he approached her that he realized that she was keening very softly. It was so faint that he almost could not hear it, though he felt it clearly in his heart as he padded over to her.

"Luna?" he softly whispered.

She did not move or acknowledge him except for a twitch of her ears.

"My love?" he asked.

Then she weakly sighed and shivered at something.

"I must tell you... something that I remembered... when the thrall-makers cut me. I did not... want to say anything before..."

"What? You can tell me anything."

He lay down next to her and purred softly. She turned her head and looked down at the floor before him, unable to meet his eyes.

"I remembered why I got the hurt-marks, the small scratches on my side. Some of the other kin thrall-males that I fought... did that when they were... joined with me..." she groaned.

"Luna..." he whined and shuffled closer to her.

She did not move when he put a wing over her back.

"I remember it now... I tried to hide those most bad memories... even so I could not see them. I was weak... I... understand if... knowing that I was fouled... you do not want..."

He did not let her continue with whatever she was going to say. He rested his nose against hers and wove their tails together, all while purring as softly as he could.

"Look at me, Luna."

She opened her eyes and warily stared into his wide green ones.

"I told you before that I do not care about the bad past. You are my life-mate, and I am yours. You are not weak or fouled. You are as beautiful and liver-warming now as you have always been."

"Truly?"

"We are one. Always," he whispered.

Then she lay her head on his neck and softly sighed.

"I should not have said... such cold things to you earlier, my life-mate. I do not feel safe in this world..." she weakly whispered.

"And I will always protect you. I promise you that, Luna."

Nothing more was said or needed to be said between them, except that she gently clenched his tail.

He only fell asleep after long reflection on what had happened over the last few days. He was very aware that his promise to Luna was one that he had failed at once before.

* * *

The migration of all their Furies down from the mountains and into the village was certainly the most momentous event of the year and deserved to be celebrated as such. The fish were caught in droves, cattle were slaughtered, the ovens were busy with baking, and everyone was laughing and happy.

"Yer shorter and wider than I remember!" "How many mugs is the record?" "We got first in the wife-carrying race!" "Finally some peace and quiet!" "Finally got my axe refund!"

It was warm chaos.

"Food-eating-ceremonies, that is all that I must say," Was-Grounded hummed as he looked around the Great Hall with Green-Wings and Mist-Wings hidden under an outstretched wing near the fire.

"Best two-leg idea of all?" Shadowwing laughed softly as he similarly sheltered Luna and Moon-Dancer.

"After not-tailfins, yes."

They watched as the other children were over at the writing station and furiously scribbling away. It had warmed them both to slowly watch as Dawn-Singer and Aurora became closer to some of the human children through the years. Dawn-Singer found a couple whom he was comfortable enough taking on flights around the village now that he was large enough to safely do so. Rain-Eater was also starting to show interest in learning more about the humans given how fluent he was in writing. All the siblings who were old enough were similar in this way.

"Their flights were very different from our first flight together, brother," Shadowwing chuckled.

"I thought you were trying to ground us into the rock-spires..."

"I did not trust myself enough and thought I needed that tree-skin to guide my flight," he protested.

"And you learned after you lost that thing," Was-Grounded grinned.

"Yes, when I started trusting my liver and did not... foul our shared-flight. When I trusted us to fly on our own."

Luna nestled a bit closer to his side as she rested after her large meal. Moon-Dancer was snug between her arms as he too slept with a very stuffed and contented belly.

"Brother, I think this next season-cycle will be a warm one," Was-Grounded hummed.

Shadowwing glanced up the Hall to the Chief's table where he vividly remembered a troubling discussion a couple weeks ago. That normal optimism and hope that a new coming year should bring was not there this time.

"I hope it will," he whispered.

Valka eventually came up to him, a worried expression on her face.

"I have been thinking about something," she began.

He tilted his head in a question.

"Many other dragons will need to fly to hatch their eggs soon."

 _True, they will..._

"Some of them will need to go back to where they know. But you and your brother cannot really leave your little ones here."

 _Also true... it would not be right to leave our newly hatched children for months._

She sighed softly with resignation.

"I and Cloudjumper will go with them then to help keep our eyes out for them. I have done that before for some of the other dragons that went to the hatching grounds. We are used to leading dragons and all of them from the ice nest know us."

He still gave her a somewhat confused glance.

 _But you will be alone out there for a long time._

She clearly understood his concern.

"I will be fine. I'm more comfortable around dragons than humans anyway. You just keep the peace here."

He nodded at her to come over. Then he purred and nudged her cheek when she did. She settled down and peacefully stared at Moon-Dancer and Luna.

"Do you both like your house?"

Yes, he nodded.

"Good. I know that the others do. Dawn-Singer and Aurora were telling me that they like being down here in Haven now. Closer to their friends."

He gave a happy sigh at hearing that.

Something still felt off after she left to go talk with said Furies over at their table. The world truly felt different now, as though something had broken or changed forever. Or maybe he was only far more aware of the very real dangers that still existed in the world.


	72. III - Winter Is Here

_**Author's Note – This chapter is a mix of lighthearted and pensive moments to pass most of the winter.**_

* * *

 _" _Many of the phenomena of Winter are suggestive of an inexpressible tenderness and fragile delicacy." -__ _ _Henry David Thoreau - Walden__

* * *

Winter Is here

* * *

Shadowwing stood up to his knees in the snow and stared with narrowed eyes into the biting wind.

White.

That was all any could see into this driving wind blowing from the west off the ocean.

The ships down in the harbor pitched and swayed in the wind and surf. Large drifts of snow built up even to some of the houses' or stables' roofs.

There was some ambiance, some feeling of peaceful desolation and thoughtfulness from being out in the middle of a winter blizzard. He could endure it for a few minutes more before the chill would become a bit much for him. Perhaps it was being reminded of the cold that made one appreciate warmth all the more.

His thoughts inevitably turned to what Valka was doing, watching over hordes of dragons and their hatchlings until the little ones gain their flight.

 _What is happening out there?_

The wind gusted even stronger and tugged at his folded wings. His business having been attended to and his moment of revery over, he turned back for home and ran as fast as he could through the snowbanks, only stopping off at the storehouse to bring back some fish and dried meat.

He bounded back inside his house to escape the frigid, howling winter winds and pulled the door closed with his tail. He grabbed a log in his mouth and put the wood on the fire to keep it fed. Then he hopped up onto their warmed rock-bed, put a wing over Luna's back, snuggled up against her, and closed his eyes as the fire crackled nearby. She hummed tenderly and wrapped her tail around his again. Moon-Dancer snuggled himself under her neck, yawned widely, and lay securely against her chest.

 _Great skies, I will not be going back out there for a while. This is a rough one. Probably the worst of the three winters that we have been here now. At least there will be no food problems this time because half the dragons are gone for now._

Sigh.

 _I really hope mom is doing alright out there. But it is much warmer on that island at least. And she did say that she has done this before._

"How is it out there?" she whispered.

"Cold."

She squeezed his tail.

"Are you cold now?"

"No," he purred.

They all fell asleep, wrapped up in each other's wings and shared warmth.

* * *

His great father held him in his massive arms as they stood together at sunset on a bluff overlooking the island. The warm evening breeze rustled his mop of hair and his great father's massive red beard.

"This is Berk, son. It is the home of my grandparents, and their grandparents before them. Now it is my job as Chief to protect us, and one day when you are all grown up..." his father gently bounced him in his arms, "that job will be passed down to you," his great father whispered.

He gasped in amazement and followed his great father's gaze out toward the sunset.

"Out there," his father pointed, "beyond the edge of the world, lies the hidden home of the dragons. I believe it is your destiny to find this... hidden world... so that people and dragons... will fight no more."

"Find the nest and take it?" he innocently asked.

"Yes, my son. You will find it, and you will lead our people to it. And then," his great father warmly chuckled, "we will finally have peace. There will be no more need for all this..."

He looked out over the sea and beheld the massive fleet filled with ships and eager fighters. All of them were prepared for the great battle, their shields and spears readied and bows strung. Ready to sail to destiny.

"And now, it is bedtime for you, my son."

His great father carried him back inside, gently lay him down on his bed, and pulled the covers over him.

"Goodnight, son... I know that you will be the strongest of us all one day..."

He closed his eyes and awoke in his own house.

The wind whistled outside while the fire burned hot in the fireplace. Something snuggled against his chest with a soft whine.

And he opened his eyes to see a tiny pair of bright green eyes looking up at him and furiously blinking.

"Son," he softly nosed Moon-Dancer's forehead.

His reward was a soft croon from his tiny son and from his attentively watching Luna. She hummed softly as he curled his tail around and sheltered Moon-Dancer under his fins. It was still possible for now when Moon-Dancer curled up, despite how much he had grown in the last couple months.

Then Luna dashed outside, leaving him with another precious moment completely alone with his son.

"My son, first of my liver, I... hmm... do not know what I am doing in this flight with you, but I will try. I will be warm and lift your wings in life. Outside this den is the home of two-legs and kin. You will always be part of it," he whispered.

Moon-Dancer purred softly.

"Two-legs, I know them well. They can twist your liver and hit their own heads into rock for no reason but to show how strong they are. But they are also brave, strong in their heads and thinking sometimes, and they want life to be more than only living from one sun to the next. They do things that no kin can do because they must."

"Hmm... They do not have fire in their bellies, and that means that they must learn to make fire in other ways. That keeps the claws of their thinking very sharp. And there are things they cannot do alone, but we can do for them. They cannot touch the clouds because they have no wings. We can give them wonder and a simpler life that can stop them from wanting other bad things like fighting other nests. But you will learn all that with time, my little one, my son."

There was silence, and his tailfins were slowly rising and falling. He flicked his tailfins up after a moment and saw that Moon-Dancer was sound asleep again.

 _Perfect. I remember how much I used to sleep back then. Nothing but eating, sleeping, and learning from Toothless._

A contented sigh followed.

 _And that dream... I still remember that day. Dad had no idea how right he was. We do have that peace now. But I wonder if he meant Dragon Island or the hidden world._

 _Had to be Dragon Island or maybe the Bewilderbeast's island because the hidden world is... hidden. Almost no one knows about it. Actually, now that I think about it, the ice nest was built a bit like the hidden world. Enclosed, almost feeling like it is underground, massive spires, and growing things inside. I wonder if that is coincidence or if the King knew about the hidden world and tried to recreate it up above. A safe..._

He blinked when he realized where his thoughts were leading toward, especially after all the trapper activity over the previous year and what had happened to his own family.

 _A safe haven for dragons..._

Silence followed save for the crackle of the fire. He stared at the flowing flames while his thoughts wandered on the distant winds.

Luna returned before too long, shut the door behind her, and retook her place at his side. She was soon fast asleep under his wing, her constant purring far more warming than the fire in some ways.

But he remained awake a while longer, his thoughts turning again and again to what felt like a beckoning call. It had not been there before, but now he imagined it whenever he saw his dear, precious Moon-Dancer. He knew how close he had come to having his son kidnapped or harmed, all because of his own mistake.

* * *

"Sire-father? Can I talk to you about something?" Rain-Eater asked.

"Yes, my little one," Was-Grounded answered, stepping over to the fire as he did so.

Then he lay down before his little one who was sitting patiently on his haunches with a stilled tail. Unlike Dawn-Singer, who was very warm-livered, eager, and playful, and Aurora, who was quite confident, assertive, and hot-livered, Rain-Eater was more like a steady flame, always burning slowly. Rain-Eater was also very strong with his flying, words, and thinking, at least far beyond what he should be with only one full turn of the seasons behind him. This led to him being a quieter and more inside-thinking fledgling than his older nestmates.

"Dawn-Singer and Aurora have two-legs that they hold to their livers. Do I need one also?" Rain-Eater asked.

"No, my little one. It is not a life-rule that you get a liver-bond two-leg. Do you want one?"

"I do not know. Both my brother and sister say that I should get one to warm my liver much, but what does it mean?"

"To have a liver-bond two-leg?" he warbled.

"Yes," Rain-Eater answered.

Was-Grounded shuffled slightly and put his paws on each side of Rain-Eater while clutching his thoughts in his head.

"It is different for other kin. They want a two-leg to bring them food sometimes, to play with them, to clean their scales, and to fly with them. Those are good. But you," he deliberately nudged his little ones nose, "you are not a mount or a thing for two-legs to use. What do you think makes another a nestmate to you?"

"A nestmate? They come from the same sire-father and dam-mother?"

"True, but there is more. You give them part of your life-flight and they give you some of theirs. You play together, fight with each other, and learn together. You are more flying the winds of life together than you are apart, however that flight is flown for you and them. You can fly that flight most easily with your kin, with other Night Furies, but you can also get a two-leg to be as a nestmate brother or sister to you if the two-leg is most special and warm."

"How do I know that about the two-leg?"

Was-Grounded bent down and again nuzzled Rain-Eater's nose. Leave it to his youngest one with words to ask such questions now. Aurora had learned by Dawn-Singer's example and had needed no encouragement.

"It is not an easy flight. Two-legs can be very twisted in their thinking. You can only learn by doing. Learn their words and picture-talking. Hear how they talk to you. Do they look at you and see themselves, or do they tell you what to do?"

Rain-Eater hummed questioningly.

"That feels like flying into a cloud where you cannot see."

Was-Grounded purred softly at the apt comparison.

"Yes, those words have lift. Some clouds have fouling winds and heavy rain in them. Other clouds have warm skies and bright light once you fly through them into the new skies."

"Did you have a liver-bond two-leg, sire-father?"

Sigh. This was one part of the talk that he had given two times now which he did not particularly feel warmed by. Telling his own little ones a small lie was liver-twisting, even though Shadowwing's secret was going to stay hidden always.

"I did. He died many season-cycles ago, but he is the reason why I lived. He saved my life and helped to put life-fire in my liver again. I could not share words with him as we can now, but I think that I learned what was in his head and liver."

"How did he die?"

Was-Grounded looked away toward the fire and stared at the gentle flames.

"He fell to help me ground a Monster. But I am warmed that I know... knew him."

Rain-Eater softly grumbled while laying his head on Was-Grounded's arms to join him in staring at the fire.

"There is liver-danger in knowing two-legs? I might get hurt?" Rain-Eater wondered.

Was-Grounded took a moment to consider his response.

"Yes, there is danger in that life-flight. But danger is part of being a kin, I think. The... winds of life are not only warm, but that does not mean you should not fly them. They might blow you apart from those you hold to your liver, but the flights return to be one, I have found."

Rain-Eater purred at the warming words.

"I will think about liver-bond two-legs. I am warm with my nest-kin for now," Rain-Eater eventually answered.

"That is good, my little one. Now, it is time for us to join the sleeping pile."

They both got to their feet and bounded over to the warm rock. Was-Grounded hopped up and snuggled in next to Green-Wings and started to lose himself in her soft, constant purring. Then he blinked in surprise when Rain-Eater snuggled up against his chest where he pulled a wing over himself.

 _My Rain-Eater, you have always slept under your dam-mother's wing before... but I could get used to this..._

Something shuffled next to him, and he spotted Green-Wings peeking at him with a single opened eye. She said nothing, closed her eye, and purred slightly deeper to him.

* * *

"Yes, we should! It would be good for our little ones!" Shadowwing enthusiastically agreed.

Both his and Was-Grounded's tails eagerly swayed behind them at the idea.

"And for us! I will get all of my nest!" Was-Grounded shouted as he bounded outside.

Shadowwing turned back and ran up to Luna.

"We will all play now! A game in the snow!"

Her ears lifted at his eagerness.

"Let me see this game," she hummed.

"Come Moon-Dancer!" Shadowwing happily barked.

All three of them got up and went outside after a minute of convincing Moon-Dancer to wake up. Everything was covered in snow, but it was a clear and sunny day despite being quite cold. The lack of wind helped remove the worst of the biting chill though. And all was quiet.

Too quiet.

Something struck him in the face and disintegrated into a cloud of snow.

He blinked and saw his brother standing a short pounce away and looking very smug.

"How did you..."

Dawn-Singer popped up as well from behind a snowdrift and hurled a snowball clutched in his mouth. The snowball flew true directly at him. Shadowwing ducked just in time, and the snowball hurled over his head.

"Ha, you missed! Useless Night Fury!" Shadowwing teased.

Dawn-Singer chuckled and then froze only to stare wide-eyed, his grin instantly vanishing. On a hunch, Shadowwing turned in place. Then he froze.

Luna was staring ahead past him, a massive clump of snow plastered on her face. Then she wildly shook her head of the snow and sneezed.

Aurora and Rain-Eater carefully stepped away from Dawn-Singer.

"Warm life-winds brother!" "Run fast!"

Luna roared and bounded forward, dashing toward the fleeing Night Fury.

"You dare attack the great Light Fury!" she shouted.

And they both vanished around the nearest row of houses.

 _Dawn-Singer, you are doomed._

"Come Moon-Dancer."

His son hopped up on his back and settled down there. Then he strolled over to where his brother and Green-Wings were laying down.

On their backs with their tails thrashing.

And rolling wildly in the snow.

With their tongues lolling out.

Shadowwing stared at them.

 _Humph, snow dragons..._

Even little Mist-Wings was eagerly rolling over in the snow for sheer pleasure. Moon-Dancer saw her and trilled with joy before he hopped down and dashed for her. She jumped to her feet and turned for Moon-Dancer. Their growling play began as they leapt at each other and became a tangled mass of limbs and tails, all while Shadowwing oversaw the play. Then both of the hatchlings broke apart and dove into a small snowbank, which they burrowed into.

 _I remember playing in the snow like that all those years ago. Just me and Toothless. Humph, still don't know how he saw me in the snow._

"Shadowwing! Help!" Dawn-Singer cried as he appeared from behind a house.

Luna was close behind his tail as they bounded through the snow with massive leaps.

 _Hmm, should I come to my nephew's rescue? Yeah, why not? It is my fault in a way for ducking._

He leapt between Dawn-Singer and Luna, spinning to face her as he did so. She tried to scramble to a stop but lost her footing on the ice underfoot in the path between the houses.

They collided with a grunt and toppled over each other, eventually settling down with her pinning him on his back. They stared into each other's eyes.

"Yes?" she hissed.

"I, uh..." he fumbled for a moment, "wanted to feel your warmth!"

She lowered her nose to his.

"And am I warm?" she grinned as she nuzzled his cheek.

He purred and licked her cheek.

"Always..."

"Brother, this is not the season for that!" Was-Grounded shouted.

"WHAT!"

Shadowwing quickly rolled onto his feet, feeling slightly wistful that Luna was no longer warmly pinning him, and stood up to face his brother.

"I was not... doing that!"

"If you say. It looked to me like you wanted to join with her," Was-Grounded teased.

Shadowwing flung out his wings and darted forward through the air with a burst of speed. They collided and tumbled heads over tails into a large mound of snow at the side of the main road. Part of the massive pile was dislodged at the impact and slid down the slope, crashing over the two Furies' heads and completely covering them in the snowbank.

Both Luna and Green-Wings huffed as one.

"Males..." "Males..."

* * *

"No Moon-Dancer, not here," he groaned.

It tried his patience how his baby son still struggled to control basic things like where not to relieve himself. Though it was not so surprising for a baby. He had known this would be an issue from being in his brother's cave when Dawn-Singer and Aurora were themselves hatchlings. It was a normal part of life.

"Over there in the waste-sand place for waste, not here where we sleep..."

"Did he make a mess again?" Luna sighed.

"Yes, I will clean it."

He hopped to his feet, trotted over to the supplies, grabbed a rag, and did what was necessary.

"Having a little one is not all happy-hums and warm-nuzzling, is it?" she teased.

"No, it is not..." he groaned.

"They all learn to keep themselves clean even before they learn their words. Green-Wings told me much about having hatchlings. He might learn faster if you would show him what you want him to do... show him where to drop his waste," she offered.

He only groaned heavily.

"Sky-breath take me... showing him this by doing... is very twisting to me."

Luna laughed softly at his discomfort.

"Is it so twisting that you will not want to fly with me again in the new-life-season?"

He blinked and took only an instant to consider all of it; the being awoken in the middle of the night by a gnawing, hungry hatchling, the frustration of having to clean up after his messes, and the constant need to talk to him. The warmth that always filled him as he talked to his son, cradled him, or gently played with him, and the pleasure of such special flights with Luna.

"I will never stop flying those flights or this shared life-flight with you. My brother and Green-Wings are not stopping, so why should we?" he chuckled.

She hummed softly and then bounded down to chase after Moon-Dancer, sending the hatchling running around the house with happy cries.

Shadowwing closed his eyes with his thoughts turned to the far south where all the other dragons were going through their own welcoming of another generation. All while Valka watched over them, ready to rally them in their defense if anything were to happen.

 _So we should be expecting them back here around late spring, I guess. They are in good hands with her watching over them._

Luna bounded back to their rock-bed with a squirming hatchling thrashing in her toothless maw. It would not be possible for either of them to do so before too long.

"Son..." Shadowwing got up to greet him.

Moon-Dancer huffed in his face with frustration at being put back to bed. A brief chin scratching was all that was needed and he was sound asleep moments later between her forearms.

Then something started bothering Shadowwing again. A question that he had puzzled over for a while as the worst of the winter began to pass. There was a terrible possibility that threatened all he was trying to build. Something that was trying to pull him away from part of what he loved.

 _We cannot remain hidden here forever. That is obvious. Then what? Why can't we all vanish together, dragons and humans?_

There was no one better to ask than Luna. She knew the most about that world.

"Luna, can I ask you a question?"

"You did," she grinned.

"Thank you for nothing..."

He rolled his eyes as he hopped up next to her and put a wing over her.

"You may ask another," she added.

"What are the kin in the hidden world like?"

She seemed to grumble at the question.

"My hatching-range was far from most other kin. Being away from most others is what my sire and dam wanted."

"Did they say why?"

"Other kin were dangerous to anything that was different from them."

"What about to our two-legs?"

She froze and turned to look at him.

"What?"

"I was thinking... could a two-leg like Kin-liver live in the hidden world? What if they needed to fly there to be safe?"

She grumbled, shifted her head, and looked away toward a wall.

"I do not think that the kin would want two-legs in the hidden world if the kin flew in the above. They would remember the bad that two-legs can be. I do not think the hidden world is a good place for two-legs."

"And what would you say about them?" he warily asked.

"Do you truly want me to answer that question?" she sighed softly.

"Yes Luna, speak with truth. You will always have my liver."

She was silent for a long time before she answered him.

"I do not know what two-legs could do to prove that they have no rot in their livers or any wanting to make us life-thralls. After all the times they have hurt me and after all the trust that I tried to give, I do not know now."

He whimpered softly at her words.

"Luna, would you say that the kin that... hurt you were bad kin?"

"If they... hurt me and knew what they were doing, then yes."

"Does what they did make all kin bad? Or is the badness only in each kin who does the bad thing?" he asked.

"In the ones that did the bad."

"Yes, not in all."

She sighed.

"I know that I should think as you say, but it is hard to after... everything..."

He lay his chin on her neck and softly purred.

"I understand that, Luna."

He remained there with her until her breaths slowed enough that he was sure that she was asleep. Then he rearranged his head so that he could see Moon-Dancer as he slept.

It was amazing how much Moon-Dancer, and any Fury hatchling, grew in the first months. He had tripled in length from nose to tailtip. A steady supply of fish and other dried meats combined with sleeping and listening to his parents' voices was all he truly needed.

If there was anything at all about Moon-Dancer's upbringing so far that he was not entirely happy about, it was that it was harder for his son to be exposed to humans with Valka gone. Luna did not truly trust any other humans. It was far too soon for his son to begin speaking in dragon, but he suspected that earlier exposure to Norse could only help his son to understand humans better and faster, as it clearly had for Dawn-Singer, Aurora, and Rain-Eater. Staying long in the Great Hall so that Moon-Dancer could overhear conversations was probably not enough for him to fully understand.

 _We really need to make plans for this in the future. Maybe we can train someone else to take her place on these missions._

He closed his eyes after staring long at his son's mottled hide and very smooth scales, so like Luna's in feel and appearance other than color. His thoughts gradually settled on Luna's reasonable musings on what to expect from the hidden world.

 _I guess it makes sense that dragons might not trust humans in their hidden home. Mimir did say that the ones that always lived in the hidden world would not know to fear humans. Any others from the above probably would be more wary. Hmm, that sounds like Nords actually. Even back on Berk they did not truly accept dragons at first, even after everything that happened on Dragon Island._

Then he grumbled to himself as he remembered Eret's warning.

 _But it doesn't matter if we cannot take everyone here into the hidden world. We can defend ourselves from almost anything. And even if we had to leave here, we could always go somewhere else together._


	73. III - To Fly Together

_**Author's Note – Basically everything in this chapter relates to flying in some way.**_

* * *

 _" _For some years I have been afflicted with the belief that flight is possible to man." - Wilbur Wright – Letter to Octave Chanute__

* * *

To Fly Together

* * *

The new-life-season was approaching, and everything was peaceful for now. Many of the kin were only slowly starting to rise from long sleeps. Everyone still slept much as the cold was still great in the air.

Was-Grounded remained where he was on his warmed rock-bed and up against Green-Wings. All his nest-kin piled in around him except for Dawn-Singer. His first was taking more of his life-flight out of the den and among the other two-legs whom he held close to the liver.

 _Life in this tree-den and mixed-nest is not much bad. It is warmer, safer, and much closer to food, our own kin, and the good two-legs._

Quiet almost-sleep restfulness filled with the purrs of his nest-kin passed until Dawn-Singer darted inside and forcefully closed the mouth to the den while giving a soft growl-whine. His tail drooped behind him as he shuffled over to the fire and then collapsed by it, moaning softly as he did so. It was very much not like his first little one, not truly a little one now. Dawn-Singer was flying on his fourth season-cycle now and was starting to get his adult head-frills, a certain sign that he was life-making mature now, even if he was not yet his full size.

"Dawn-Singer, what is chilling you?"

The first of his liver opened heavy eyes and rumbled sadly.

"I had a fight."

"A fight? Did you win?"

"No, I lost..."

Was-Grounded blinked and warbled in alarm and surprise.

"What? How could a Night Fury lose a fight?"

"It was a fight with a two-leg..."

"Why? Why did you fight?"

Dawn-Singer weakly hung his head.

"He was false in his liver..."

Was-Grounded gasped in shock.

"False? What do you mean?"

"I thought that he was warmed by being around me and sharing words with me. He only wanted to make me his... almost bond-kin."

"What do you mean his almost bond-kin? What did he want to do?"

Dawn-Singer sighed.

"He said that I should put the carrying-things on my back because he wants them on me. I... think he wants to be the first two-leg to have a Night Fury..."

Dawn-Singer softly snarled.

"... as its life-thrall."

It was the first time he had ever heard his Dawn-Singer show any anger at all toward two-legs. And the way that Dawn-Singer put it was rather chilling.

"Dawn-Singer, I think you and he did not hear the other. Two-legs are much warmed by us sharing our wings and backs with them. Remember that they do not have any wings and are much grounded in the cold-season."

Sad grumbling and drooping ears followed.

"Maybe... I am not so certain that I know two-legs now. I thought that I did. Sire, you said that you had a much-warm two-leg who was almost like a nestmate to you. How did you know what he wanted? How did you see into his liver?"

 _That is no easy question to fly..._

"I learned with many sun-cycles with him. I did not know what to think of him at first, but I saw into his liver."

"And he never did anything life-twisting?"

Was-Grounded snorted at that.

"Almost every sun-cycle was another twistedness, but I never thought that he wished me any bad or wanted to make me a thrall."

 _Our first meeting does not truly count..._

Dawn-Singer looked over at him and heavily sighed without saying anything.

"I did say that it can hurt to let another touch your liver. There is much learning that both you and any two-legs you hold close must do," Was-Grounded kindly continued.

"I know, but it hurts to learn that another is not what I thought they were," Dawn-Singer groaned.

Was-Grounded got up and walked over to his first whom he then nosed on the shoulder.

"The winds of life are not always only warm. And you always have your nest-kin here. We will not turn tails on you."

Dawn-Singer then sighed and closed his eyes to find some comfort in sleep in the fire's warmth.

Was-Grounded tried to return to sleep but found himself unable to do so. A biting thought kept nipping at his tail.

 _Is that truth? Is that what we are to the two-legs? Things to use for flying? Not that flying is bad in any way and the other kin do not seem to care, but..._

 _I wonder what Hiccup thought of me before. Was I only something to use to touch the sky?_

* * *

"No!" Shadowwing exclaimed, wide eyed with alarm.

"Liver-truth?"

"That is liver-truth. Brother, why would you think that about me?"

Was-Grounded softly groaned and lay down before them both to regard them. Luna was busy nuzzling Moon-Dancer's nose at his brother's side with their tails entwined as usual. Even so, she was clearly listening in on the conversation.

"Dawn-Singer had a fight with one of his friend two-legs. The two-leg seemed to think that Dawn-Singer was a four-leg kin-thrall with wings to use for flying and not a life like it."

Shadowwing weakly sighed at hearing that.

"Not all two-legs think well. They do have rock-head problems."

Luna snickered at that and mumbled something about rocks in their heads.

"But one rotted or smelling bad fish should not foul the pile," Shadowwing continued.

"No, it should not, but it makes the entire pile smell bad," Was-Grounded answered.

Then he paused and warily continued.

"What about me, brother? What was I to you when you were a two-leg? We have never shared words on this. It will not change anything now, but I do want to know."

Luna lifted her head at this and tilted it slightly in anticipation.

Shadowwing stared directly into his brother's deep green eyes.

"I felt warmed whenever I played with you. When I brought you fish to eat, when we played tag and," snort, "throw the little two-leg in the water..."

Throaty chuckling from the other two followed that remark.

"... and sleep with my head on the two-leg's belly so he cannot leave. Grr... but you wanted to see me, you were happy and warmed when I came to our friend-place. None in my home-nest wanted to see me much then, but you were different and warmer even though you were a kin. I wanted to... help your hurt and let you fly again."

Shadowwing looked to consider his words for a moment.

"I did feel great warmth from flying with you when we learned how, but I would have helped you into the sky even if I could not follow. I probably could have made a not-tailfin that would let you fly on your own if I had many sun-cycles to think about making it. I would also have wanted to be your life-bond two-leg even if you were always to be a grounded kin."

Then he seemed to groan at himself.

"Without becoming a kin though I might not have known how strong your thinking was or that you could talk, but I do not think that I could have thought of you as a small-thinking life-thrall. I hope not."

Was-Grounded only purred during the entire explanation. Then he finally spoke again after listening throughout.

"I think I knew all that about you. You always were... different. I wish I knew what the problem is with this one two-leg."

"Maybe it forgot that Dawn-Singer is not like the other kin. Maybe it wants much to fly after the cold-season and was not thinking good thoughts," Shadowwing mused.

Then Was-Grounded suddenly laughed deeply.

"I know what to do! I will tell Dawn-Singer to grab that two-leg in his arms, fly very fast and spin with him, leave him high up on a mountain, and then picture-talk. That two-leg wants flying, and it will have flying..."

"What you did with Astrid?" Shadowwing calmly asked.

"Yes," Was-Grounded grinned a toothy grin and then left, closing the door behind him as he departed.

Luna turned to him after Was-Grounded left. She paused a moment and then asked the question.

"What are we to the two-legs here?"

"What do you mean?" he groaned.

Her puzzled growl followed.

"I wonder if they see us as you did Was-Grounded once, or if they see us as work-four-legs with wings. Or maybe they only think of us as kin to claim and mark in their own way."

"Not all of them are false..."

"Maybe not, but I still think you were a different two-leg. I think you always had the life-fire of a kin and were hatched in the wrong body. You and your dam, Kin-liver."

He could summon no answer to that, having now been told that by two of the most important people in his life.

* * *

Dawn-Singer was very nervous. Great sire had shared with him an idea with lift that might help him learn what was so life-twisted about that one two-leg. The two-leg, named Erevan, whatever that meant, had a younger female nestmate named Helga, and she was better-thinking and more understanding in most things. In all things actually.

He stalked up closer behind Erevan, hesitated, and then made up his mind with a growl. He confidently strode forward until he stood behind his was-friend, all without the two-leg noticing.

Then he huffed in Erevan's head-fur.

"Dawn-Singer! You..."

 **You want to fly**

"Well, yes. Should I go get the saddle for you?"

His answer was to reach out and grab the two-leg in his forearms and then leap for the sky.

"What are you..."

Then the screaming started. The whistling wind helped to block out the annoying sound.

 _Great skies... two-legs! Why are you so twisting!_

Higher and higher they flew until he was sure that the two-leg's lungs were going to give out from overuse.

 _I think we are high enough now..._

Then he leveled off and started smoothly gliding. Erevan eventually calmed somewhat. Enough to speak at least.

"What are you doing, you stupid dragon! This is not how you fly! Listen to me, we are going to..."

He dropped Erevan.

Unlike certain other two-legs who had strong life-bonds with their kin and now wore the false-wings that let them glide-fall through the sky, Erevan did not.

 _Keep flapping those arms, you stupid two-leg! It will not help you stop falling... falling!_

Then he finally decided that enough of a lesson had been taught, dove after him, and caught the two-leg. But there was something wrong with it.

 _Why are you sleeping? Does falling make two-legs sleep? I will never understand two-legs at this speed of flying..._

He eventually landed far outside the Haven-nest, confirmed that Erevan was still sleeping, and covered the liver-twisting two-leg with a wing. The two-leg woke up shortly thereafter, and did so with a bit of whimpering and crying.

 _Now we talk!_

"Why did you... do that to me? I could have... died..."

 **Easy catch**

 **Why do you think I am yours?**

"Because... that is how it works, right? Everyone gets a dragon of our own?" Erevan softly sniffled.

Dawn-Singer snarled softly and wrote furiously.

 **You cannot take a place on my back**

 **I will not let you or any do that**

 **That is something I can give freely**

 **You cannot earn it or expect it**

Erevan looked at the words and eventually nodded. Some of Dawn-Singer's own growling frustration started to fade.

 **Why did you yell at me?**

 **And tell me what to do?**

"I... I thought we were friends and that meant we should fly together. And we have been stuck inside for so long during the winter... that I wanted to finally fly with my own dragon," Erevan sighed.

 **I understand that**

 **But I am not your dragon**

"Can... can I try again? Can we be friends again?"

Dawn-Singer paused, his claw hovering over the dirt as he pondered his answer.

 **It will take time**

 **I will fly you home**

He did not give Erevan a chance to object, grabbed the two-leg in his forearms, his own back was a definite no-sitting-place, and flew back to the Haven-nest. He dove down, gently dropped the two-leg off outside the cave-den that he knew he nested in, briefly nodded to a confused and humored Helga, and then took to the sky to find some peace and warmth in gliding.

And all the while he softly moaned with a faint liver-chill. On the one paw, he knew that he had done good to remind this two-leg, who it seemed did not mean any true bad, that kin are not to be thought of as things to use. On the other paw though, it still hurt to know that one he thought he knew well had some rotted thinking hiding in its liver.

 _Maybe he will throw that rot out now. Maybe he will learn and be different._

Snort.

 _I wonder how great sire knew that this flight had lift._

* * *

"You can do it Moon-Dancer! Fly!"

His son hopped around the house while flapping wildly, even managing several lengths of successful gliding.

And then his son pitched forward wildly and tumbled with a squeal onto his back. Luna was at his side a moment later to make sure that nothing was hurt. Nothing was hurt as Moon-Dancer bounded to his feet in the next breath and flung out his wings again with a happy growl.

"He has such strong life-fire!" Luna happily hummed as she watched Moon-Dancer bouncing around.

"He gets that from me..." he teased.

Her head slowly swiveled toward him.

"And... from you!" he quickly clarified.

Her faint snarl changed into a warm purr. He only warily grinned and turned his attention back to their son.

 _Great skies... sometimes I wonder about her. Definitely playfulness... I hope..._

Moon-Dancer eventually tired of his play and slowly crept back to the sleeping rock where Luna was resting. He leapt up to her side and burrowed under a wing.

"You will be a very strong flier, Moon-Dancer. Very much like your sire-father," she hummed.

He popped his little head out and blinked at her.

"And like your dam-mother," Shadowwing added with a playful wing-swipe at her head.

"Dammmm," Moon-Dancer hummed.

They both gasped and looked down at him.

"Did you talk?" Luna nuzzled his nose.

"Dammmm," Moon-Dancer licked her nose.

"Me? What about me, little one?" Shadowwing crouched down as well.

"Srrrree."

"Almost, my little one, sire, sire, sire," Shadowwing chuckled.

"Srrrree."

More happy chuckling followed.

"He is starting to talk much sooner than Green-Wings said that her little ones did. His thinking is very strong," Luna warmly hummed after nuzzling the little one again.

The opportunity was too great.

"He gets that from me," Shadowwing whispered.

And he bounded out of the way to dodge the anticipated tail strike.

"And... you sat and sang to his egg very well," he hastily added.

She laughed at him, and he laughed as well.

* * *

"Just my luck, I mean really? Why must I be the one to always..."

"Eret! Get over here!"

He threw aside the shovel coated in... fertilizer... and huffed over to the source of the summons.

 _Do gooder-dragon riders! Got a problem, got a load of dung to get rid of, need some fish for your beastie, send for Eret. Poor, helpless Eret!_

"I'm coming, sir!"

 _What did I do to deserve all this? I mean really? I was trying to be considerate to them and not be violent and all and it was just good business... it's not my fault that..._

The Nord Chief was standing before him, and the large but somewhat short man had his arms across his chest.

"Chief Thorvald, my pleasure. How may I assist you today?"

"You can talk to me, Eret son of Eret. How are you?"

Eret stared in surprise and remembered to close his mouth.

"Uh, what are you asking?"

"How are you doing in our world? Other than the work of course, gods above, that part must not be pleasant."

Eret resisted the urge to make a snide remark. Making a smart comment would be dumb assuming that the Chief understood, which was itself a questionable proposition.

"Your world here at Haven is very... different."

"Oh, that is certainly true. But what do you think about it?"

"It's certainly amazing how you have trained these beasts to do things for you," he admitted.

"Trained them? I guess we do some training for certain things, yeah. But it is not like training a wolf exactly. It is more of a... relationship..."

"I will not understand it."

"Actually, that is what I want you to do something about Eret. Go get a bucket of fish and meet me back here."

"Sure thing, Chief."

Eret turned away from him and proceeded to the storage building.

 _Wait, did I just voluntarily call him my Chief? Must have been a mistake. I mean, he is a good leader and not a barbarian but that was just a mistake._

He fetched a bucket of fish and returned to the square where the Chief... where Thorvald was waiting for him.

"Excellent, you are back. Follow me Eret."

They started walking.

"Tell me Eret, what type of dragon here is your favorite?"

"My favorite? Why do you ask?"

"Oh, everyone has their own preference. Some are more gentle, others play more, some people go for fire..."

"Well, I guess the Nadders have always had a deadly beauty about them. Sometimes they seem like overgrown, playful birds. But then I remember their poison spines and very hot fire," Eret answered.

Thorvald chuckled at that.

"This is perfect then. I want you to meet your next task."

"Next task?"

"Yep, I spoke with people through the village and everyone agreed that you've been pulling your weight all through the winter. Never grumbling, at least not when people can hear you. Keeping the fish supplies stocked. Cleaning up."

"So what do you want me to do?"

Thorvald led him to a large stable on the outskirts of the village. The stable had a large blue and green Nadder inside.

"Do you know this one?" Thorvald asked.

"Uh, not really. Should I?"

"Her name is Stormfly. She is one of the smarter ones, and was one of the first dragons we ever got when we were back on Berk. Her former rider... was our last Chief, Astrid the Dragon Whisperer."

Eret gasped in amazement.

"The one on the wall in the Great Hall? She killed Bludvist."

Thorvald lowered his eyes to the ground and sighed.

"Yes, I do not know how that fight went, but we found them both dead at the bottom of a small cliff, Drago with a dagger in his neck."

"What do you want out of me?"

"Stormfly was always one of the friendlier and smarter dragons, but she has not been herself since then. She truly cared for Astrid, even if you find that hard to believe. I know that you probably don't believe it, but she did not even take a mate last year when most of the dragons did and I doubt that she would try to this year. That is why she is still here now and not with the other dragons."

Eret blinked as he started to understand what was going on.

"She's going to need someone to look out for her and maybe show her some kindness," Thorvald continued.

Said Nadder was indeed awake and looking intently at them both.

"You want me to... look out for it... for her?"

"Yes, almost all of the rest of us have our own dragons we are close to, and they can be jealous of their humans. I know Hookedfang is of me, Sifa, and our kids."

"But you are trying to make me a dragon rider! I don't know if I should consider that an honor or what."

"Why not though? What do you have to lose?"

"Fair point since you won't let me leave," he muttered.

"Do you know how it feels to touch the clouds?" Thorvald asked.

"The spray of the sea is enough for me."

"Just try this. Spend some time with her, be friendly, and you might find that you are not the only one who feels lost here," Thorvald softly groaned.

The Chief then left him alone.

 _Finally, I can have some..._

The Nadder, Stormfly, was staring at him with her birdlike head slightly tilted, as if with curiosity.

He blinked.

She blinked and chirped.

"Uh, your Chief... wants me to come over here and... Oh, what am I doing, thinking that a dragon can understand me..."

 _Except for Furies, but they do not count..._

"I bet you want some fish, huh?" he mumbled as he stepped closer.

He reached into the bucket and tossed a fish at said Nadder. The dragon swallowed the fish whole.

"See, knew it. Everything is fine with you."

Then the Nadder slowly sniffed at him and gave a warble that almost sounded disappointed.

"What? What's with you? I know I am not your Astrid but..."

He froze when the Nadder swung its head at him and stared.

Right after he had said Astrid's name.

 _Uh, that is strange... no way it understood..._

Then the Nadder looked away from him and lay its head on the ground with a heavy sigh.

The dragon almost looked... sad. Alone.

Almost as lost as he was.

"No way... you don't... miss her, do you?"

He stood up and put his hands on his head, trying not to think about what he had spent his whole life doing. Catching and selling creatures that it seemed could have... feelings or something...

And he felt something in his chest that he had not felt before. Something confusing.

Sympathy.

Pity.

And he turned back toward Stormfly.

"Hey uh, Stormfly..."

An eye lazily opened and stared at him.

"Ok, so you know your name at least..."

He slowly walked over to it and stretched out a hand toward the great nose. The great beak could easily take off the hand if it wanted. It could burn him to a crisp in seconds if it wanted.

It did not move as he closely rested the open palm on its nose. Neither of them moved for several seconds. Then he caught his breath again.

"I'm... not her... and I don't know... what I'm doing, but I don't think I'm going anywhere soon."

That great nose might have pressed a little harder against his palm. It may have been only his imagination. A simple beast wouldn't do such a thing.

But he now had some reason to doubt everything he had known and thought about the creatures.

Maybe it was the faint warmth in his chest. A warmth that had not been there before.

* * *

The trees were putting out green life, and there was a warmth in the air and a fire in life-water now. Other remaining kin were already answering their natural life-making needs, much to the confusion and amusement of the two-legs in the mixed-nest.

Luna bounded outside with Moon-Dancer securely on her back and went to Was-Grounded's tree-cave-den. A bark announced her presence before she nosed her way inside.

"Luna?" Green-Wings called out from within with her youngest, Mist-Wings, still dozing under a green wing.

Luna ran over to the nest-kin Night Fury whom she trusted fully, waking Mist-Wings in the process.

"Green-Wings, will you and Was-Grounded shelter Moon-Dancer for us?"

"Yes, are you taking Shadowwing on your flight?"

"Yes," she hummed back.

And then Moon-Dancer was on the cave-ground and dashing after little Mist-Wings in growling play as they had done before many times over the cold-season. He was in good paws.

"Play!" Moon-Dancer growled.

Then she turned and dashed back to her own cave-den to await her mate's return from grabbing fish.

 _How am I going to twist his tail this time? Hmm, outflying him is not a good flight. Hiding from him is too easy..._

She sat down immediately inside the mouth of the tree-den and waited while she thought of how to foul his flight as much as possible. Then he returned and bounded inside, quickly scrambling to a stop with his nose before hers.

"We need to talk," she growled.

He gave a worried growl as he stepped back from her.

"About what?"

"You and me..."

He gulped in fear as his ears went back. A worried warble escaped him.

"Where is Moon-Dancer?" he hastily asked.

"Your brother and Green-Wings have him. Follow me!"

Then she bounded out the den and flew away from the Haven-nest and toward the open plains. He was not far behind as she dove in for a landing on the grass. She then sat down and curled her tail around her front.

Then he was standing in front of her and had a very worried look and feel on his face and in his voice.

"Luna, what is twisting you?"

"You are," she hissed.

"Me?" he gave a very confused bark.

"Yes, you. Why should I fly with you?"

"Fly with me?"

She groaned and rolled her eyes.

"A mating flight, you rock-head!"

He blinked in shock and almost face-pawed at his stupidity.

 _Oh, I get it now... Yeah! Why indeed?_

"Why should you want to fly with a big, strong Alpha who keeps the peace in the nest and is a good, warm sire-father?"

He stood proudly and held his shoulders high while smugly grinning.

She blinked and stared, appearing thoroughly unimpressed as her tail tapped on the ground.

He only grumbled softly.

 _Not impressed... Alright then, need a bit more wooing... Uh... singing..._

"I will bring you piles of fish, and I will even sing you songs."

She snorted.

"I do not need your piles of fish, and I care not for your songs," she growled.

He lowered himself to the ground with a play-growl and swaying tail.

 _Tough... maybe she wants to play rough first?_

She only sat there, impassive and unmoved, and that greatly confused him.

 _Luna, I know you are playing tough to get. But I also know you want me, life-mates and all... Hmm, what do I not understand about this? Is there something I am supposed to..._

And he remembered some candid advice that his brother had given him.

 _Not really sure how it is supposed to help, but I might as well. He would know best._

It only took a couple seconds to do, and then he grinned at her.

Her unimpressed look slowly morphed into a mix of confusion and faint alarm. Her tail stopped swaying, and she gave a very confused grunt. She struggled to speak for a while.

He shook his tailfins over his head.

"What... are... you... doing?" she finally mumbled.

And it was with those words of hers that he finally realized exactly how absurd it was. And how well he had been played by his dear brother in revenge for some choice words shared with Green-Wings years ago.

 _'I will foul your flight for this...'_

His wild, smug grin faded into a completely neutral glare into another world as he let his tail drop down to the ground behind him.

 _I will foul your flight for this, brother!_

Luna collapsed onto her side with laughter. She beat the ground with a forelimb and apparently struggled to breathe, so great was her humor.

He only grinned stupidly and stared down at the ground.

"What... was... that?" she gasped.

"I do not know... My brother, may he step in waste, fouled my flight by telling me false things."

She recovered herself, flew to her feet, and pranced over to him, still chuckling wildly with her mirth. Then she hopped around him while brushing her wings against his side.

"How can I resist such display?" she laughed.

He groaned and hid his eyes in his shame and dismay.

And she pounced while he was unaware.

* * *

Was-Grounded had barely had time to recover himself after watching how well he had fouled his brother's flight when they started play-fighting in the long grass. Luna threw herself at her mate to pin him, and he shoved her off and lunged at her.

 _And my revenge for his telling Green-Wings my old twisted name is flown... I know he will want to fight me later, if he still has any life-fire after her. I doubt that._

Shadowwing pinned Luna and then hopped off her.

 _That is good, now all you need to do is..._

And they were off after finishing their play-fight, racing toward the clouds in their eagerness.

He sat down and waited as the flight-time passed.

 _This is very good. We watch their little one, and they will watch our little ones so that we can fly._

His thoughts turned to the far distant egg-hatching warm-bubble water island.

 _I wonder what is happening with the other kin. It might be a couple more moon-cycles before they can fly here with their fledglings._

 _And about flying... their Moon-Dancer is very much a strong flier. He is stretching his wings faster than any of mine did... Light Fury and Night Fury together._

His gaze was drawn up to the clouds.

 _And talking about that..._

He spotted the black and white mass tumbling from the clouds as one, wrapped up in her white wings. They fell from the heights until they separated and winged back toward the Haven-nest with much warm play and wing touching.

 _Give them enough time to get to the home-den, and then I fly the second wing of this revenge flight._

After a sufficient amount of time had passed, he flew back to the Haven-nest and found the largest fish he could. Then he snuck inside the home-den next to his.

They were up on their sleeping-rock as Shadowwing coiled partly around her and sheltered her under a wing, both of them asleep in restful peace. The sight always warmed his own liver, especially since he had seen how life-grounded and liver-chilled they had both been.

He walked over and stood near them, silently observing them as they slept. Then he bit the fish in half and placed both halves before the sleeping pair for when they woke up.

"Useless kin..." he whispered in Shadowwing's ear before sneaking out the den while giving a muffled laugh.

Then he returned to his own cave-den where Green-Wings had her tailfins sheltering two hatchlings, both sound asleep after much play.

"So?" she asked.

"They flew well and are sleeping now. I am waiting for that sun when we fly..." he nuzzled her nose.

She returned a happy growl and a slightly narrowed gaze.

"Very soon, my life-mate... I feel a warm fire in my liver even now. We could fly now and have our little ones watch the hatchlings..." she hummed while nipping his ears.

As appealing as the idea was, it still felt like a slight breaking of trust.

"No, they wanted us to shelter Moon-Dancer, and we will. But when they wake up..." he teased as he nibbled on her ears as well.

* * *

Shadowwing awoke to warmth and everything being completely right with the world. He was on his warm stone-bed, Luna was nestled up against him in his arms, their tails were entwined, and Moon-Dancer was surely just next door.

Everything was perfect.

There was something else though that was very puzzling.

A fish.

More specifically, an enormous cod neatly bitten in half and deposited right before each of them. It was not hard to guess who had put it there.

 _So, he finally returned the favor... how thoughtful of him. I am still going to get back at him someday. Note to self, never take wooing advice from him again, despite how successful he and Green-Wings are..._

 _Though, it is my fault for believing him at all. I totally fell for that one. Why did I ever think that a tail display would... actually, it got her to laugh at me, and that helped... I think..._

He lowered his head, rested on her neck, and purred deeply. She stirred at his touch while keeping her eyes shut.

"Are you hungry?" he whispered.

"Yes," she softly rumbled.

He withdrew his head and looked forward.

"Open your eyes."

She did and blinked in surprise.

"Where did the fish come from?"

"My brother brought it. I gave him and Green-Wings a fish gift when they became life-mates. They knew we were going flying."

She got to her feet and leaned forward to pick up her half. She gladly swallowed it and licked her lips in satisfaction.

"Yes, they knew. I gave them Moon-Dancer to nuzzle. And that was a good fish," she hummed.

He disposed of his own piece as well.

"As good as the fish was, I am still hungry," he groaned.

"You did do much..." she answered.

"I... what?"

She laughed openly at him, hopped to her feet, and dashed outside with him in close pursuit.

"Are you... teasing me?"

"That is an easy flight!"

They strolled through the village together to the nearest fish station. Several fresh catches vanished into their bellies in moments after arriving at the feeding station, and then they turned back for home. Several other dragons trilled happily in greeting as they passed.

And they were met with two other adult Furies standing there and patiently waiting for them.

Shadowwing's gaze locked on his brother's eyes.

"Brother," Shadowwing hissed.

"Brother," Was-Grounded hissed.

"You gave me very... good flight guiding with the tail-display," Shadowwing hummed.

"Wait, what?" Was-Grounded exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes, it helped me much to warm the ice around Luna's liver..." Shadowwing explained.

"There was no ice. Only twisting of his liver..." she objected.

"As I said, her laughing much melted the ice, and we flew very high together," Shadowwing continued with a warm hum and a very quick sticking out of his tongue.

Then he walked over to his brother and whispered.

"You try to foul my flight, and it helped me fly with her. Useless kin..."

"What!" Was-Grounded exclaimed in a mix of dismay and amusement. A very heavy huffing sigh followed.

"And now, you will watch all of our young ones and your hatchling. My mate and I are going flying," Green-Wings declared.

Both she and Was-Grounded were gone in moments.

Shadowwing and Luna watched as the other two flew off toward the mountains and disappeared. They then entered the other house where the younger siblings were resting or practicing letters in sand. Mist-Wings and Moon-Dancer were dozing on the rock-bed.

"Shadowwing, Luna!" Rain-Eater and Aurora happily growled.

"How are you, little ones?" Luna happily bounded over to them.

"Warm. Did you make a new egg?" Aurora asked.

"I think so," Luna hummed.

"Good, sire and dam are flying now," Aurora hummed.

Shadowwing happily sighed.

 _I will never get over how casual they are about it. No shame or awkwardness even at their age. Though we are more practical about... basically everything._

He purred softly as Luna walked over to the other stone-bed, hopped up onto it, and put a white wing over the two dozing hatchlings. Then he noticed something else that warmed his heart to see.

 _Aurora and Rain-Eater have been playing together in peace. I guess she outgrew that bit of sibling rivalry or at least mellowed at some point. That is part of growing up._

And he again noticed something else about her that was faintly different. Aurora's scales and wing-skin had started to turn very slightly from the pitch darkness that they had been. There was, even now in the dimmer light inside the house, a faint green and blue shine on them to match her eyes.

 _She will be quite stunning when she grows up. Quite like what she is named for. Hmm, Moon-Dancer and Aurora... I wonder. I hope._

* * *

"I think that he is ready," Luna hummed.

Shadowwing bounded on his feet in his eagerness at the thought. Only a couple of weeks had passed since his and Luna's first flight together this year, but even in that time Moon-Dancer had shown much progress with his wings. There had been several cases in which he had managed several house lengths of flight.

But it was time for a true test.

"I will take him," he answered.

Then he bounded over to his sleeping son.

"Moon-Dancer..." he hummed.

A head appeared from under a small wing, and sleepy eyes blinked at him.

"Time to fly!"

Moon-Dancer's eyes went very wide at the recognized words.

"Flying!" Moon-Dancer happily exclaimed.

Then Shadowwing grabbed him and turned for the open door as Luna led them both outside. And they were soaring high over the village moments later, his precious son clutched to his breast.

 _'Then they drop their hatchling...'_

 _Great skies, I am about to do this. I am going to drop my son and hope that he learned how to fly._

But he remembered all the practice flying and gliding Moon-Dancer had already done.

 _He is ready, but am I? Am I ready to let go and... have him fly on his own?_

A quick glance confirmed that Luna was gliding below and attentively watching.

Moon-Dancer trilled happily against his chest and whipped his tail in eagerness.

Shadowwing took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"Fly..." Moon Dancer hummed.

Shadowwing let go of his son.

He heard nothing except the wind whistling in his ears as he glided. Then he peeked open his eyes and saw Moon-Dancer calmly flying several lengths below and before him in a steady, stable flight.

His heart burned aglow for his son's triumph and first truly free flight.

 _Oh son, I'm so proud of you!_

He roared aloud with joy, a cry which Luna echoed from below. Even Moon-Dancer, rather reserved for a now-fledgling, added his voice to their shared cry. The call was echoed from down below as Dawn-Singer, Aurora, Rain-Eater, and Green-Wings rose as well to join them in the flight. Was-Grounded stayed down below on his overlooking perch while keeping Mist-Wings at his side. She was getting closer to being ready to fly as well, though Moon-Dancer was definitely much earlier to stretch his wings.

The flight above flew in peace together, spinning and dancing in the sky, until Moon-Dancer started to slow and tire, at which point they turned back and glided for home and rest.

The last things that Shadowwing saw before he dove down after Luna and Moon-Dancer were the distant scouts high up the sky keeping watch over the distant horizon for the return of the other dragons.

Or the appearance of anything more sinister.


	74. III - Preparations

_**Author's Note – This is a transition chapter with an obvious trailer reference. The moment in the quote is one which really should have been included in The Return Of The King.**_

* * *

 _" _He halted and held up a long pale sword. And as he did so a great fear fell on all, defender and foe alike; and the hands of men drooped to their sides, and no bow sang. For a moment all was still." - LOTR - The Return Of The King (book)__

* * *

Preparations

* * *

 _That looks different. There are not many water-walkers in these waters now. Unless..._

Luna growled softly to herself as she glided. What was meant to be calm, solitary night flight as her life-mate tended to Moon-Dancer might not be such a calm flight. Curiosity got the better of her, and she loosed a short, hot burst of hiding-fire and flew through it. The familiar, warming almost-fire feeling flowed around her.

Her flight took her down and closer to the water-walker to see what flight it was flying. There were only three possibilities she knew of; it was hunting fish, carrying unknown two-leg things from nest to nest, or it was a kin-thrall holding water-walker used by trappers.

If it was the last of these...

She glided smoothly over its wings without making a sound. And she saw all that she needed to see.

Empty traps, ropes and vines, and false-tooth-sticks and other weapons. It was a kin-thrall-making water-walker.

And she remembered the two-legs that entered her old den to kill her and take Moon-Dancer in the egg. It was still difficult to turn aside and not tear apart and eat the liver of the flight-Alpha that was now bonded to the storm-flier spine-tail. The hurt that killing its two-leg would do to the spine-tail kin named storm-flier was the reason why she did not kill that two-leg now when she saw it in the mixed-nest.

These kin-hunter, thrall-maker two-legs though...

She snarled and turned her flight toward the water-walker. Then she roared aloud to get their attention and readied her fire, the wind whistling over her fins and parted maw. Night Furies were not the only kin who could make the wind scream in pain.

And these Monsters deserved to hear their deaths coming.

 _Feel the chill in your livers!_

She saw the thrall-makers running around on the water-walker's back. They lifted their small-tooth-throwing things and started looking around the skies.

Their confusion was great as they saw nothing to aim at. Being able to hide from all eyes was very warming.

A ball of white life-fire tore into the water-walker from above as a living, wrathful shadow struck in surprise. The back of the water-walker was torn open as its wooden bones were pulled apart by the hungry, consuming fire.

The Monsters on the water-walker's back, at least those still alive, looked up at the sky in confusion and fear. All command and planning departed from their livers as they used their stick-throwing things and threw thin-sticks up toward her.

 _As if you can hit me without seeing me..._

Then, the water-walker's back broken, the night was lit up by a stream of white fire that burned the water-walker's wings and spilled out on its back. The fire began to eat the Monsters or forced them to jump into the hungry water.

Fire or cold were their only choices. Death would eat them either way.

 _You deserve far worse! Nest-breakers! Thrall-makers!_

She circled around the grounded and burning water-walker to make sure that there were no living Monsters on or around it in the water. The few bodies visible and moving in the water gradually stilled and disappeared.

Then there was no motion at all.

She gave a satisfied growl and then turned for the far distant home-range as her hiding fire lost its use and she appeared again to the world. But there were no others to see her.

 _Grr, the Haven two-legs have enough water-walkers. They did not need this one also. Even so, I do not think I will tell Shadowwing. This was warming to kill these Monsters._

"I am a hunter," she snapped her teeth and growled.

* * *

Shadowwing gave a very happy sigh.

 _Where did the spring go? I guess it was just much more peaceful with most of the dragons off taking care of business. Not that this dragon is going to complain about it..._

This was another absolutely perfect afternoon. There were no incidents at all anywhere in the village because there were almost no wild dragons available to incite any incidents. He chose to use this time doing the most important thing possible, flying with those he loved.

Moon-Dancer was an absolute natural in the skies. He needed no instruction at all as he easily copied moves that should not have been possible at his age. More than flying though was his prowess with language. He was indeed picking up words very quickly and was even clearly learning to understand some of the spoken human words.

His own flights with Luna at his side always warmed his heart as they danced in the sky, taking great pleasure in fouling each other's flights and doing all manners of complicated moves for no reason other than the fun of it. Spinning spirals, flying belly to belly, upside down flights, spinning dives, all were successfully flown.

As if those were not enough, the other Furies were more than happy to join them in the skies. Those moments, the four adults gliding together while watching their children flying and playing together in games of tail-tag, flight-fouling, and speed contests, were perfectly peaceful.

 _No problems, very little stress of leadership, almost no trappers, this is nothing but life._

It was as he was reflecting on how good life was at the moment that he noticed something out on the horizon. A large cloud that seemed to sparkle all the colors of the rainbow was quickly approaching.

He gave a heavy sigh.

 _Oh well, it was nice while it lasted._

* * *

Haven was packed with dragons again. Almost every one of them that had left had seemingly returned with their broods in tow. Every Nord family was seemingly absorbed in all the activity of the welcoming back of their known dragons and respective families.

"I missed ya!" "Oh, I knew you'd come back!" "There ya are!" "Look at em all!"

Shadowwing was sitting atop the Great Hall and overseeing everything when he saw Cloudjumper land before him down on the ground. Valka, still clad in her wild attire, hopped off and immediately ran inside the Great Hall.

 _Odd..._

He hopped down to the ground and dashed inside the Great Hall as well. Then he saw Chief Thorvald, Gobber, and Valka up at the main table. She had her flight helmet off.

She looked shaken and rushed to embrace his head when he returned and bounded up to them.

"Son, you might want to hear this," she whispered.

He nodded and followed her. She stepped in front of the Chief's table and held everyone's attention as she fingered her staff.

Then she looked up and took a breath.

"We flew over an armada out there. Dozens of ships on the water. There were enough cages for all of our dragons!"

A shocked silence followed around the table.

"You are sure? They are coming here?" Thorvald groaned.

"I do not see where else they would go. They are definitely prepared to fight dragons or trap them. There aren't many other dragons anywhere they could go after."

"How long do we have before they might get here?" Gobber sighed.

Valka leaned against the table and paused in thought for a few moments.

"A few weeks at least. They were still gathering their numbers. Definitely enough time for us to prepare... something."

Shadowwing eventually recovered himself from the shock of the announcement and reached for the pencil and paper.

 **What can we do?**

 **This is our home too**

"We can always have scouts in the air over the water and over land. They can fly patrols to watch for this armada. And weapons, we will need weapons. Armor for some dragons would help also. I think we still have the armor we took from some of the wild ones from Drago's army," Thorvald mused after a moment of silence.

Then Valka asked an odd question.

"Do we still have all the empty ale barrels?"

"Sure do, why?" Gobber wondered.

"Fill them with Nightmare and Zippleback gas. Light the barrel on fire and drop it onto a ship, the barrel breaks, and the ship is gone or burning," she casually explained.

Shadowwing winced in faint sympathy for whatever unfortunate souls would be onboard such a targeted ship.

 _That does sound very powerful. Yeah, we can do that. Hold on..._

 **Are we saying that ale barrels**

 **Might help win a battle**

Everyone looked around in surprise at each other and then burst out laughing. The heavy laughter greatly helped to relieve the rising tension of the moment.

"Alright, we will get on it. Gobber, you are on all of the forge work, let me know how much help you need and you will have it. Dragonheart, Shadowwing, you are in charge of coming up with ways all the dragons can contribute. I will get with some of the warriors and start teaching those who are strong enough how to fight," Thorvald proposed.

"The wingsuits might be very helpful also," Valka added.

 **I will let the Furies know about this**

 **We can lead others dragons in battle**

Thorvald then stood up and looked around the table at all the stoic and determined expressions.

"We can do this. All of us, together."

* * *

"Brother, I must talk to you."

"We can talk now," Was-Grounded answered as he lay piled under several dozing siblings.

Shadowwing paused and carefully considered his words.

"It should only be the two of us. Both Alphas. Trust me."

Was-Grounded nodded at that and slowly pulled himself out of the warm pile.

"Grr... what?" Aurora mumbled before falling back to sleep.

Was-Grounded followed Shadowwing outside the house and followed him through the air out to the cliffs where they both landed. There were several other dragons with their broods walking about down the shore.

"What did you want to talk about?"

Shadowwing lifted his head and looked out over the twilight waters.

"There is a bad flight of two-legs far away on the waters. Kin-liver saw them when all the kin were flying here with their nests."

"Is there? And?"

"The bad flight has many water-walkers filled with traps for catching kin."

Was-Grounded's teeth appeared and his tail thrashed.

"And they have set their flight to this range?" he growled.

"Yes, they would not flock together to hunt other ranges," Shadowwing sighed.

"What will the Haven-nest do?"

"The two-legs are preparing to fight. They will make things to help in fighting; things that can burn bad water-walkers and protect kin from dangers. More of the two-legs are learning how to fight again with their false-teeth weapons. All will be ready to fight for this range."

Was-Grounded gave a satisfied growl as he joined his brother in looking out toward the horizon.

"Why?"

"What?" Shadowwing asked.

"Why would two-legs from beyond want to fight here? Do they truly want this range for their own?"

Shadowwing sighed, thinking back over what Eret had told them before.

"I do not know. Some two-legs have kin-hate deep in their livers. Others might want to take kin as thralls and cannot find enough kin to take in other ranges."

And he closed his eyes with a pain in his heart.

"Others might think that kin are all Monsters that must be killed."

"But what did we do to them? We are here in our range, not in their ranges and killing or hurting them," Was-Grounded objected.

"Not now, but kin might have been in past suns. Maybe some two-legs want to fly a revenge flight against kin for past bad things."

"They think they were wronged by kin and they want to hurt kin now to make those past hurts not be?" Was-Grounded grumbled in confusion.

"Maybe," Shadowwing mumbled.

"But that only means that the fighting and revenge flights will never stop."

"True, one side must choose to not fly a revenge flight even if it would feel good and warming to do more fighting," Shadowwing sighed.

They stared out over the horizon again, their tails swaying as they softly growled in wariness.

"We have many kin here to fight for the range. What will the bad two-leg flight have? Water-walkers? Two-legs and sharp stick-throwing-things?" Was-Grounded coldly laughed.

Then he snorted with derision.

"No great-tusk-Alpha can harm us now. There are no kin that can be a true danger to us both together," he continued.

Then he dropped his snarl, paused, and warily turned to his brother in clear consideration.

"Why must there be a fight?"

"What?" Shadowwing asked in confusion.

"If the bad flight does want to come here, why not leave this range and go... somewhere safer?"

"The nest already left home-nest-island and the ice nest. We cannot fly from dangers always. We must defend ourselves and show that we are strong," Shadowwing answered.

A moment of silence passed.

"How did the thrall-makers and this bad flight find our range?" Was-Grounded asked.

"Probably because they saw kin in the skies," Shadowwing answered.

"Yes, kin flying freely in the sky will always let the bad nests know where we are. What if those kin all flew in other, hidden ranges where no two-legs could ever see them?"

Shadowwing stiffened when he understood the suggestion.

Another silence passed as the last of the sun's red glow began to vanish beyond the horizon.

"No, that is not good. We cannot turn our tails on our own."

Was-Grounded shuffled closer to him and gently nudged him.

"I know that you have that good, warm vision-hope that is close to your liver, but there will be death if we fight this bad nest. How many must die? What would you be willing to lose to have that vision-hope live?"

Shadowwing closed his eyes at the memory of a time when another spoke roughly the same to him. He found that he could muster no words for a long time.

"We are one nest and will fight for each other, kin and two-legs. We should fly to our home-dens now," he eventually whispered.

They both waited not a moment longer without saying anything else. The flight was silent as they flew for their homes.

And night well and truly fell over Haven.

* * *

The next couple weeks passed in a blur of activity. The forge was kept working day and night, churning out lightweight weave armor to protect the dragons' vulnerabilities and shields to protect their riders in flight. The volatile barrels contributed to by Nightmares and Zipplebacks were stored up in the abandoned caves under constant guard to ensure no incidents. Patrols were constantly flying over the waters with eyes to the horizon and on far more distant scouting missions.

And there was a lot more drinking happening in the village. People needed more comfort after all with the growing tension in the air. Even the dragons started getting jumpier and growling at everything that moved.

* * *

Far out on the grassy plain stood two black Furies, both intently staring at the other.

"Why are we here?" Shadowwing asked.

Was-Grounded, clearly deep in thought, sat back on his rear.

"Do you remember the fighting-teaching that we did when we were fledglings?" he eventually asked.

"Yes, most of it. The weaknesses are wings, keep them tucked, the tailfins, obviously, and the throat."

Was-Grounded hummed with satisfaction.

"Good, we can play-fight later."

"Why? We will not be fighting kin, only two-legs," Shadowwing wondered.

"Still, practice-fighting is good and makes your life-fire warmer."

Then he grumbled softly.

"What are you thinking?" Shadowwing asked.

"You say that one of the bad-Alphas is a hunter of us Night Furies. How? I do not think that two-legs alone could find and hunt us."

"You think that he might have thrall-kin that help him?"

Was-Grounded ruffled his wings and paced nervously, his tail twitching behind him.

"Maybe. There are some kin that hunt other kin. None of them should be a true danger to us together, but I want you to be ready if we must fight other kin. Ground fighting you know, but sky fighting you have not needed to do."

Shadowwing gave a wry hum.

"I do remember the kin-eating Monster on fire-nest-island. That was sky-fighting. And I fought the great-tusk."

"Do you remember that fight well? Could you do it now against another kin that can fly after you?"

Shadowwing blinked and groaned.

"True, great-tusks cannot fly."

Was-Grounded chuckled at that before he began the lesson.

"I do not know if we could have killed the fire-nest-island Monster any other way. It had very thick scales. I do not think that we will need to fight another Monster like that. Now, what do you think is most important rule about fighting in the sky?"

Not much thought was necessary to answer that question.

"Not getting broken wings, so not getting shot or clawed in the wings and for that I need to always know where the other kin is flying," Shadowwing answered.

A satisfied hum was the response.

"Yes, always know where the other kin is. The second rule flies with the first, always know where the other kin cannot see you. Stay in that place, and you are much safer and are more able to ground them. Much of the sky fight is not in the hitting, breaking, biting, or flaming, it is in the... dance before and around."

Then Shadowwing put forward a forelimb and tapped the ground with his claws.

"We do not have the longest claws or biggest teeth of kin. What is the best flight for grounding a bad kin in the sky?" he asked.

"Fast flying and our fire. Fighting close to the body is not good. Our claws are not the longest, our scales are not the thickest, and we are not the biggest kin. Use fire-clouds to fill the other kin's eyes with flashes of light. Use deep-water-diving fire to break wings. Let the falling ground and kill the bad kin. Also, it is very hard to hit a kin with fire if the kin does not fly straight or in a way that is known. Always change flight every few wingbeats so that the other kin cannot know where you will be."

Shadowwing grumbled softly.

"That is much to think about."

Was-Grounded only shrugged.

"It is much like flying. You only think when trying to fledge. Then you stop thinking, and the flight is much easier to fly."

Then Shadowwing looked up from the ground, a question on his mind.

"I remember many season-cycles ago that you saw me when I was hiding in the frozen-fluffy-water. You said that you saw me without seeing me. How? It might help me always know where the bad kin is."

Was-Grounded then hummed, clearly collecting his thoughts.

"Life-fire, you can see it without using your eyes."

"How?"

Was-Grounded grumbled at the question.

"I have no words that can say it well. You... let all other things that you see, smell, touch, hear, and taste not be to you. And you will see a... light... where there is life but you see it in your head, not with eyes. The light is brighter the more the living thing is. A fish is a very small light, almost like a small sky-light. We are a bright sun, even our littlest ones in their eggs."

"Grr. That helps little. I will try. Is there more that I must learn?"

"No. All the learning now should be in doing. We can fly tail-tag attack-flights if you want. No other kin is as fast as us. You can fly well against any kin if you practice against a Night Fury."

Shadowwing purred in agreement.

"Very true. I have a different question though before we play-fight. How do we lead the other kin in an attack-flight?"

"How do you mean lead?"

"Attack this water-walker and not the others. There is no good from attacking all at one time. It leaves more blind spots to make the fighting against many."

"True. The kin with bond-two-legs can listen to their two-leg's guiding. The no-bond kin will fly with an Alpha and will attack what the Alpha attacks. After that, it is more fighting anything that is near them."

Shadowwing considered this and gave a groan.

"Little thinking before doing?"

"Yes..." Was-Grounded grimaced.

"That would be much bad. Many kin could die. We cannot make kin thought-thralls, but can we guide their attack-flight other ways?"

Was-Grounded thought about it before he visibly paused. He did have an idea. It was something that he had suspected but not given voice to before.

"Do you remember when we were fighting the great-tusk-Monster after we broke the ice-trap?"

"Yes, what about it?"

"We were burning with body-light and all the free kin above us joined with our flight without being told. Maybe we can make our thought-wishes heard by the kin when we burn with body-light."

Shadowwing hummed as he considered it.

"Why would that be true?"

"I do not know. I have not tried it, but I have a thought in my liver that it might be true."

"We can try this and see if it does happen," Shadowwing suggested.

They both flew to a more remote part of the coast where there were several free dragons milling about or otherwise resting.

"Brother, you try it. Show them your light and then want them to flame at... this dead tree," Shadowwing bounded over to and tagged a fallen tree.

Was-Grounded closed his eyes and cast his thoughts back to that day of fighting. To the fear and fighting-joy. To the loss and pain. To the need to protect his own. To pinning his own thought-thralled brother to save him.

The burning light came easily.

He opened his eyes and saw that the nearest kin were all watching him closely. All their eyes were wide open, and they were clearly prepared for action.

Then he spun and stared at the fallen tree. He imagined it burning to kin-fire and balls of flame flying at it.

He blinked as he saw several flashes of fire erupt on the fallen tree. The nearest kin who had briefly flamed it then turned to look at him and growled at the burning, dead tree. Then they made an assortment of confused sounds at him. They were clearly confused as to why the tree had been an enemy.

It felt good and warming to have them do that at his command. Dangerously warming.

 _I do not know about that... it feels..._

Shadowwing happily bounded over to him.

"That flight has lift. I think that they knew what you wanted them to do."

Was-Grounded grumbled softly and rolled his claws on the ground as he let his burning light fade away.

"It feels like it has much danger in it," he hissed.

"What? What danger?" Shadowwing asked.

"It felt very warm to be able to do that. Filled with danger. How is that different from what the great-tusks can do?"

Shadowwing blinked in surprise.

"You did not make them do that. That is not bad-thought-whispering because we cannot make them obey, but it is a way of letting them know what we want them to do. They still had to want to do it and obey because they trust you as their Alpha."

"I do not know. I cannot ask the other kin what they were thinking or if they knew what they were doing. It feels like something a Monster would do."

Shadowwing sat down before him and purred in comfort.

"We are not Monsters. We do not do this to get more power for us. This would only be to protect kin in the fighting. The kin bend their wings to us because we deserve it and protect them as flight-leaders, not because we force their wants or foul their thinking to make them thralls."

"Still, it feels like a power that could become a much-bad rot if there is even small rot in an Alpha," Was-Grounded sighed.

They both looked around the clearing at the other dragons that had already returned to their busy day of laying about in the sunshine without a care in the world.

Then Shadowwing grimly chuckled.

"It is good then that we are two Alphas and we have all our life-story as brothers. I would tell you if I see any rot in your liver, and you tell me if you see rot in mine. Also, we did not want to become Alphas or to lead the kin. It was not power-wanting that gave us this flight."

Was-Grounded sighed and purred in some relief after he thought about the encouraging words.

"Truth. We do not fly for us and our own power-getting. We fly for others and to protect. I feel warmer about leading the kin now."

A shared glance out over the water followed.

"I hope that we do not need to do that," Shadowwing muttered.

"We should practice-fight now. It might help to burn off some life-fire," Was-Grounded answered.

Shadowwing eagerly agreed.

They took to the sky and began practicing an array of spins, dives, twists, and turns, coming close to disaster several times but never fearing an awry strike.

Night Furies never miss.

* * *

Shadowwing got home after a long day of practicing sky-fighting with his brother. That left him quite exhausted as he ambled up to Luna and nuzzled her cheek.

Moon-Dancer hopped up before him and then sat down on his rump.

"Sire-father?"

Shadowwing lay down before his son and purred to him.

"Yes, my son?"

"Two-legs are not kin. What are they? Yes, this nest is filled with them, but what life are they?" Moon-Dancer blinked rapidly.

"They are life with very strong thinking and life-fires in their livers. They are like kin in many ways," Shadowwing answered.

"But where are their wings and tails?"

"They do not have any wings or tails. But they can have wings if we kin share our wings and backs with them."

"But never forced flying. You hear that, Moon-Dancer?" Luna interjected.

Moon-Dancer purred at her.

"They fly if I want them to fly with me?" he answered her.

"Yes, my son. You should also keep learning their picture-words and spoken-words," Shadowwing purred.

Moon-Dancer eagerly bounded on his feet.

"I will! Giving words is good! Flying is good!"

Shadowwing and Luna watched as Moon-Dancer ran over to the table and started practicing some of his letters.

"His thinking is very much strong, my life-mate," she whispered.

"Yes, it is. He gets that from you," he purred.

"And from you. How was the flying with your brother?" she chuckled.

"Good. He taught me more sky-fighting, and we learned that we can lead other kin with our thought-wants when we are burning with light."

"Lead other kin... on an attack flight?"

He paused and hesitated before answering.

"If we must."

"This is because of the bad-flight you told me about, true?" she whispered.

"Yes, I have a... chill in my liver. I fear..." he sighed without finishing his thought.

Luna jumped up onto the bed-rock, flamed it, and then lay down with a wing held out in open invitation.

"Rest?" she asked.

He hopped up as well, lay down on his side, wrapped his tail around hers, and gently nuzzled her nose. They stared long into each other's eyes without saying anything. It was only after Moon-Dancer tired of practicing his letters and decided to join them by snuggling up against her belly that they finally closed their eyes and fell into a fitful sleep.

* * *

Fires and screams on the water.

Amorphous dragons of mist that swarmed around him.

Staring into the eyes of a Bewilderbeast that claimed his soul.

 _'If you had to choose the two-leg world or me...'_

An armada of ships filled with fighters and traps.

Traps filled with Night Furies, a Light Fury, and a Dawn Fury.

A faceless man wearing a Night Fury hide as a cloak.

A void that chased him into the sky, stretched out its maw, and tore apart his entire world.

As the sky was falling down.

He shook himself awake with a whimper, caught his breath, and waited as his heartbeat slowed. Then he snuggled closer to Luna and focused only on the sound of her breaths. Her sleep seemed similarly disturbed from her twitching eyes and faint grumble.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note - My continued thanks to all of you who are keeping up the reviews and enjoying the adventure. Everything starts moving faster now.**_


	75. III - Grim Hunters

_**Author's Note – Now it is time to finally see what Haven is up against. I am expecting a lot of thoughts on this one from you all, especially because of the characters who finally make their appearance.**_

* * *

" _Our destiny is frequently met in the very paths we take to avoid it." - Jean de La Fontaine - Fables_

* * *

Grim Hunters

* * *

The lone ship was spotted early in the morning. The scouts had confirmed that it was not a trapper ship and only had a minimal crew, so it was not accosted as it continued on its course for Haven. It was followed from above though, and the captain of the ship clearly understood enough of the situation that he did not panic at the sight of his aerial convoy.

The ship pulled into the harbor while flying a flag of peace. A small rowboat was dropped into the water, and a few men rowed to shore. They handed over a scroll, shared a few words with those who greeted them, and then rowed back to the ship. The ship then turned out for the open waters and left the land in peace.

* * *

Chief Thorvald slumped in his chair and gave a very deep sigh. The scroll lay on the table before him.

"Why did I ever learn to read? It is never good news. Hey, someone bring me an ale!"

"Right on it Chief!"

"Make that four. I'm going to need it. We all are," he groaned.

* * *

The Chief, Gobber, Valka, and Shadowwing were all gathered together in a private room where they could speak or write freely without being overheard.

"I received a summons from some people who want to talk about a treaty or something like that," Thorvald began.

"A treaty? I doubt it," Gobber objected.

 **Who is it from?**

"Not sure, it is not signed. It says that the Chief of the dragon riders is to meet with these people on the first of Solmanudur."

"But that's next week," Gobber wondered.

"Yeah, we can fly there in half a day. Another odd thing though is that I am supposed to bring a Night Fury with me."

That comment resulted in confused muttering.

 **Why?**

"I think I know," Valka suddenly snarled.

"What?" Thorvald asked.

"Remember how Eret said something about a Grimmel? The person who wants to hunt Night Furies?"

They all nodded in understanding.

"They probably want us to hand over a Night Fury to him as a peace offering," Valka growled.

Shadowwing bared his teeth.

"Never!" "Not happening!"

 **I almost want to meet this hunter**

 **To let him know what will happen**

 **If he comes here**

"How can we trus' that tha summons is not a trap?" Gobber wondered.

"Well, if we see anything suspicious we can just leave. We can send someone of our own ahead of me and let them know that we will only meet on an open beach or plain where it is safe," Thorvald answered.

"I will do that. It is harder for them to down a dragon as big as Cloudjumper, and we have been in some... dangerous places before," Valka explained.

"So, I am going with Dragonheart, and we hope it is not a trap," Thorvald sighed.

 **I am going with**

 **In case it is a trap**

 **My brother might come also**

 **We will protect you**

"Alright, we will make sure to do this as safely as we can though. Anything suspicious from them at all and we leave," Valka firmly declared to nods of agreement.

* * *

Was-Grounded considered his brother's idea and hummed in satisfaction.

"It has lift. We see more about the bad nest that wants to fight us and we can see where its blind spots and weaknesses are. Maybe our two-leg flight-leaders can make a peace."

Was-Grounded softly growled at himself after a thoughtful pause.

"But I think not. I think this bad nest has fighting-rot in its liver."

"Still, we will fly with the Alpha and with Kin-liver. We should have two flights when we are there. One, I want to see how many water-walkers they have and what fighting-things they will bring. Two, we can protect the other four from our nest," Shadowwing happily hummed.

"When do we fly?"

"We fly in five new suns."

"I will tell Green-Wings."

They shared a headbutt and then Shadowwing stood alone. He darted up to the roof of the Great Hall and looked out over the village while stretching his wings wide in the warm afternoon wind.

Everyone was actively working in some way to help the tribe. Making armor and training for combat, either hand to hand or by instructing the dragons capable of being so trained in a short time, were the main activities.

Then he saw the amazing sight that always filled him with warmth. The younger or more daring of the dragon riders had fashioned for themselves flightsuits that generally matched in appearance that of their dragons. It was not an uncommon sight now to see several of the riders gliding from the sky after having leapt from their dragons. Usually, this was in play.

Now they were preparing to do this for possible combat. Learning how to control the descent, land smoothly, and roll to their feet with weapons drawn. The Furies who could safely carry riders, himself included, helped in the teaching by taking several groups of trainees into the sky and then flying down to the ground at their sides, just in case anything went wrong.

Valka took the time to teach those who were accomplished at gliding and also had some skill with materials the finer points of cage-breaking. Being able to free trapped dragons was always a worthy activity, especially for those who were not fighters.

 _The only problem with this is that the best fighters among the tribe, the biggest and strongest, are not exactly the best suited for flying. They cannot really glide that way since they are carrying a bit too much weight with them. Oh well, they will have to settle for something a bit more traditional._

His gaze was again drawn out to the horizon. He let out a savage growl at the prospect of meeting someone who was the self-professed hunter of Night Furies. Then he blinked and chuckled to himself.

 _I have not actually killed anyone yet. Wouldn't that be ironic if he is the first one. If he is what he claims to be, then I think I just might want that honor of being the one to end him._

* * *

Down, down, down.

Spinning.

Rays of light.

Flashes of green.

Sparkling glow.

The roar of waters.

The spin of many wings.

The rushing wind pulling him down, down, down.

Warmth all throughout the pale skies.

Dragons flying freely to the ranges that were best for them.

A dying sun on a clear rock that burned with inner light.

And the dying sun looked out over its world and saw that all was good, pure, and unspoiled by Monsters. As the doors started to close and crumble one by one at its command.

It lifted its weary head and stared directly into his soul.

 _Who are you, dark wing? Dragon or human?_

The question was as a spike driven straight through his heart as it dragged him down, down, down.

And he awoke with a cry of alarm and fading panic.

Shadowwing caught his breath as Luna also settled down after being awoken by his outcry.

"What was that?" she whispered.

"Bad sleep-vision..." he mumbled.

"I knew that. Is this about the flight to meet the bad two-leg-Alpha?" she softly growled.

"Maybe, I do not know. My thinking is much... twisted now."

"I would guide you away from that flight, my life-mate. It is not good thinking to fly in range of a Monster's claws when you know that the Monster wants you dead."

"But we will not get that close to it. We will stay ready to fly. And this is a type of ceremony. Even two-legs understand that before-fight ceremonies have rules that all must follow."

"Why must you go there?" she sighed.

"This is not a life-flight to change livers. I only go there to protect our two-leg Alpha and to know more about a threat to the range."

"I have much fear for you," she faintly whispered.

She turned aside from him and stared at the wall. She looked very troubled from her constant rumble and swept back ears.

"Luna, talk to me..."

"I... have been having bad sleep-visions for many suns now. Ever since you told me that there is a bad two-leg nest flying for us. I see myself with Moon-Dancer in my hidden range under the ground. I am sitting a new egg. You are not with us."

"Luna, I am not leaving you. I promised you that," he hummed in reassurance.

Her faint hiss followed as she spun her head and turned to him with her eyes narrowed. She looked like she wanted to shout something but thought the better of it with Moon-Dancer still dozing on her arms at her chest.

"You do not know that and cannot promise that," she whispered.

"I am an Alpha for all the kin here. I must protect them and this nest."

"Is it the kin in this nest or the thought of a shared nest that you want to protect?"

He grumbled softly at the remark.

"Both in one flight."

Silence followed. A long and heavy silence. Then she spoke in an almost pained and definitely weary voice.

"Shadowwing, you told me once that if you had to choose between the two-leg world and me you would choose me. Was that truth or false?"

He hung his head as he could almost feel the threads of his life fraying. Stretching. Threatening to destroy all he loved.

"It was liver-truth. I am thinking about all kin in the nest also. An Alpha must do that."

"Why will you not have all the kin follow you then? All of the kin could leave and go into hiding in a much better world, never to be hunted again. Let the two-legs here live their lives in peace. With no kin here to make thralls, why would the thrall-makers ever come here? This would be only one two-leg nest among many."

He paused before answering as he tried to fairly weigh her words. There was some sense in them.

"Doing that would mean that peace and together-living is not good enough to fly for. It would break the livers of both kin and two-legs to tear the nest in two," he eventually groaned.

She fixed him with her intense blue eyes and stared until he reluctantly met her gaze.

"Hurt livers can heal. Dead kin do not."

Then she lay her head down over Moon-Dancer and closed her eyes.

"Luna?"

She did not answer.

It was all he could do to lay down as well and close his eyes in the hope that sleep would find him. Sleep was long in the coming. His thoughts were too disturbed for a long time.

He eventually calmed enough that sleep finally came and dragged him down, down, down...

* * *

The small flight left before dawn. One Stormcutter, one Nightmare, two Night Furies, and two humans. Thorvald wore his bearskin Chieftain's cape while Valka bore all of her wild riding attire, horns included, and her staff in hand.

It was a solemn, dignified flight full of frayed nerves and concerns.

 _Strange. This is the second time that I have flown out to meet an approaching army in the hope that peace might be possible._

Snarl.

 _Very, very unlikely though._

They arrived at the designated island around noon and saw what they were up against.

 _Well, that is very not good..._

He lost count at over ninety ships, all gathered together in formation around the island. There indeed seemed to be two major contingents of vessels. Every ship was prepared for conflict with various large cages, traps, nets, and ropes on their decks. There was no way to tell or guess how many people were below the decks. There were dozens milling about on the small island after having rowed ashore though.

He winged closer to his brother and started gliding to make talking easier.

"Stay with the others. Kin-liver will talk to a flight-leader from the bad-nest and will tell the Alpha to come. I will fly over the water-walkers and see what there is to see."

"Keep safe your flight," Was-Grounded responded with a quick wingtap.

Then their flights parted, one to circle over the ships and the other to circle over the gathering on the island.

Shadowwing flew high above the fleet, looking for anything at all that might be helpful to know and give a tactical advantage.

 _Nothing to see here... Just a simple little Night Fury out for a glide on the wind. And you all have a lot of ships. But they are not all the same. Almost looks like two different fleets._

He blinked in recognition.

 _Wait, two fleets together. That sounds like what Eret joked about. Those dragon hunters and the Grimmel person. Wonder if I could find their flagships._

That was much easier to do than he thought it would be. The largest ship of them all lay at the head of the fleet. It was a truly massive vessel with multiple large sails, an elevated deck at the ship's stern, and what looked like three levels including a massive hold at the middle of the ship. It had to be twice as large as Drago's ship was. And all throughout the deck were bola launchers, harpoon slings, and weapon racks.

 _That is definitely not Nord design._

Growl.

 _There is no reason for a ship to be that big except as a transport for many dragons._

Then he pulled up and stared more intently at a specific place on the massive vessel. Back at the ship's stern was an open part of the deck where four large dragons, apparently unconcerned with their surroundings, lay on the ship. They were of a kind he had never seen before: bright red, roughly the size of a Monstrous Nightmare but with a heavier and stronger body, a somewhat curved tail that seemed to have a stinger at the tip, and with a pair of tusks curving up from their lower jaws.

 _What are those? I have not seen dragons like those before. They do not look pleasant at all. Looks like they have harnesses but not for riding, only for work I guess. I wonder if this is the dragon hunters ship or Grimmel's ship._

With that thought, he turned out for the rest of the fleet and saw another few ships which could possibly be a flagship from their sizes, the number of flags, and the number of people on them. The biggest ship was the most likely, but there was nothing conclusive about the ships without knowing what insignia or flag to look for.

 _So to sum it all up, they have lots of ships with lots of weapons and lots of people and there is every indication that they are good at what they do, which is hunting dragons. Great..._

He turned back for the island where he could still see his brother cautiously circling overhead.

"Anything happening?"

"No. The two-legs are talking much," Was-Grounded answered.

"I will land with them. Will you stay and watch from the air for us? Let us know if you see much danger."

Was-Grounded answered by flashing his teeth.

"I will!"

Shadowwing then flew down toward the gathering high up on the beach. Perhaps a couple dozen soldiers stood at attention behind a pair of men who were obviously in charge. Most surprisingly though was that there was another of those red, tusked dragons laying behind the gathering, apparently unconcerned by its surroundings. On the other side of the assembly and well within shouting distance of the representatives of course were Valka, Cloudjumper, Thorvald, and Hookedfang. There at least appeared to be some understanding between them all as there were no other men nearby or places of possible ambush. If it was a trap, it was a very clever one which he could not see.

 _Time to meet the enemy. Love it!_

And then he touched down on the warm sand and bounded over to take his place next to Valka.

There was a lot of muttering among the other soldiers at his appearance. A number of them had their bows in hand. Several of them had satchels visibly filled with arrows, though none of the soldiers were foolish enough to reach for their arrows.

It was very conflicting, on the one hand he was awe-inspiring and clearly powerful but on the other these people were afraid of him. Then the confusion faded after a moment of thought as he peacefully sat down next to Valka.

 _They should be afraid if they are going to live like this._

"See, I told you. Nothing to be afraid of. Can we start?" Thorvald shouted.

The larger of the two strangers who were clearly the leaders here raised his voice. While the man spoke he took a moment to carefully inspect these two, likely the Grimborns and therefore the leaders of the dragon hunters. For one, they were obviously brothers by their similar appearance.

 _Wow, I am about to meet people who lead a company of dragon hunters, and they are not the people I feel like I will hate the most._

"He will be here soon, just wait! We will get down to business soon enough!" the Grimborn shouted.

The man who spoke was the slightly taller and far more muscular of the two. He had his head cleanly shaven and was clad in a leather tunic while showing all the length of his massive arms. A pair of swords were visible on the man's back. All in all, he struck a very imposing image.

 _He looks like the muscle, a true fighter ready to charge into battle at a moment's notice. Probably brash and headstrong._

The other brother though was another matter entirely. The slightly shorter and much leaner man had short black hair and a very neatly trimmed beard on a face absent any scars or burns. He wore a mostly black tunic which had an embroidered crest, and he also had a pair of shoulder plates with short spikes. The man had a very appraising and calculating look, and seemed to carry no weapon at the moment.

Still, his calm aura and intense gaze were all that anyone who knew what to look for needed to see.

 _He is the thinker, their planner and tactician. He is the one to watch out for. And I know which ship is their flagship now from their insignia._

Valka leaned against his side and explained the situation with a whisper.

"They haven't said anything else yet. They are waiting for the other one."

He huffed and slightly nodded.

 _I really wonder who this 'other one' is._

In the meantime, he took to staring at the brother whom he knew was far more dangerous. That brother returned the favor and gazed directly at him with an unknown look in his eyes.

 _What does he think of us? I wonder why he became a dragon hunter._

He never looked away from the Grimborn, nor did anything aggressive. The man's eyes were impenetrable. If the eyes were as windows to the soul, these windows had blinds thrown up so as to give nothing away.

 _He probably has no idea what I am, that I can understand him, or that I can talk. Probably thinks I am a trained guard-dragon or something. This should be interesting._

They did not need to wait long before a roar of warning echoed from above. The reason why quickly became apparent as they saw something very strange.

One of the same dragons that he had seen before on the largest ship and also saw peacefully lying on the beach now was flying toward them while carrying what looked like a net beneath it. A net to which a man was clinging.

The dragon flew in over them and smoothly landed in the space that had clearly been reserved for it.

"Deathgripper..." Valka growled.

 _What? I don't know about those from the Book._

He subtly nudged her and gave a questioning warble.

"One of the... types of dragons that was never welcome in the nest. They are hunters that will try to kill... and eat other dragons..."

He growled softly until he heard her soft chuckling.

"This is one type of dragon that is extremely dangerous and should be killed on sight, and that is coming from me. But he seems to have trained them for his use."

 _If he managed to train things like these..._

The airlifted man slowly strode forward, keeping a hand on the Deathgripper's neck the whole time. The man was surprisingly thin and of quite an average build with little muscle to speak of. He had a mop of hair and a very haughty, calm, and collected demeanor, almost suggestive of nobility and grandeur. A crossbow was visibly slung on his back over a dark leather cloak. It was a terribly familiar piece of attire.

Shadowwing took a very deep breath to steady himself as he slowly kneaded at the sand with his claws.

 _Grimmel the Grisly... I wonder if Drago got his cloak from Grimmel... very similar designs..._

Silence ensued as everyone stared and waited. Grimmel had eyes for only one figure on the ground while the larger Grimborn stared at Thorvald and the smaller Grimborn paid more attention to Valka and the Night Fury together.

A tense silence followed as no one seemed to want to make the first move.

Valka then stepped forward, looking quite impressive in her wild attire, and leaned on her staff.

"You requested our presence, so you give us your names first," she declared.

The burlier brother stepped forward.

"Ryker Grimborn. My brother is Viggo. We lead the dragon hunters. You probably know who he is," Ryker nodded at the remaining man.

"Grimmel the Grisly," Valka snarled.

Grimmel did not react to her words or look away from what he was staring at. Despite their vast physical differences, he had the eyes of a hunter calmly sizing up his prey.

"I am Chief Thorvald, she is Dragonheart, and the Night Fury is Shadowwing," Thorvald stepped forward and thumped his own chest.

"You named the Night Fury also? That is something else, you all are crazier than I thought," Ryker laughed.

Viggo only looked amused while a very faint grin momentarily appeared on Grimmel's face. Shadowwing alone saw it because he had not yet looked away from the hunter. They were engaged in a staring contest in which neither would be the first to yield.

"You wanted to talk with us about a treaty or something. We are here. Talk," Thorvald announced.

The three others then shared a rough glance. Shadowwing smirked to himself at the small triumph that Grimmel had to look away from him for a brief moment. Viggo eventually stepped forward from the group and addressed them.

"It is very simple. We do not want any unnecessary death. You will give us all your dragons, we have enough cages and men to safely control them, and we will leave you all in peace. We will take the dragons, breed and tame the useful ones, and keep the world as it is, stable and in need of our services. The Night Furies will obviously go to Grimmel for him to do with what he wants. And then we will have no quarrel with you. It sounds like a fair offer, better than what the other tribes want us to do with you," Viggo added with a grumble.

Thorvald paced for a moment and then raised his indignant voice.

"Why would I believe anything you say?"

"Because we do not care about you. You do not matter to us, only your dragons matter at all. It would be a waste of men and time to attack you after getting what we want," Viggo explained.

"Why are you doing this?" Valka objected.

Some slight disagreement apparently passed between the three leaders, or at least between the Grimbornes and Grimmel from how the two brothers glanced at the other hunter.

"We each have our reasons," Viggo eventually muttered.

"Which are?" Valka countered.

"We are dragon hunters. Dragons are gone from the world everywhere now except for where you live. It is not good for our business," Viggo explained.

"What do you mean dragons are gone from the world?" Valka asked, pretending that this was the first they had heard of it.

"Are you daft, woman? Gone, vanished, missing! No one knows where they went! There is no need for us!" Ryker shouted with great force.

Shadowwing had been looking directly at Viggo as Ryker was shouting. The ghost of a smirk had appeared on Viggo's lips for an instant.

"Everyone who works for us, all the tribes that trade with us, they have nothing without the beasts. All the trade, jobs, and work is gone. You see our problem? And there are also some tribes who want to see you all suffer for your betrayal of them and the danger you pose to the world," Viggo calmly continued.

"Betrayal? Danger?" Valka weakly objected.

"Yes, we were approached a couple years ago by survivors from several tribes whose dragons turned on them and attacked their own people. They say that happened all while your dragons seemed to try to keep you safe or at least didn't kill you. Betrayal. And a bunch of wild dragons attacking and lifting cattle on the mainland is a danger also. Basically, everyone out there wants you dead because of what you are," Viggo explained.

"And they were willing to pay a very substantial price for our... services," Ryker seemed very proud to announce.

"You would ask us to betray all our dragons and leave ourselves defenseless on the chance that you keep your end of the bargain and do not attack us afterwards?" Valka bristled.

"It should not be a difficult choice. We might betray you afterwards for no benefit to us and we might not. Even with the number of dragons that you have tamed, a battle would be very costly for you and for us," Viggo shrugged and continued, "But we have many people in both armies who want to fight and kill dragons and are willing to die to do so. Only one choice can possibly preserve peace for your people."

"We are not traitors. We will pass on your... generous offer," Thorvald firmly declared.

"Then I will destroy everything you love," Grimmel spoke for the first time.

Grimmel had stood quietly off to the side throughout all of the discussion to this point, his gaze rarely leaving the one Night Fury in their company. The man's voice was cold, penetrating, confident, tinged with malice, and yet mild at the same time. It was the voice of one who was absolutely certain and did not feel the need to impress through verbal theatrics.

"What about you? Why are you hunting them?" Valka asked while barely restraining her wrath.

Grimmel grinned as he put his hands behind his back and stepped away from his Deathgripper. His Fury cloak swayed behind him as he paced.

"Nothing so mundane as the concerns of these two," he nodded at the Grimborns.

"We are more practical than you. I still say you are crazy about the Night Furies," Viggo muttered.

Grimmel dismissively waved a hand at them.

"Those two are thinking only of themselves, a fair goal indeed but very limited. Me, I am a visionary, I look to the future of all people. It is true that some dragons can be useful beasts. My Deathgrippers are very useful to have around as you just saw. I got them many years ago when they were in their eggs. I trained them myself and fed them from my hands. Very dangerous beasts, but they are completely trainable and manipulable. Other dragons though are more... willful."

Grimmel nodded toward the one Fury on the ground with them.

"They think about not only the now and filling their bellies but about the future also. One of the most powerful, magical even, types of dragons in the world and the creature can think about the future. That means that they can plan and would eventually realize that the world is not big enough for both dragons and humans. There will always be war. Us against them."

"You are wrong about that," Valka interrupted his monologue.

Grimmel seemed amused at her interruption.

"Am I? What do all animals fear? They fear hunters with wings, sharp teeth, claws, and fire. Humans are no different. Dragons are the one of the perfect hunters, and humans will always be the prey unless we learn to tame them, train them, and use them under our control. As vicious as my Deathgrippers are they still know never to hurt a human except on my orders. I trained them well. But some of the dragons will not be trained and are too smart."

Grimmel glanced up at the sky where there was a circling Fury. He took a very heavy breath and stared with evident longing.

"All humans are in danger as long as there is one Night Fury still alive. They are too great a threat to let live. That is why I hunt them. I want to change the world."

"But they have done nothing wrong! You know that they are people and you murder them anyway," Valka seethed, her hands shaking against the staff.

Grimmel only smiled while the Grimbornes rolled their eyes.

"You do not understand. That is the best part of the game. People can be more of an enemy than a mere beast. It makes the hunt more interesting, more of a challenge, knowing that the prey is also planning its moves. A true test of skill and merit where the hunter and the prey could change places at any moment," Grimmel eagerly explained.

He reached behind his back with a swift motion and pulled out the crossbow, though it had no loaded bolts. He raised the crossbow and pointed it at the Fury that was staring back at him with a gleam in its eyes.

"That is the natural way, the way of the wild. Different groups do not and should not live in peace. It is us or them. The best survive and the weak die. Do not misunderstand me, I respect them. But they are too dangerous to leave alive. I believe that I have hunted every Night Fury in these lands except for yours. I have a... distinct advantage over others who hunt such big game, a certain... ally who shares my mission in a way."

Then Grimmel smiled after finishing his explanation, replaced the crossbow, and moved to stroke his Deathgripper. It almost seemed to lean into his touch and gave a deep and deadly purr.

Shadowwing slowly stepped forward on the sandy beach, keeping his gait steady and gaze on Grimmel the entire time. He stopped as soon as the three of them turned to him, keeping plenty of distance between them all and himself. There were many things on his mind, many different responses he could offer to Grimmel's tortured reasoning.

None of them could adequately express the mix of horror and wrath burning in his heart. This man, knowing full well that Night Furies were special among dragons, chose to hunt them for exactly that reason. Because they were smarter, were more powerful, and even because they were people. Maybe because of a possibility of a threat in a far distant and terrible imagined future where all dragons somehow turn on humans. Maybe because of simple fear, hidden though it was under a calm mask.

He reached out toward the sand and slowly wrote.

 **You will be the first I will kill**

"What!" "Impossible!" the Grimborns exclaimed together.

Grimmel only chuckled.

"Believe me now, Viggo?"

Viggo recovered from his shock first and then stepped forward. His calculating look had completely fallen away to reveal pure shock and surprise. It was likely a feeling that he had not experienced in a very long time.

Then the mask went back up.

"Is it true? Do you... understand us... dragon?"

 **Every word**

"How is this possible?" Viggo warily asked.

 **I am as smart as you**

 **I am a person**

Silence followed as Viggo stared at the written words, an unknowable expression on his face.

"It does not matter! They already made it clear that they will not take the offer!" Ryker objected.

"No, they will not, but I would like to know more about my enemy first. I never thought I would be able to talk with a dragon," Viggo retorted.

Shadowwing rolled his eyes and sighed.

 **I only want to live in peace**

 **And raise my children**

 **What about that makes me your enemy?**

Viggo put his hands behind his back and paced, clearly deep in thought and somehow able to put this revelation behind him for now. Then he glanced over at Grimmel and openly gave him a grim nod.

"I suppose it is the way of the world, of nature, for dragons and humans to always be enemies, locked in an epic battle until the next Ragnarok unless something changes. I think I agree with Grimmel that the world is too small for both to be free. One must conquer the other. Anything else would be... unnatural," Viggo loudly declared.

Shadowwing turned away partly and snarled as he considered his reply.

 **Natural is an excuse for 'whatever is'**

 **Not what can be if people truly try**

Viggo blinked and did something very surprising. He stepped closer and grinned.

"You are a clever one. Smartest dragon I have ever met and talked with."

 **What faint praise**

"Fair point," Viggo answered.

 **And you have never met a Night Fury before**

"No, I have not. How did you learn to write?"

 **My father taught me**

"And who taught him?" Viggo instantly asked.

 **My adopted human father taught me**

"Ah, that makes more sense. And who is that up there?" Viggo nodded to the sky.

 **My brother**

"Dragons have families then. What is he like?"

It seemed an odd line of questioning for the dragon hunter, but Shadowwing saw no harm in answering it.

 **More of a dragon of action**

 **A better fighter than me also**

Viggo then gave him a look that was very surprising indeed. Comprehension.

"I understand that. I would do anything to protect my brother, knucklehead that he is."

 _That is probably the most honest thing that you have said yet._

 **As would I**

"About dragon families, you said that you have children. Well, how many?"

A very faint whisper of warning. Knowledge was power, and Viggo was gathering as much information as he could through asking about family. Maybe learning more of the truth could help this admittedly cunning man change his ways. But it was unlikely.

 _I have to be careful now. It is a good thing that he cannot read me as easily as I can him._

 **One son**

"Never considered having any children myself. Too distracting from the real work, from managing our business and armies."

 **People leave marks on the world**

 **Some make and build**

 **Others destroy**

 **One is much easier to do**

"Also true. You Furies must be considered part of the tribe and not made to live out in the wild, I would guess."

 _He wants to know if we live in the village._

 **We are indeed**

"Are you finished over there?" Ryker shouted.

Viggo rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Well, Shadowwing, you are something special. It looks like these lesser minds around us are getting impatient. I really wish that we had met under different circumstances."

 **Agreed**

"I would still have tried to kill you."

 **Yes, tried**

 **Good luck with that**

"Luck? No, cunning..."

Shadowwing laughed and flashed his teeth.

 **Two can play at that**

Viggo chuckled.

"I am sure you can."

Then they both stepped back to their respective sides.

"You will not accept the offer, will you?" Ryker shouted into the resulting silence.

"We will never give up our dragons!" Thorvald answered.

Grimmel stepped over to his Deathgripper and then he raised his voice for all to hear.

"I heard that Drago Bludvist had captured a certain special Night Fury. A white one. I was actually going to buy it off him before you got to it first. It could have been useful to me, even if only because I always wanted a white cloak. And make no mistake, I will kill a Night Fury before the end."

Grimmel gave a signal, and the Deathgripper launched itself into the air. He grabbed onto the net and was lifted away toward his flagship.

Shadowwing calmly sat there on the ground and stared up with narrowed eyes at the departing shape.

"Then we are done here. We will be seeing you soon, and you will watch as your world burns, if you are alive of course," Ryker shouted back at them as he turned with most of the men and strode down toward the rowboats.

Viggo remained a few moments longer, thoughtfully looking at them all but especially at the one dragon he had just spoken with. Viggo almost looked like he wanted to say something but instead settled for a grin. Then he turned back for the one Deathgripper that had been calmly resting on the beach the whole time. He gave the dragon a signal, and it flew him off the beach in the same way that Grimmel had departed.

 _I did not see that coming. So only a dragon hunter when convenient to him. Practical. Maybe Grimmel gave it to him as a gift or peace offering._

"We should go now. There is time to talk at home," Valka announced.

They wasted not a moment longer before they soared aloft together and turned for Haven. Shadowwing threw one glance after the Deathgripper that was carrying Viggo off to his flagship. And he saw that Viggo was staring in his direction.

 _There is definitely something about him. He was up to something, I'm sure of it. At least he is more interesting than most since he is a cunning strategist. Ryker is nothing special from what I saw._

 _And Grimmel..._

He shivered and snarled at the thought.

Flying with the wind helped greatly with their speed and to reduce the effort needed, and the island of parlay was already falling well behind them all. He and his brother both started gliding to more readily be able to talk somewhat.

"Brother, what happened in the talking?" Was-Grounded asked.

Shadowwing weakly hung his head.

"No peace. Death and grounding are flying for our nest. We talk more when we are in our range."

Was-Grounded nodded at that suggestion, and they all fell into the repetition of easy flight.

But Shadowwing was too disturbed in his heart to enjoy any peace. Every time he closed his eyes he imagined one thing.

Grimmel the Grisly wearing a fine cloak made from a white hide.

* * *

Luna stood on the shore and stared out over the ocean, almost bouncing on her feet as she eagerly awaited a returning flight.

 _That still feels very twisted to meet the bad-Alpha. Why did they need to fly there into danger?_

Sigh.

"He said he would not do anything twisted."

She eventually turned away from shore and flew back into the nest. She reclaimed Moon-Dancer from the cave-den next to hers.

"Dam-mother!" he hummed as he followed her tail.

"Little one," she greeted him.

"I am sleepy. Where is sire-father?"

"He is flying to us soon," she sighed.

 _I hope..._

She paused before opening the mouth of her den.

"Did you go out of the other den to drop your waste, little one?"

"Yes, dam-mother!"

She bent down and tenderly nuzzled his little nose again.

"You make my liver warm, Moon-Dancer."

He glowed and hummed with pride at her praise.

"We will sleep now," she said.

He followed her inside and bounded over to the sleeping rock which she briefly flamed for them both. Then she took her place on the warmed rock, and he vanished under a wing. Her thoughts turned toward the far horizon and the sunset as she closed her eyes and waited.

Then something very good happened after much waiting.

There was a heavy thud outside the den, and the den's mouth opened. She lifted her head and saw her life-mate bound inside.

"Shadowwing!" she hummed with a relieved sigh.

He bounded over to her and pressed his nose to hers without saying anything for several warm wingbeats.

"I am warm now that you are here," she whispered.

"I must talk with Was-Grounded, our two-leg flight-leaders, and our two-leg Alpha. We have a fight to plan," he answered.

"The bad-nest will fly here and fight us?"

"Yes, we will fight them and ground the bad-flight on the water."

She sighed and lay her head on the warm rock.

"You will fly this flight, yes?" she asked.

"I must for the nest. I and Was-Grounded will fly together and lead all the fighting kin that have no bond-two-legs."

Then she looked up at him and softly growled.

"I will fly with you on the flight."

He gasped and stepped back from her in a moment of complete dismay.

"No Luna, there is much danger!"

"And you are flying into that danger. I will fly with you. Someone must keep you safe," she added with a growling chuckle.

"Luna, you should stay with Moon-Dancer."

"No! You think about it. I can hide from all eyes. None of the bad flight will ever see me. I can be your hidden flight-mate looking for danger from safety. Green-Wings can stay here with her little ones and Moon-Dancer. I trust her with Moon-Dancer, and she cannot hide as I can."

He grumbled and looked about to protest.

"And I will fly this flight whether you want me to or not..." she softly snarled.

He blinked and gave a very wry grin at having his own words used on her in an old autumn turned against him.

"If you must, but I fear for you on this flight," he whispered.

"And I do for you. That is why I will fly with you. You might need my fire," she whispered back.

* * *

They all stood in the Great Hall around the Furies' table. It seemed somehow appropriate given that two of them were involved in this discussion. Shadowwing actively adding his thoughts while Was-Grounded attentively listened with some of it translated for him.

"We know that they will come here, and they have hundreds of armed men," Thorvald began.

"So what if they have hundreds? We have what... three hundr'd adult dragons. And then we've the fightin' riders and other fighters who we could carry ta the ships," Gobber explained.

"I don't like it. Those ships look very prepared against any kind of direct attack," Valka interjected.

 **Agreed, I saw**

 **Lots of nets and launchers**

"And there are too many to attack. Maybe if it was only one fleet... But with two together, it would be a slaughter. Did any of you see the arrows those guards had?" Valka continued.

"No, what about them?" Thorvald wondered.

"I have seen those before. The arrowheads have a tip that is filled with a poison from a plant called Dragon Root. It is like Dragonsbane but is far more potent and possibly deadly to some dragons. Only one of those arrows and a lucky shot could paralyze an adult dragon."

"How did ya learn that? That is nae in the Book er anywhere I rememba'," Gobber interjected.

"Many years of experience with wounds and a few... secret missions into some hostile villages to get information," she chuckled.

Shadowwing blinked in surprise.

 _Wow, my mom the spy. You went on secret missions? Why did you never tell me about those?_

 **Any direct attack is a bad idea**

He cast his thoughts back to that meeting and to the two Grimborn brothers, one the hallmark of brute force and the other far more tactical and calculating.

The purring snarl gradually built in his throat until the others around the table noticed.

 _I got it. This is stupid and crazy and just might work._

 **How about a targeted strike?**

"What do you mean?" Thorvald asked.

 **Hit the leaders and ignore the fleet**

 **Destroy their ships and kill them**

"Cut off the snake's head?" Valka grinned.

Yes, nodded.

 **I know just how to do it for one of them**

 **Remember the explosive barrels?**

"Yeah, we got dozens of them safely stowed away," Gobber answered.

 **What would happen if they explode**

 **In a large ship's hold?**

 **A hold built for dozens of dragons**

"I think I see. Have some of our dragons carry these barrels and drop them into the hold of Grimmel's ship. Then one of you two can blow the ship to pieces with one shot. It will burn from within. No way that the ship is completely fireproof on the inside," Valka mused.

She then frowned.

"But they will see us coming."

He smugly purred at her reasonable warning.

 _Ah, but I have a plan for that also._

 **We attack late at night**

 **They will have almost no warning**

 **I and my brother will destroy Grimmel**

 **We will lead the wild dragons**

Nods of agreement went around the table.

"So that takes care of Grimmel's ship. What about the dragon hunters, the Grimborns?" Thorvald wondered.

 **You and Dragonheart**

 **Lead the other dragons and riders**

 **And take care of the Grimborns**

 **I know which ship is theirs**

Everyone at the table nodded in understanding and consent.

"I think this might actually work. Kill the leaders and hope that the army turns back in fear and confusion. I somehow think that their alliance might not be as strong as it looks, and a display of our strength might help make them think twice about another attack," Valka mused.

"How long do you think we have?" Thorvald asked.

"At least a couple days with how far they must sail with a fleet that size. I say that we fly two days from now so that we arrive in the very early morning before dawn. The moon will be gone then, and the night should be the darkest," Valka answered after a moment of thought.

 **Are we decided then?**

Solemn nods of assent went around the entire gathering. Then Thorvald squared his shoulders and spoke.

"I will call the entire tribe and let them know that we are going to war."

Shadowwing nodded to them and gestured to his brother, and then they darted outside and flew up to the Great Hall's roof together.

"Did you hear and understand?"

"Most of it. We will fly to burn and ground the water-walker of the Monster who hunts us Night Furies. The Thorvald-Alpha will lead the kin-bond two-legs and their kin against the other kin-hunter-Alphas," Was-Grounded repeated.

"Yes. We will burn the Monster's water-walker with the wood holding-things filled with fire-air. Other kin will carry the fire-air filled holding-things and drop them into the belly of the water-walker."

Was-Grounded bared his teeth alongside a happy and savage growl.

"And then we break the holding-things with fire so that they all burn together. I will do it. I am the better of us with my fire."

"What!" Shadowwing exclaimed and gave him a heavy shove.

"Yes, my fire is hotter, and I miss the target less."

Shadowwing huffed indignantly and rolled his eyes.

"I am a Night Fury. I do not miss, you twisted kin. Luna said that she will also fly with us. She will stay hidden from all eyes and will watch our flights from above. I think that Green-Wings should stay here in the range with all the littlest ones and shelter them with her wings. Dawn-Singer and Aurora can watch and guard the range from above. They can see if there are any other dangers on the ground."

Was-Grounded gave a satisfied and solemn hum.

"It is good that they will not be in the fighting. They... have never seen fighting and grounding as we have. They would not know what to do."

A quiet moment passed as they looked out over all the people being summoned into the Great Hall. Dragons flocked overhead or lounged about outside the village in the darkness. Then Shadowwing chuckled.

"Toothless... do you remember what I told you about what two-legs say about Night Furies?"

"What... Hiccup?"

"We never miss with our fire. We cannot be seen in the night. As soon as the two-legs hear the wind scream in our wings, the two-legs must hide, get down, and hope we do not find them. Those hunters coming for this range do not fear us. They will."

"Yes, they will."

"You will make the Monster-Alpha's water-walker burn. But if the Alpha still lives, I will kill it. It feels good for one who was a two-leg to kill the two-leg who is trying to kill us and... has probably killed many Night Furies. Good?"

Was-Grounded turned back to look at the horizon and gave a renewed snarl of his own.

"Yes. It thinks that it is the hunter, but we will make it the prey. We will turn the hunt on it. We will end this bad flight and protect all in the range!"

They flared their wings together and roared a defiant cry out into the night.


	76. III - Everything You Love

_**Author's Note – That is not an ominous title, is it now? It will be a very wild ride filled with action and feels from here onward. Do not think that you can use any following chapters as light reading before bed.**_

* * *

" _O fortuna... velut luna... statu variabilis..." - Carl Orff – O Fortuna_

* * *

Everything You Love

* * *

The scout flew back at midday with news of the approaching armada. The fleet would reach the nearest small island in two days sometime around dawn at the pace the ships were sailing. Chief Thorvald immediately called an all-tribe meeting at the Great Hall.

Everyone gathered together into a very impressive assembly. All the younger dragon riders were in their flight suits, various preferred weapons at their sides. Other, bigger men were clad in much of their armors, bore their helmets, and had various weapons at their sides. Perhaps they were being a bit overzealous since there was another full day of feasting after today, but no one wanted to begrudge them their own family ceremonies or personal preferences.

Then the food was brought out. Massive plates of meats, freshly slaughtered from the herds, wheels of cheeses, loaves of bread, and barrels of mead were distributed for the feast.

Stories of old battles and great deeds echoed from the corners of the Hall as everyone feasted and sang.

"Ho Ho Ho to the bottle I go!" "I've got my axe and I've got my mace!" "Till we feast in Valhalla!"

Then Chief Thorvald stood up with a glance to the Night Fury standing at his side. Shadowwing roared aloud and got everyone's attention as all voices silenced.

All eyes turned to the Chief.

"What are we?" he roared.

"Hungry?" "Thirsty?" "Ready for a fight?" "Nords?"

"Aye! We are Nords. But is that all we are?"

He stepped away from the table and started walking among the tribe.

"We are fighters! We have stubbornness issues!" Gobber shouted out while waving a chicken leg in the air.

"AYE!"

"We had to leave our homes once! We set out for a new world when we left Berk and the other tribes that we came from! Now we face a new kind of enemy! They want to take all our dragons and kill the Night Furies!" Thorvald shouted.

"Never!" "Let them come!" "Their face, my axe!" "Over my dead body!" "Let them hide and get down!"

"It is up to us to put an end to it or there won't be any dragons left!"

Then he put his hands on his hips and laughed.

"I will not lie, there are a lot of them out there. Lots of ships filled with angry fighters! But do you know what I see here?"

"WHAT?"

"I see a lot of angry fighters here!"

"YEAH!"

"We will fly and strike them at night with fury! All of us who are of age, ready to fight, or have a trained dragon! The Furies..." he glanced at Shadowwing, "will lead the wild dragons and will take care of Grimmel!"

Shadowwing's roar was echoed by a resounding roar from the audience.

"And I will lead the riders on an attack on the Dragon Hunters! Dragonheart and others who are best with the wingsuits will free any trapped dragons. We will burn the flagships, kill their leaders, and return here victorious."

A wild roar went up.

"And the world will hear that we are not weak! That they cannot threaten us with their armies and armadas!"

"NEVER!"

"Because we have the dragons!"

"DRAGONS!"

"They will know that we are not Nords anymore!"

"No?" "Huh?" "Wait, what?" "I think I missed the memo..."

He smiled at them all in their confusion.

"We are Dragon Riders!"

This final proclamation was not met with any initial cheering. Instead, people in the crowd looked around at each other in surprise, as if for the first time meeting each other and noticing the strange attire many of them were wearing.

Then grins broke out across the entire assembly as they all thought about it. They were no longer who they had been once. Their very identity had changed sometime over the last few years. They raised their mugs high in a salute and then drank in the solemn oath of unity that could not come from shouted words alone.

* * *

Shadowwing excused himself as the feasting continued into the night.

 _They will keep going on into the night, maybe rest some tomorrow, and then pick up again until we leave. Me, I would rather get some sleep after that meal. Nothing quite like some chicken to give that extra little bit of energy..._

He walked outside and then went aloft to enjoy some of the remaining peace and quiet. Dragons were resting on their perches or laying about on the ground.

Everything was very quiet, almost abnormally quiet even.

 _I wonder if they have any idea what is happening. They must know that their humans have been worried recently._

A worried growl followed as he looked out to shore and the distant, dark horizon. Then he hung his head with a sad warble.

 _How many of us will not come back? This should be a clean raid. It will be late at night, a surprise attack. As long as nothing goes wrong, this should be easy. What could go wrong?_

Then he was forced to consider the terrible possibility. Underestimating an enemy had turned out so horribly once before, and he was determined to not make that mistake again.

 _Grimmel is probably far more dangerous than he looks. He has several Deathgrippers, probably trained to protect him also. That Viggo could be trouble. He is definitely planning something unexpected. I really wish I could have gotten to know him under different circumstances._

Sigh.

 _Well, no point waiting for this now._

He flew the short distance to his brother's house and let himself inside. Was-Grounded and Green-Wings were quietly whispering words to each other and gently gnawing on the other's ears when he arrived. The children were all gathered together, curled up together somewhat closer than they usually did.

"Can we talk?" he whispered.

Was-Grounded got up and followed him outside.

"What are the two-legs doing now?"

"They are having their before-fighting eating-ceremony to flame their livers. The ceremony might be until we all fly."

"That is good. What do you think about this coming fight?"

Shadowwing sighed and looked up at the clouds.

"I think that it will be the last fight we ever need to fight. If we kill the bad Alphas and break the flight, the other two-legs that might want to hunt us would know that the danger is too much and we are much strong."

Was-Grounded turned and stared out to the horizon.

"Yes, they should know that."

"And the ranges will remember why we are called Night Furies!" Shadowwing chuckled.

Was-Grounded growled happily at that. Then he wondered at something he remembered his brother say as part of an agreement between them.

"Can you do it? Can you kill a two-leg?"

Shadowwing sighed heavily.

"You know that I do not want killing, but for this two-leg, for this Monster, I will be warmed in my liver to kill it."

His words earned him a warm shoulder bump.

"You always had the liver of a Night Fury..."

Then Shadowwing hummed softly and turned to his brother.

"There is still danger on this flight. I want to ask you... if I die..."

"No! Do not say that!" Was-Grounded growled.

"If I die... will you be as a sire, a father, for Moon-Dancer? Would you make him as your own for me?"

Was-Grounded almost answered but paused as a pained look came over him until he gave a worried warble.

"You know that I would. But I do not think Luna would stay here. I think she would take him and fly for the hidden world. And to speak liver-truth... I think we would also..."

"Wait, what?"

Was-Grounded sighed and did not look up to meet his eyes.

"I do not know what our place is in this mixed nest. We know that the two-legs try to be warm and good to us, but I do not think that they see us like themselves."

"They are not without twistedness, true, but that is not a reason to turn tail on them. And they are learning even if they have rock-head problems."

"What if the fighting does not stop with us grounding this flight? What if bad nests will always come here to fight us? It was easier to think about making mixed-nests when it was only you and me, but now I have all my little ones. They are more important to me than all the two-legs of this range," Was-Grounded continued.

Then he gave Shadowwing another brief nudge on the shoulder.

"What about Luna and Moon-Dancer? What if something happens to them because of this flight or a future one?"

"I cannot think that way. That is thinking like our wings are failing us..." Shadowwing moaned.

"Maybe. But I keep thinking about what we might have to lose to have that vision-hope live. I do not think this is a world-range for kin anymore."

Shadowwing barely stifled the whimper that rose from within.

Sigh.

"Will you do the same for my little ones and Green-Wings if I die?" Was-Grounded whispered.

"Yes, I would. You know that I hold them in my liver as if they are mine."

Was-Grounded purred at that.

"I know that you would. My little-ones already know you as their second sire-father. You would be able to make Green-Wings warm again as a dam-mother also."

"Yes, I... wait! What?" Shadowwing exclaimed in alarm.

"Yes, you could give her new eggs also."

"Toothless! No!"

"What? She knows that you are a good, warm sire-father even if your liver will always be Luna's. I would do that for Luna if she would want it. You do not want Night Furies to stop being, do you?"

Shadowwing groaned aloud and sighed.

"Let us not die and not have those... skies need to be flown..."

Was-Grounded huffed and chuckled at that.

"I like that better. Tell me about this attack-flight one more time. What else must I know?"

"You know how we will burn the bad-Alpha's water-walker. The bonded kin will carry the fire-air holding-things. You will use your fire to burn the water-walker."

"Yes, I will."

"The only other thing is the bad kin that the hunter-two-leg has. You saw them?"

Was-Grounded hissed at the mere mention of them.

"Yes, I saw those bad kin. I do not like them. They look like kin-hunting kin."

"Yes, the two-legs call them death-grabbers. Kin-liver said that they fight kin and eat kin. I do not think that they are true thralls. They might have a twisted life-bond with the hunter Alpha two-leg," Shadowwing explained.

"Even if they do, we are both Alphas. We can fly faster than they can. They want to hit their prey with their tusks and their sharp tails. They will not be a true threat to us if we fly well."

"No, they will not be, but I still think that I am missing something. That there is something I should know that is sliding through my claws..." Shadowwing sighed.

The door to the house opened, and two Night Furies bounded up to them with grumbles of dismay.

"Why not us?" "We can fight for the nest also!" Dawn-Singer and Aurora cried.

Was-Grounded slowly walked over to them both and sat down before them.

"First two of my liver, you do not know fighting like I do. I have used my fire against bad two-legs, bad kin, and two Alpha-Monsters. I have many hurt marks. You do not."

"But I have fire also!" Dawn-Singer objected and shot a burst of fire into the ground.

"And I can fly very fast!" Aurora echoed.

"True, but I need you both to do something else for me. Something of much weight."

"What?" they both grumbled.

"I need you both to stay here in this range and stay in the sky. Watch for bad two-legs on the ground or the water. Your dam-mother, younger nestmates, and Moon-Dancer will be staying here together as one nest."

Then he stepped closer to them, sat back on his haunches, and put a forearm on both of their shoulders at once.

"I trust you both to keep watch over the nest and protect them. Shelter them and all others staying here under your wings and watching eyes. Can you do that for me?" Was-Grounded purred.

"And for me. I trust you to help your dam-mother watch over my little one. Will you do that for me?" Shadowwing added.

Dawn-Singer and Aurora glanced at each other and then hummed softly.

"We can fly and watch the nest. And we will let dam-mother know if we see anything bad," Dawn-Singer answered.

"If you do see anything bad coming into the mixed nest, you tell your dam and you can all fly away and hide. Fighting is to protect the nest and the little ones who cannot fight for themselves. You are not fighting, but you will be protecting the nest. You see?" Was-Grounded explained.

They both purred their understanding.

Was-Grounded then followed them back home, and Shadowwing returned to his own home as well.

"Sire-father!" Moon-Dancer bounded for him upon his return.

"Little one, my son!"

He chased after his son for a minute until he caught him and then carried his squirming son over to Luna's side.

"No eating me!" Moon-Dancer protested.

"Nohmn ermmng mmuh!" he mumbled back past the little one in his maw.

Then he gently dropped Moon-Dancer on his son's favorite place at Luna's side on the warm sleeping-rock.

"You will go play with Mist-Wings and Rain-Eater over at the other cave-den. And you will sleep there," she whispered.

"Why there?" Moon-Dancer's little ears rose at his question.

"Because I and your dam-mother are going flying on a long flight with many other kin. Green-Wings will shelter you as your true dam-mother would," Shadowwing answered his son.

"That is good. I like them. We are one nest."

"Go to sleep now little one, we will take you to the others when it is time," Luna hummed.

Moon-Dancer curled up and pulled a wing over himself as he lay at Luna's side. They waited until they were sure he was asleep.

"Luna? How are you, my life-mate?"

"I still think that this is fighting that must not happen or be, but it is the choice of the Alphas to lead the nest into a fight," she softly groaned.

"Do you think that the kin will listen to your voice?" he asked, trying to change the subject slightly.

"They know that I can speak for an Alpha. I am very much like you, and they know that we are a mated pair. Why?"

"We should leave the fighting fast once we win the fight and kill the bad Alpha. You could help by flying down the fighting-line and calling to the other kin while none can see you. You could tell them to fly back to this range."

"I will do that. If my Alpha asks it of me..." she whispered and looked away from him.

He groaned at her words.

"Alpha... never an Alpha to you," he whispered.

He jumped up to her side and leaned against her.

"Will you hold me, my life-mate?" he asked after briefly nuzzling her nose.

She locked a forearm and her tail around his and leaned against him as he did the same. A very short peace followed until the fear and chill then crashed down on her like a flash of sky-light, fouling his warm and gentle embrace.

"Do not make me lose you..." she whispered, fully letting the circling chill around her liver seep into her voice.

He crooned softly to her and nuzzled her nose again.

"My Luna, I promise you this, we will win this fight, we will find peace, we will have more eggs and little ones than we can count on our paws, and we will live long as one until the end of our life-cycles..."

"That is good..." she weakly whispered.

They fell asleep to their shared purrs.

* * *

Roaring and shouting from outside awoke them later on at night, nearly a couple hours before dawn.

"Wait, what?" Shadowwing groaned as he got to his feet.

Then there was the sound of an explosion, and a flash of light erupted from beyond. Screaming of fear and alarm followed.

Luna snarled as she coiled closer around Moon-Dancer.

"Stay here Luna," Shadowwing barked.

"I will."

Shadowwing bounded outside and froze for an instant when he saw what was happening. Then he hopped up on top of his own house and growled at the growing destruction. Fires had sprung up all over the far side of the village. Several dragons flitted closely over the roofs of houses and perches and rained shots down below them with abandon, shots which burst into fire moments after striking. But this was not the innocent flaming of the occasional wild dragon. Several familiar and terrible red dragons with tusks and shrieking cries were the sources of the attacks.

 _Deathgrippers! Grimmel hit us first! But what are they doing?_

He roared aloud while gliding over to his brother's house, and Was-Grounded jumped outside a moment later.

"Death-grabbers. We fly now!" Shadowwing growled.

They took to the sky a moment later and burned brightly in command. The wild dragons that had been scattering and flying wildly recovered themselves somewhat at the appearance of their Alphas and turned on the nearest Deathgrippers, driving them into the air and away from the village.

 _Ok, looks like there are three of them. And they are just trying to cause as much destruction as possible..._

Other dragon riders started reaching their dragons and leading them into the skies to aid in the defense by chasing after the marauding dragons. Dozens of buildings were now on fire with no fire-response teams to react yet. Everyone had been at the feast when the attack began. Roaring, shouting, and confusion began to spread as parts of Haven began to burn. The orange glow made it look as though the sea was burning as well.

Shadowwing narrowed his gaze on the nearest pair of Deathgrippers.

 _Alright, time to see what these Deathgrippers can do... it won't be enough..._

"You take that one, I take this one," Was-Grounded shouted from next to him.

They split apart, flew toward the two nearest Deathgrippers, and roared aloud to get the hunters' attention. Both of the Deathgrippers looked up at the approaching Furies and turned for the wild.

Shadowwing briefly noticed that Valka and Cloudjumper were harassing the other Deathgripper using the Stormcutter's far greater size. His own quarry hissed at him and continued to fly off down the shore as he pursued it.

 _Odd, why is it flying away? Maybe it is smarter than I thought and knows that it cannot win this fight._

A glowing, explosive shot flew ahead and struck the Deathgripper's back, briefly disturbing its flight and hastening its departure. It was not as fast as a Night Fury and was quite outnumbered. It snarled once more and rolled to turn its hasty flight out toward the sea.

Then he turned back for Haven after following the Deathgripper out to shore and over the sea for several minutes. There were a couple other distant dragons barely visible in the moonlight and far out over the sea. The attackers were routed.

Everything seemed to be settling down a bit with the Haven dragons helping to put out fires wherever possible. And there were many fires, perhaps a couple dozen still burning, with flames spilling into the sky. He stifled the whine at the sight of the destruction as he too helped however he could by ferrying buckets to the ocean. Some of the burning homes were certainly beyond recovery. A few of the burning perches, unattended for too long, began to collapse in place. Too many of the people had been indoors at the celebration to be able to react in time to prevent the worst of the damage.

Then he spotted his brother winging in at the head of a small flight. They joined flights and glided.

"What happened?" Shadowwing asked.

"I drove my death-grabber away!" Was-Grounded snarled viciously.

"They all flew away!" Shadowwing answered.

Then he spotted Hookedfang and Cloudjumper outside the Great Hall. Valka and Thorvald were standing together with Gobber, clearly all in council.

He landed and bounded up to them.

"Shadowwing! You ok?" Thorvald asked.

Yes, he nodded.

"Anyone dead?" Gobber asked.

"Not that I know of. And what just happened?" Thorvald groaned.

They all glanced overhead as riders and their dragons were doing whatever they could to carry water to the burning structures and contain the fires.

"Grimmel sent his Deathgrippers to attack us," Valka snarled.

"But why? What good did this do other than burn stuff?" Thorvald wondered.

 **I do not know**

"Cloudjumper and I drove ours off. Didn't Grimmel have five of them?" Valka asked.

 _Yeah, he did. We saw only three of them though._

"I only remember seeing three in that fight. What about the other two?" Thorvald answered.

Valka started pacing with her hands clasped behind her back.

"This makes no sense. How did his dragons know what to do? Why would he risk his dragons to do this?"

"There are a lot of fires," Gobber offered.

"We're getting those under control. No one died as far as I have heard," Thorvald replied.

"Yes, but what would Grimmel gain from..." Valka paused.

Valka then spun in place, an expression of wary shock on her face.

"Is Luna safe?" she hesitantly asked.

 _'What about the other two?'_

Is Luna safe?

 _'It could have been useful to me...'_

Is Luna safe?

 _'I always wanted a white hide...'_

He spun on his feet and jumped for the orange sky, sheer panic driving all other thought from his mind. A quick thrust of his wings carried him over the nearest row of buildings, and then he saw the two large, adjacent homes that were so different in appearance from the others.

It all made perfect sense in that instant. Three Deathgrippers causing random chaos far away on the other side of the village. Leading the dragons away from the village and out over the wild for a few crucial minutes. Enough time for another subtle mission in all the confusion. It had all been a trap, a very clever one, a diversion, that he had fallen for. He had underestimated his enemy one more time.

Useless to protect her as he promised. One more failure of his.

"Luna! No!" he screamed as he glided down before the ruins of his burned, broken home.

The faintest scents of Deathgrippers and of one human hovered around the place. How Grimmel and his Deathgrippers had found these houses did not matter. Had he walked inside with a poisoned dart and shot Luna in cold blood?

 _'I fear that flying above will be my death one sun.'_

Pure dread coursed through him as he remembered that Moon-Dancer had been here too.

 _Oh gods! No! No!_

"MOON-DANCER!"

He dashed forward toward the burning wreckage and jumped through the open door and smoke into the fire. All the meager furniture, scrolls, and papers within had burned to ash. Half of the building had collapsed, leaving a wide open hole through which the Deathgrippers had probably taken her at Grimmel's command. Deathgrippers were very strong dragons, and the nets he remembered them carrying could easily hold the weight of an adult Fury.

A burning beam fell and struck his back, though it did no more than bruise him.

 _'If any two-legs try to claw at my nest again...'_

The flames whipped up through the hole in the wall, the heat suffocating his breath as raw, unrestrained panic began to seize him.

 _'This would not have happened if we were somewhere safer...'_

The love of his life had been stolen from him by a dragon attack at night.

 _'You will not fail us again. I trust you.'_

His son was gone.

 _'They are hunters that will try to kill... and eat other dragons...'_

The crackle of the flames was the only audible sound.

 _'I will destroy everything you love...'_

"SON!"

"Sire..." a terrified voice whined.

He spun around in alarm and stared at where the voice had come from. There, in the corner of the burning house, was a barely visible shimmering where the wooden walls looked bent. As if something was hiding in plain sight. He bounded over to his invisible son in profound, heartrending relief without questioning how it was possible.

"Son! I am here! Hold on!"

He reached out and picked up the unseen Moon-Dancer, holding him tightly to his breast as he quickly darted outside to escape the burning building. Out into the chill night air lit by a pervasive orange glow.

The first thing he noticed when he got outside was that his brother had arrived too and had brought out the rest of the Furies from next door. None of them seemed harmed, nor had their house been hit. Grimmel had only had the time or intention to hit one of the homes.

Green-Wings covered her two youngest children under her wings and stared toward him in fear and alarm. Dawn-Singer and Aurora were nowhere to be seen, though he had seen them earlier helping to combat some of the fires. Was-Grounded jumped to his side in open shock. His brother's tail thrashed as a deathly snarl burst from his jaws.

"What happened?" he gasped.

"The bad Alpha had his death-grabbers... grab Luna from the cave-den..." Shadowwing whined as he coiled partly around his son.

"Moon-Dancer?" Was-Grounded fearfully whispered.

"I have him. He can... hide from eyes... also."

"Little one?" Was-Grounded stared in surprise.

Moon-Dancer only whimpered from his place of hiding.

"Son, can you let us see you?" Shadowwing hummed, trying to contain his panic for his son's sake.

A few moments passed before Moon-Dancer appeared again, somehow knowing how to make himself seen. Shadowwing craned his neck around and gently nuzzled his son's quivering nose.

"Son, what happened? Tell me..."

Moon-Dancer trembled softly for several moments before speaking.

"A bad two-leg... It threw something... small at dam-mother... and made her sleepy... She told me to hide... and breathed hiding-fire on me... so I hid... Then she fell asleep... Bad kin broke the den and... grabbed her in ropes..."

Shadowwing breathed a brief sigh of relief at something his son had said. Something that had not happened. He nuzzled Moon-Dancer's head again and tightly held his son.

 _They did not kill her. Not yet at least..._

"Why did it do this?" Was-Grounded growled as he stared at the fire.

The question pierced through Shadowwing's panic and fear as he did his best to seriously consider it. Why would Grimmel make an attack like this? What would he gain by taking Luna? Surely it was not to kill her immediately. No, he had to have another purpose.

 _'And I will always protect you. I promise you, Luna.'_

How many pieces could a heart break into? One more repeated failure to do what he promised.

A useless failure as a father and mate and a protector, just as he had always been in both lives.

Shadowwing looked up at the dark sky out over the sea and pitifully whined. The stars twinkled overhead, oblivious to the wrongness of the world and his own self-loathing.

"The Monster two-leg... wants me to fly after her... into a trap..."

Was-Grounded stepped closer to him and put a wing over his back in silent comfort. A quiet moment, only broken by the crackle of the fires and the occasional roar of a dragon above, passed between them as they stared into the sky.

Then Valka arrived as well and stared at the burning building in shock after noticing Moon-Dancer safely between his arms.

"Shadowwing?" she gasped as she bounded over to his side.

He whined and wrote nothing.

"Grimmel took her?" she seethed.

He could only nod. A moment of silence passed between them until Valka turned to him with a baleful expression that he had never seen before on her face.

"And what are we going to do about it?" she snarled.

Shadowwing only whimpered and closed his eyes.

"I failed her... Again..." he groaned.

Was-Grounded nuzzled his neck while purring softly.

"No, brother. You were defending the range, and you did nothing wrong in the flight. That most bad Alpha thinks that it is the great hunter. What did we say we would do to it?" Was-Grounded answered.

"Turn the hunt on it..." he gasped.

"Yes, you and me as one flight... always. But we are not flying alone," Was-Grounded hummed.

Shadowwing opened his eyes, looked up at that comment, and saw everything around him in that moment. And even despite the pain in his heart, he was still struck by what he saw before him.

What looked like half of Haven, dragon and human alike, had gathered around them on the safe buildings, in the sky, and on the ground. Well over two hundred unbonded dragons were circling above, disturbed by all the fighting and clearly ready to follow their Alphas into battle. The dragons with riders were waiting on the ground as their humans stood nearby or were busy giving their dragons basic armor as each needed. Nadders, Zipplebacks, Nightmares, Gronkles, Rumblehorns, Raincutters, a couple Timberjacks, one Bonenapper, one Stormcutter, and more were represented. Riders were fitting on their wingsuits and gathering weapons to themselves.

A defiant fire sparked to life in the emptiness in his heart at the sight. Something changed in that instant. A final reluctance fell away and was replaced by grim certainty. Then he lifted his head and took a very deep breath as he stared up at the white moon partially hidden behind the heavy cloudcover.

 _So this is it then... the doom of Haven will be decided now... we will strike back as we planned, just a day early._

"Follow me, my son, I will take you to the other nest now," Shadowwing softly whispered.

Moon-Dancer hopped to his feet and followed after him as Was-Grounded did so as well.

Shadowwing felt the dirt underfoot as his claws dug in at each step. Would he ever feel dirt again after what was to come?

He stopped before Green-Wings as she stood partly coiled around Mist-Wings and Rain-Eater, both just outside their home. Dawn-Singer and Aurora had just returned from helping combat the spreading fires.

"Green-Wings, will you watch him for me now?"

"Little one Moon-Dancer," Green-Wings bent down and nuzzled Moon-Dancer as she received him.

"Green-Wings?"

"Shadowwing?"

Two pairs of green eyes stared deeply into the other.

"You will watch him as your own, truth?"

"I will," Green-Wings purred.

"Even if I and Luna... do not fly back here?" he whispered.

"Brother," Was-Grounded whimpered.

"It might happen. I want to know that he will have a warm dam-mother, if the most-bad happens..."

None of them said anything for several moments. Then Green-Wings slowly got to her feet, stepped over to him, and softly nuzzled his nose.

"I will shelter him with my wings the same as if I made and sat his egg. And you..." she butted his head, "you will bring my life-mate and also my nest-kin Luna back here or I will eat your liver..."

Her voice was still filled with a deep worry and solemn hum.

"And I will have Aurora and Dawn-Singer fly to watch the range for us," Was-Grounded added as he bounded over to his two oldest children.

Shadowwing grimly nodded and then returned to meet the gathering crowd. Chief Thorvald strode forth from the gathered humans while holding a torch aloft.

"They took her, I hear?" Thorvald growled.

Shadowwing only bared his teeth with a snarl.

"Then we are flying now. Same plan. Any last words for us?"

 **Stick to the plan and leave when finished**

"Yeah, you don't need to worry about us. Plus, we have Dragonheart to help us," Thorvald chuckled and nodded to Valka.

Then he turned away and addressed all gathered before him.

"We fly now to protect our home and our own! Grimmel took Luna! Some of us might not come back, and we will remember them and celebrate them as they look down on us from Valhalla."

"AYE!" "Death and glory!" "Valhalla!"

"No light, no torches once get out there over the waters! We have a couple hours or so until dawn! We will make the Dragon Hunters fear us after tonight! We only have one shot at this! We fly now!"

Both Night Furies roared aloud, and the dragons rose to follow the command, gradually separating slightly into two flights. One bore riders and the other one did not. The dragons with riders flew outside the village to where the barrels had been stored, grabbed the loaded barrels in their claws or had them tied down with ropes, and then turned for the horizon. Thorvald and Valka took up the lead of the bonded dragons and the two Furies led the wild dragons. Shadowwing and Was-Grounded glanced back toward Haven one last time and could barely see two circling Furies flying patrol in the sky as instructed.

The flights passed silently out over the waters until none of the remaining fires of Haven were visible. All were flying up near the clouds where nothing would be visible in the darkness.

The nervous anticipation built all throughout as dragons seemed to remember this activity from long ago. They knew a raid when they saw one.

 _Hold on Luna. I am on my way._

His brother brushed his wing in a silent reassurance. A solemn, grim look passed between them without any words.

 _This will be the first time that we have flown into the start of a battle together._

Then they turned their attention to the skies ahead and settled into the repetition of flight.

 _'And I will always protect you. I promise you, Luna.'_

Leagues of water passed down below.

The beat of wings filled the sky.

The flash of moonlight emerged from behind the clouds.

Shadowwing's heart had at some point stopped breaking as he flew.

For all the trust that she gave to him again and again in leaving the hidden world and in moving down into the village, he had still failed her.

He had not kept his promise.

For the last time.

* * *

Confusion was all she knew.

 _'The cave-den's mouth had opened and a two-leg had appeared there. That was bad-wrong. Two-legs do not belong in her cave-den...'_

Darkness and floating, the wind on her belly.

 _'The two-leg aimed a throwing-thing at her and then threw a thin-tooth-stick at her. It pierced her soft belly as she had been laying down on her side in her surprise.'_

Tail up and head down toward the water, ropes all around her.

 _'The thin-tooth-stick was making her sleepy. Fear not for herself. "Hide... hide... Moon-Dancer... hide..." Her hiding-fire poured out over her dear little Moon-Dancer, and she saw as his scales, so like her own in shape, hungrily drank in the fire until he vanished from her eyes. Safe.'_

Body motionless and not responding to her wants in her exhaustion.

 _'The side of the cave-den was torn apart as two bad-wrong-tusked-kin-hunting-kin appeared.'_

Dropped onto a large two-leg water-walker but not seeing much of what was around her. A mouth-closing thing over her mouth to stop her from biting or burning.

 _'The two-leg bad-Alpha approaching her as her vision failed and her legs gave out.'_

Sleep... Sleep... Sleep...

She blinked wildly and shook her head to get the bad-twisted thinking out. And she realized what she was being dragged to after so long being free of one.

A trap on a water-walker!

A big trap filled with strong-metal bars. The thrall-maker two-legs carried her to the big trap on the water-walker's back. Her limbs were too weak still to let her claw at the Monsters. But she could still snap at the Monsters. They had taken off the old mouth-closing thing and they were not looking at her.

She spun around and flashed her teeth toward the nearest Monster, her jaws closing around its nearest paw. The paw came off and was lost to her belly, so very like many season-cycles ago when she defied the thrall-makers on an island.

But the screaming of pain was followed by many Monsters piling onto her, kicking her, and hitting at her head with their whip-vine-rope hurting-things.

Was this now or then? True or bad-false-memories?

Pain, biting pain.

So real.

A commanding Monster voice called out and stopped the hurting.

Then they pushed her into the trap and closed the mouth of the trap.

TRAPPED!

Suffocating closeness in the trap, too tight to stretch her wings.

Trapped.

Old memories of being tied down in another trap as thrall-males were brought over and forced on her.

Trapped...

A weak whine escaped from her.

Left in the dark, all alone. It became comforting to be alone.

All the two-legs around the trap... no, all the Monsters around the trap... were looking at her. Now or then in the bad-memories?

Where was she? Were there thrall-kin males here also to force-mate her now? Do these Monster two-legs kill kin to take their scales and hides?

She put her paws on her head and whined softly, only to be disturbed by motion around her. The Monster two-legs were moving.

One of the Monster two-legs came over to her trap while carrying a fire-burning stick. It was a normal height two-leg, not impressive in any way except it was wearing a false-hide made of a Night Fury's hide. That, its twisted-bond with the bad-hunter kin with tusks, and the deference the thralls were giving said that this was the two-leg Alpha whose life-flight was to hunt Night Furies. To hunt her life-mate.

But what did this Alpha want with her?

It put its paws on the trap's bars and smiled at her. She stepped back slightly from it with a growl-whine and narrowed eyes.

The Alpha bared its tiny teeth and pointed a finger at her.

"You will kill them," it hissed.

She hissed back at it and showed it all of her far more impressive teeth.

 _I will kill you when I get out!_

The Monster-Alpha turned away from her and called away its thralls, two-leg and the tusked-hunter-kin, leaving her alone in the trap as it was lowered into the water-walker's belly. Down two levels the trap was slowly dropped and then dragged into a far corner of the belly.

There was a deep cave that went deep along the ground into the water-walker's belly. Within that cave were seven smaller side-caves, one of which seemed filled with random kin-trapping things. The others were where the tusked-hunter-kin were left to roost in their own little dens.

Something about the place felt especially life-chilling and weak-tired making, in addition to it being a water-walker with kin-traps. It was an oppressive feel, almost as though something was watching her even if there were no eyes now looking at her. The few fires the Monsters had burning almost seemed to give off less light than they should.

The trap and everything around her threatened her with old memories. Torn wings and no life-fire. Two-legs... Monsters trapping her and laughing at her.

She was stronger against the past, and all the Monster thralls had left her alone now. The bad memories were still there, never to be lost, but there were good ones also now. So much warmth in her life to balance the bad.

But such fear now. Her little Moon-Dancer should be safe and hidden, she had seen him fade from her own sight. Shadowwing, she had no idea, but he should be safe against the bad kin that had attacked the range.

She lifted a claw to the mouth-closing thing to try to work it off her jaws. It was something she had been able to do before with the other Monster-Alpha's thralls. These ones did not know how strong and sharp-cutting her thinking was. It was only a curiosity now that her paws had a small bit of her own spilled life-water on them. The whip-vine-rope hurting-things had bit at her head.

But the mouth-closing thing would not come off. She could still do what needed to be done though. She turned to her belly and started licking the bite that the small weapon had made. It was possible to get enough mouth-water on her tongue and lick the hurt.

The bite was not deep or a life-threat, but it must have been how she was made to fall asleep. There had been a cold, numbing fire that had spilled through her after being shot.

Once that licking was done, she licked a paw, got as much mouth-water on it as she could, and tended to her head. The stinging bite on her forehead slowly faded. Then, feeling the comfort from licking the small hurt and tending to her small head hurt, she lay down and started thinking about how to get out of the trap.

Her claws scratched the wood ground underpaw, and her tail thrashed as she looked around. The metal bars were too strong for her to push apart. The strong wood ground could maybe burn some, but she could not flame now with the mouth-closing thing on her. It was a strong trap.

Then she saw something that made her freeze, ears swept back and her lips curled. Next to the trap were ropes, a stronger mouth-closing thing, and a back-sitting-on thing.

 _I will never let any of you on my back!_

As much as she wanted to pace, snarl, rage, burn, and bite, doing those would not help her now. They were impossible to do. There were no Monsters within her snap now. Instead, she lay down, closed her eyes, and flew her thoughts to the coming fight with a warm snarl.

Her thoughts were filled with getting her teeth and claws on that Alpha and tearing its body apart. Even scorching it with her white hot fire would be good.

But the words from the Alpha put a chill in her liver. The Alpha was sure that Shadowwing and Was-Grounded would fly here to this water-walker to find her. That was certain. There was no chance for peace after this first strike, and they would both come to free her. But why would the Alpha think that she would hurt them?

 _They will kill you if I do not first! You will all burn!_

* * *

 _[Oh Fortune... like the moon... you are variable...]_

* * *

 _ **Author's Note – I took some small liberty with the Deathgripper's offensive capabilities relative to their canon abilities. The die has been cast.  
**_


	77. III - Wrath Of The Alphas

_**Author's Note – Enjoy.**_

* * *

" _The Unholy Offspring of Lightning and Death itself... Never engage this dragon. Your only chance: hide and pray it does not find you." - Book of Dragons/Dragon Manual_

* * *

Wrath Of The Alphas

* * *

The thick clouds helped greatly by blocking the moonlight and hiding their approach. Night's complete cover of darkness was definitely running out though.

Then the lights appeared on the waters far below perhaps an hour after departure and nearby the island that was little more than a spit of sand. The armada was one light at first and then many dozens. The armada was not so menacing at night, but that was only because it was not so clearly visible yet from afar and in the darkness.

 _There they are... and both flagships are not that far apart either. Grimmel's ship is out in front and exposed. Perfect. Now where are you, my love?_

He wheeled high above the terrible and large ship, closely looking down on it for any sign of her. Seeing none, he returned to his brother's side.

 _Ok, they are not keeping you up on deck._

Then he grumbled as he realized something obvious. He did not know where Luna was being held on the ship. That meant that to proceed with the plan and blow the ship could easily kill her in the fire or when the ship sinks.

 _Great... mild planning error. Time to improvise._

"Brother! We cannot burn the water-walker until we free Luna!"

Was-Grounded snarled in agreement, remembering well how bad it was to be in a trap on a water-walker that was then sunk.

"What should we do?"

Shadowwing thought quickly to come up with an alternative plan.

"We still drop the fire-air holding-things, but we do not burn them yet. We will lead all the unbonded kin and attack the top of the water-walker. We find Luna, get her out, and then we burn it."

Was-Grounded hummed in agreement, and Shadowwing darted over to give Thorvald the agreed signal.

It was time.

The first part of the attack was meant to be as silent as possible while confusion could still reign. Thorvald, Valka, and all the other riders whose dragons were carrying one of the dozens of the flammable barrels directed their dragons down toward Grimmel's massive vessel.

The dive was almost sheer vertical as the dragons dove down, recovered their flights, and dropped their cargo onto the ship's deck. Barrel after barrel struck the ship with loud clangs and rolled down into the hold. Being reinforced barrels meant to hold ale, only a few of the barrels broke on impact and began leaking gas. The night was filled with the loud clangs of wood striking wood.

There were dozens of sailors and soldiers onboard, shouting and pointing up at the sky but seemingly confused by everything that was happening. None of them seemed to understand what was happening even as they began to raise the alarm.

The dozens of dragons that had deposited their volatile cargo then flew up again into the sky without so much as showing any of their fire.

Shadowwing flashed his teeth and gave a grim growl.

 _The sailors must be so confused. I could almost feel sorry for them with what is about to happen. About two hundred wild dragons are about to descend on them. But they are Grimmel's, so I do not feel like mercy today._

"Now!" Was-Grounded shouted.

They both revealed their brilliant light that shone like a beacon in the night. Their thoughts were filled with dragons descending on the ship from above, sweeping the ship with fire, and killing all Monsters in their way.

The cloud of death roared aloud and descended from the sky like a pillar of flame.

* * *

Chief Thorvald felt the racing of his heart as he and Dragonheart led the riders through the sky toward their primary target. The attack was going perfectly so far. All the barrels had been dropped without incident.

 _I really wish Tuff were here to see this. It is going to be... huge. He would appreciate it._

Upon turning his attention to the ships below him though he realized that these fighters seemed more aware and prepared than those on Grimmel's ship had seemed to be. Or maybe these ones had no further warning than what they could see through the night but were simply better disciplined.

Regardless, these dragon hunter ships had more people manning the harpoons and arrow launchers. But all that he needed to do was find the one...

Light erupted from behind them all. He tossed a single glance over his shoulder and gawked at what he saw.

Both of the Night Furies were burning with blue light, the same as they had on the island with the Bewilderbeasts, as the cloud of wild dragons began to descend with mouths gaping with fire. The effect was far more striking now in the darkness of night.

 _If that is not the signal..._

"Alright Fang! Attack!"

They all dove toward their target, the main Hunter vessel. He and Dragonheart had easily spotted it simply by looking for the biggest ship flying the Hunter's flag.

 _Typical Nord. Always a contest to see who has the biggest..._

Hookedfang darted to the side to dodge a hurled rain of likely-poisoned arrows. The Rumblehorn behind him was too slow to dodge. Fortunately however, it was also wearing armor which deflected said poisoned arrows.

 _Thanks Drago!_

There were a lot of archers on the ship's deck, all of whom were apparently well-stocked with these poisoned arrows. That made for plenty of targets on deck though.

But there was another visible problem. The couple nearest ships to the Hunter's flagship also happened to have several occupied cages.

 _No leaving them behind..._

A signal from him brought Hookedfang over to Dragonheart.

"Free them!" he pointed at the cages.

She and Cloudjumper were off without another word, clearly being well-practiced at this routine. He took a moment to observe their prowess in action as Cloudjumper wreathed the ship's deck in his waves of fire while Dragonheart glided down and landed on the ship. She indeed looked very wild in her scale attire as she got to work on the traps.

She was still found by several guards on deck. It did not matter as several more shapes appeared on deck as well, either gliding in under their own power or air-dropped by their dragons. These new entrants onto the ships were fully armed. Battle was then joined on deck. Arrows bounced harmlessly off the fighters' scale-metal weave armor.

 _They have that under control..._

A Zippleback next to him was hit in one of its necks of all places by one of the arrows. It fell from the sky in great pain, and both dragon and rider were lost to the waters.

A fey mood entered his heart at the first confirmed loss in his time as Chief. Those deaths were on his honor as a leader.

"Death!"

Hookedfang added a commanding roar of his own, and over a dozen dragons and riders answered the cry. They all flew at the flagship from one side and drew the attention of the archers onboard. Several balls of fire flew at the ship from beyond the range of the archers, but those were mostly for distraction.

A Timberjack dove down in a shallow arc lengthwise along the ship and threw out one of its razor-sharp wings above the ship's deck. The wing sliced clean through the ship's three masts, and all the sails began to topple onto the ship's deck.

The archers were quickly covered in sailcloth.

"Fire!"

The combined fire from over a dozen furious dragons filled the deck of the Hunter's ship with a glowing inferno. Men ran wildly while on fire and leapt off the ship into the water. Harpoon and bola launchers went abandoned.

Some brave archer somewhere got in another lucky shot and downed a Nightmare. Its rider at least was a fighter on one of the ships somewhere.

He felt no sympathy at all for the Hunters on the ship even when he saw the normally peaceful dragons literally stomping the Hunters to death or burning them alive.

 _Thank the gods for the armor. The hunter's arrows were almost useless except for lucky hits._

He was relieved to see both Skald on Meatlug and Gobber on Jingles still flying above the ships safely.

A bright flash of light turned the night to day for an instant, but none of the combatants had a moment to spare even when a roaring crash echoed out through the night. The chaos of battle and fighting-fury was too great. But there were more ships closing all around, and all those ships had fresh crews and weapons. Arrows and shots hurled through the air, making remaining here increasingly dangerous.

He had Hookedfang fly one more pass around the flagship to confirm that it was completely destroyed. There were flames billowing from within the cabin and from below the decks. If there was anyone still alive on that ship, they would not be for long.

 _Alright, dragon hunters dead for sure. Get everyone off now and let's get out of here!_

There were a few filled cages that he could see further within the armada, but those were beyond their ability to do anything about. It would be too dangerous.

"Let's go!" he shouted to all the other riders.

What followed was a mad scramble to pick up fighters who were on the ships while dodging incoming attacks. Many dragon-rider pairs were reunited in the skies and a number of newly freed dragons were also visible in the flight.

It helped a lot that all had heard the roaring, triumphant command of one of the Furies near the end of the fighting.

 _I guess they are done also..._

A glance off toward Grimmel's ship revealed complete devastation. From what he could see the ship was completely on fire from within, flames spilling out of every corner of the ship. There were also no dark shapes illuminated over the ship from the firelight. All the wild dragons had already departed from that attack.

 _Yeah, they've finished. Guess we will see them back at home._

He still remained behind as the last of the dragons and riders left the final burning dragon hunter ship and followed Dragonheart and Cloudjumper into the sky.

They both brought up the rear of the flight, albeit with several glances back behind them. The dragon hunters' flagship was completely engulfed, and several other of the closer ships were also set on fire and were unlikely to be salvaged.

There were several dragon bodies visible where they had fallen on the ships or the waves. There were at least two fallen riders that he knew of.

 _I doubt it is only two that we lost though._

He glanced ahead at the flight.

 _We won't know until we get back._

He let out a great sigh and patted Hookedfang's neck. For all intents and purposes, it appeared obvious that they had won. The strategy of making a surprise, targeted attack against the flagships only was a complete success. Both of them had burned.

"Fang, I have a good feeling about this. I think we won for once!"

Even though the attackers' leadership had certainly taken a great hit, he still wondered at what the mission had accomplished. By his count, six ships had burned, including the flagships. That left...

A lot of other ships completely untouched and filled with alert soldiers.

 _Oh well, one fight at a time._

* * *

On the bow of a ship well away from the front lines, a lone figure watched the battle unfold. The other members of the ship's crew shouted various curses into the night. He merely stared at the growing fires and eventually sighed when he saw all the attacking dragons and their riders turn and leave the rest of the fleet untouched.

"I was right."

The plan had worked perfectly. Suggesting to Grimmel a preemptive attack, taking captive live bait, and therefore luring the dragon riders into a trap had worked flawlessly. The second part of the plan was to let Grimmel overextend in a vulnerable position and be destroyed by the dragon riders. There would never have been any evidence of betrayal because there was none. Their own flagship had also been sunk in the attack. A necessary sacrifice, a small piece in the game, that had to be lost to keep up appearances. It was only a coincidence that neither of them happened to be on their flagship at the moment of the attack since they had been making their rounds on other ships.

All the ships that sailed under Grimmel's fleet would now have an obvious pair of successors to join with after the dragon riders' lucky strike. The two armies of hunters were natural allies indeed in the world that he knew would inevitably be. Specifically, the world without dragons, which had been fading since before he was even a player in the great game. The world would always need armies and armadas for hire, and it was best to be the one in charge of said armies and armadas.

Though, this precision and strategy in the attack... he knew what... who was behind it. He was not sure how, but he knew beyond any doubt.

"Two can play at that indeed..."

Then he turned away and strode to the captain's quarters. The captain who had been given the honor of manning the flagship for the night as a chance to prove himself. Another small sacrifice.

He entered the quarters and smiled at the other man who was inside.

"Is it done?"

"Yes, the plan worked perfectly," he smirked.

"It always does, brother."

* * *

The full strength of a couple hundred wild dragons descended on Grimmel's massive ship and swarmed around it. They were not in time to prevent the crew and soldiers from readying themselves though. The hunters almost seemed prepared for them. There were rows of archers interspersed with men bearing a weapon that was a mix of a spear and a shield, quite effective for blocking streams of fire. Men appeared to staff the harpoon guns and bola launchers, all of which quickly became active in filling the skies.

Dragons landed on the sides of the ship, clutching to the side of the deck and the railing with their claws, and started filling the ship's deck with streams of fire. A couple of them were clearly struck by those terrible arrows as they immediately fell backwards, motionless, into the water below. A glowing ball of flame flew from Was-Grounded and exploded with force directly among the densest group of archers. Several of them were knocked off the ship itself from that one blast.

 _Alright Grimmel, are you still alive in there? I hope so... Come on, give me someone to shoot at..._ _just one person in particular..._

Shadowwing grinned when one of his own explosive shots destroyed a bola launcher. Then he winced when he saw one of the larger dragons seize a man in its jaws and carry the soldier off into the sky, but there was nothing he could do about that in the heat of battle.

 _Dragons sometimes do that against bad guys... I cannot say I entirely disagree._

Then a Nightmare got in a lucky stream of flame that set on fire over a dozen of the archers, who then all fell to the ground where they burned. A Hotburple flew low over the ship's deck and used its clublike tail to knock down a row of soldiers with pikes and shields.

The ship's deck began to be filled with bodies, several dragons included. The deck was painted red, and the air was filled with agonized screams. Not even a minute of fighting had elapsed. The fighters onboard were definitely overwhelmed by pure numbers alone.

A series of familiar roars echoed from the ship's interior. The wild dragons that had been so furiously swarming about the ship turned away in fear and rose higher into the sky.

 _What the..._

The five Deathgrippers that Grimmel presumably still had with him had appeared over the ship, perhaps having been released, and were roaring their disapproval as they took flight. The effect that these hunters had on the other dragons was quite evident.

Shadowwing joined his brother's flight, and they both shared a growl at the five Deathgrippers.

 _Alright, guess I have to actually kill some dragons now. For these beasts, I will make an exception._

"How to ground them?" he asked.

"Stay at range and hit the wings."

"Together?"

"Always," Was-Grounded grinned back.

As one, they roared their own defiance, flared their light brightly, and beat their flight toward the Deathgrippers.

The Deathgrippers were clearly trained in combat from how they moved as a coordinated flight. They spread out into a rough square with one at each corner and one in the center but hanging back slightly. It was a trap where they could collapse in on all sides. Very effective if flying against a single target that was not thinking clearly.

Was-Grounded saw the trap and grunted in a respectful acknowledgment of these hunters.

 _Clever, but not clever enough to catch a Night Fury! Or two!_

"You take the left wing, I go right!" Was-Grounded shouted.

They each broke off their respective directions, flew out a distance, and then raced toward each other. The two Deathgrippers on the sides of the aerial square turned to face their respective Furies.

Then, at the last second and faster than any other dragon could possibly fly, Shadowwing whipped himself up and over the upper of his foes while Was-Grounded dove under the lower of his. The Deathgrippers pursuing Shadowwing were not looking down and never saw the attacking Night Fury rising for them with a glowing maw. Similarly, the Deathgrippers pursuing Was-Grounded did not think to look up.

Two glowing shots flew forth in the darkness, and two Deathgrippers fell from the sky with pained shrieks from having one torn open wing each. One of them fell into the water and the other fell onto the deck of Grimmel's burning ship with a great crash.

The other three flew much closer together and took far more care to look around them. Despite several passes to try to distract them and create an opening, the Deathgrippers left no blind spot as they cautiously spread out and presented no target of their wings.

One of the remaining Deathgrippers followed after Shadowwing, and the other two followed after Was-Grounded. Shadowwing turned his flight straight at his brother just as he did the same. They flew at each other as fast as they could, trusting each other completely, and both of them loosed a small shot of bright fire shortly before them. They dove through the fire and passed within a claw's tip of each other, quickly turning their wings down to dive.

Two of the Deathgrippers, blinded by all the light in the darkness, the glow of the opponents they were chasing, the fire clouds they had just flown through, and their anger, crashed into each other at full speed, their sharpened tusks and weight doing what it would have taken several powerful blasts of fire to do.

Both fell into the waters.

Only one remained, and it turned back for the ship with haste. The final Deathgripper dove from the sky and vanished into the vessel's massive hold.

"After it!" Was-Grounded growled.

Shadowwing and Was-Grounded roared aloud with wrath as they dove for the ship, bringing many of the wild dragons with them to resume the attack.

Despite being a ship clearly built to be resistant to dragon attacks, the sheer volume of dragon fire had still taken a toll. Almost all the launchers were crushed, and there were more bodies on deck than Shadowwing cared to count. Fires had been set on deck, though none of those fires were out of control yet.

And there was still no sign of what they had come for.

 _Maybe down in the hold itself... that might be somewhere they would keep her._

They dove down into the massive hold and took a very brief instant to observe all around them and to catch their breath against the sudden spike in weariness that came over them.

The bottom level of the hold was truly massive and was filled with empty cages large enough to contain many of the larger dragons. A large crane looked sturdy enough to support even bigger Rumblehorns and other heavy dragons. There were what looked like several empty pens or holding cells on the far side of the hold. The forty-some barrels, several of which were leaking green gas, were definitely out of place.

And over in a solitary, barred, and mobile holding cell at the far corner of the floor was a white shape.

"LUNA!"

The fallen Deathgripper, one of its wings torn and useless, jumped down the two levels and advanced toward him and Was-Grounded while snarling murderously.

The moment was frozen as the Deathgripper stood in the middle of the bay and faced off against them. It struck a far more hideous visage up close and wounded than it had up in the sky. Then voices started to echo from the upper levels as a few archers appeared on the middle floor and the deck, the soldiers' bows quickly being readied. As the trap closed.

On Grimmel.

"Brother, Luna, do not breathe!" Shadowwing shouted.

One thought echoed in the moment before it happened.

 _Fireproof on the outside, I hope._

The single shot seemed to fly wildly off target, not even coming close to the Deathgripper. The shot struck the cloud of gas, igniting the cloud that had seeped throughout the hold. The fire spread in a growing explosion to the nearest leaking pile of barrels the Deathgripper was standing near.

There was a flash of light as he closed his eyes and turned away. A roar of wind tugged at his fins and wings. A burning heat rushed outward and pushed him back against the nearest cage.

 _Falling from the sky toward Dragon Island with hungry flames whipping around him and Toothless..._

Flames whipping around him and rushing outward in a searing wind felt even through his scales.

 _There would be no warning because he was practically flying blind..._

His wings pulled protectively over him as he crouched down low to the floor, wreckage falling on and around him and being hurled through the air.

 _The ear-splitting roar of the dark Bewilderbeast following his brother's diving strike..._

The roaring and crashing sound around him gradually diminished only to be replaced by a buzzing, crackling, and rushing. He opened his eyes and warily drew a breath of hot air from within his cocoon. Then he emerged, shook aside a pile of burning wood, and beheld the devastation.

It was a minor miracle that the blast had not torn a hole in the ship's underwater hull. A flaming hole which resembled an inferno from Hel itself now occupied the middle of the hold, descending deeper into the bottom lower levels of the ship. The ship's hull-wall on both sides of the hold was gone. Many empty traps had been blown off the ship entirely. The top floors looked close to collapse in places as the flames ripped from within. The massive crater in the middle of the hold had flames billowing up and above the highest sails. The air was very, very hot and suffocating.

Liquid fire from the Nightmare slime seemed to cling to the walls and flow on the floor, engulfing the supplies that remained. None of the soldiers were visible now, all having been knocked back and possibly off the ship by the force of the blast. Both he and Was-Grounded had also been hurled several lengths by the explosion.

Everything would have been still onboard if it were not for the roaring fire. He tried to not think about how many people may have just died.

 _Yeah, that stuff is really potent. That actually worked... and we are not dead!_

Was-Grounded warily stepped up to his side and stared with him at the flames whipping ahead of them and around them.

"Where is it? Is it dead?" Was-Grounded hissed.

The Deathgripper pounced at them through the flames and shrieked in pain. Its claws were held out to slash and its powerful jaws open to snap and gore them with its tusks.

Two glowing shots flew into its open maw and knocked its terrible head back with a snap. The dragon fell to the burning floor before them and went still with its neck bent at an impossible angle.

Nothing else moved except the roaring fires spreading through the hold and various floors. All was silent except the roar and crackle of the fire. They both bounded forward with their eyes closed and glided through the fires toward what they had come for. Luna's cell was back against the side of the hold near a large and dark passageway that led deeper under the ship's deck.

Shadowwing scrambled to a stop up against the bars and took a very brief moment to nuzzle Luna's nose through the bars and to purr comfort to her. He barely restrained the wrath in his heart when he saw the marks of whips on her head and small welts on her neck from where Grimmel's soldiers had restrained and beaten her.

"Luna, did they hurt you much?" he whined.

"Only a little. Moon-Dancer?" she fearfully asked.

"He is safe with Green-Wings in the nest."

She heavily sighed at that reassurance. Then she nudged up against the cage's bars.

"Can you get me out?"

Shadowwing considered the lock on the cell. The locking mechanism was inside the metal panel and inaccessible.

 _Great... superheating it will not help... The bars though..._

He considered the metal bars. They were spaced just far enough apart that with enough force from three grown Furies working together...

Was-Grounded stepped back and spun around, looking toward the fire and the surroundings while faintly snarling.

"I do not like this..." he hissed.

"What?" Shadowwing asked.

"Something feels... bad... I feel tired and heavy now."

Shadowwing joined him in looking around without seeing anything. He did indeed feel quite drained at the moment, which made perfect sense from the inferno roaring around them. The passage that led deeper into the ship was partly caved in and blocked anything from advancing toward them from that direction.

"There was another death-grabber. Where is it?"

"I do not see it. Maybe it flew away," Was-Grounded answered.

Nothing strange happened for a couple moments.

"We have been fighting much around the hot fire. Help me with this. You also Luna."

Shadowwing walked over to the side of the cell and clasped two adjacent metal bars as his brother and Luna followed his example and did the same. Then all three of them heaved and growled as they forced the metal beams apart. The metal groaned and bent out of shape as they tore open a gap too small for a Night Fury to pass through.

But not too small for a lithe Light Fury.

Luna carefully wiggled her way through the bent beams, barely able to get her torso through with some help from them tugging on her forearms, and slipped out of the cage to freedom. Then both brothers put their sharp claws and teeth to the muzzle's straps. The muzzle was torn off and hurled into the fire.

She hopped to her feet, spread her wings, and roared for joy and relief.

"Luna!"

"Shadowwing!"

Soft purring, nuzzling, and licking followed.

"Luna," Was-Grounded hummed as he stepped forward as well and nuzzled her cheek.

"I knew that you would come for me. Both of you," she softly whined.

"I promised to keep you safe," Shadowwing darkly growled.

Then Luna growled as well.

"The Monster-Alpha wanted you to come here. It thought you would die here."

"Did it? Brother, are we dead?" Shadowwing grinned.

"I think not. The sky-breath would not want one as twisted as you," Was-Grounded laughed.

Then Shadowwing turned back to Luna.

"Luna, can you go disappear now? Will you tell the other kin to fly to their range?"

"What about you?" she worried.

He glanced up at the sky where wild dragons were still swarming above and around the burning ship. Other ships were sure to come near and join the battle, though it was odd that this flagship had been left alone so far during the attack.

"We have a Monster-Alpha to find and kill, if it is still alive. You telling the other kin to fly away will save much kin life."

Then she growled in understanding.

"I will fly and tell them."

She jumped for the sky and flew up through the fire out of the burning hold. They watched as her familiar cloud of fire appeared before her. Then she vanished from sight.

Shadowwing gave a great sigh of relief at her departure. Then he snarled and growled.

"Shall we end this?"

"Find that Monster-Alpha and kill it?"

"Yes," Shadowwing snarled.

Was-Grounded answered by flashing his teeth. They thrust their wings, jumped up through the flames, and landed heavily on the deck of the burning ship. A quick glance around revealed nothing was moving except the fires raging from within the ship. Several charred corpses lay on deck. The very air was choked with heat and smoke such that it was uncomfortable to breathe. The only sounds were the crackle and roar of the fire and the occasional collapse of the floorboards. It appeared that everyone had abandoned ship.

Another glance up at the sky revealed that all the dragons were also flying away from the battle after hearing Luna's cry echo from somewhere out in the darkness.

It was almost over.

A quick glance and growl passed between them. And then they moved as one, striding along the deck and passing through the flames together in search of their prey.

All their senses were alert for the slightest movement. At one point a lone surviving soldier saw them and proceeded to dive off the ship's deck into the water. Both of them continued slowly on further down the ship's burning deck. A strange silence seemed to come over the ship, save for the crackling of the flames, the creaking of the deck at their stride, and the far distant cries from those on other ships.

"We are not alone here..." Was-Grounded hissed.

"Where?"

"There is a two-leg under there."

Was-Grounded snarled at a flight of stairs that seemed to lead down to the lower levels. Several flames were spilling from wherever the stairs led. An explosion erupted from within the ship's depths.

"How do you know?"

"I see its life-fire."

Shadowwing only grumbled at the reference.

 _Life-fire? Again with that..._

"It is coming up from the water-walker's belly," Was-Grounded growled before he jumped from the floor and positioned himself in hiding behind where the stairs emerged.

Shadowwing understood the trap and stepped forward several paces, his tail swaying behind him in anticipation.

Then the man emerged.

 _Well... well... look who it is._

The black cape wrapped around the man to protect him from the fire was proof enough who it was. The loaded crossbow was only further confirmation.

Grimmel the Grisly, his hair very disturbed and singed, had somehow lived through everything so far, perhaps because he had been below deck or had only been fortunate.

 _Good._

Grimmel saw him.

For a man of apparently very average physical traits, Grimmel was very quick on the draw and on the shot. He almost moved as fast as thought as the crossbow was slung up from under the cloak and the trigger squeezed in one motion.

Shadowwing had expected the shot and had already darted to the side the instant Grimmel moved. The bolt, poisoned or not, harmlessly passed by him.

Grimmel stepped forward as he reached into his pouch, grabbed and loaded another bolt, and started to raise the crossbow.

From such a short distance, it would have been easy for the shot to have hit Grimmel's head and ended it then. Instead, Was-Grounded's shot hit Grimmel in the back against the Fury hide cape, knocking the man forward and down onto the deck. The crossbow tumbled to the deck beyond Grimmel's reach. Then Was-Grounded jumped forward and trapped Grimmel between them both.

Amazingly, Grimmel laughed and jumped to his feet an instant later. The man was completely unarmed by all appearances and even held out his empty hands. He glanced back and forth between the two wide open sets of sharp teeth and glowing maws, and he did not seem at all concerned. His eyes were still narrowed in the way a prowling hunter would look at its prey.

"Which one of you should I be talking to now?" he chuckled.

Shadowwing snarled and took a step toward him.

 _You have to be insane Grimmel..._

"Well, you certainly seem to have gotten the best of me, haven't you? Took my... bait and killed my Deathgrippers, I will truly miss them..."

Shadowwing snarled with all the hate and wrath he could summon at the thought of fellow Night Furies butchered at this man's command.

 _Oh, I wish I could talk to you right now._

"I bet you wish that we could talk right now. Some great speech of revenge and justice it would be. Well, I have one for you," Grimmel chuckled.

Grimmel gave a lengthy pause, apparently for dramatic effect, and pointedly threw away a link of key chains from a pocket. Then he took a step closer to the snarling Fury before him. The fire's glow reflected off his face as the wind born from the fire whipped his cloak and his hair.

"I saw your Haven. It should not be! Peace is a lie! You would always choose your own kind in the end!"

Grimmel reached inside his shirt and pulled off another necklace that had a single key on it. Then he dropped that necklace on the deck and glared at him with complete certainty burning in his eyes.

There was a great rush of wind from the burning hold along with a partial collapse of the deck over near the hold. The ship was not now long for the seas, and Grimmel clearly did not care.

"I have already won," Grimmel snarled.

 _Oh really?_

Shadowwing parted his jaws and prepared to pounce. Grimmel calmly smiled and stared off into the distance while holding his empty hands out to either side. As if he was openly inviting a strike. The terrible man's dark cloak swayed in the wind behind him.

 _Something is wrong. He is too confident. Does he want me to strike? Does he have some dead-man's plan? Did he poison himself or..._

"Brother! Look!" Was-Grounded suddenly shouted while staring with narrowed eyes over Grimmel's head.

Shadowwing spun in place and stared toward the ship's eastern bow, now bathed in the very first of the dawn's orange glow on the horizon.

They beheld its flickering appearance through the roaring flames as it touched down on the other side of the ship, having jumped out of the hold's inferno. It was something almost like a Night Fury but slightly larger and horribly different. It had large forelimbs with curved claws longer than daggers. The narrow torso had scales that consumed light and had no glare or reflection from the surrounding flames. Dark wings were now folded against its side, and its tail had short sails running down the sides of the tail's length.

"What is that?" Shadowwing whispered.

There was no chance to answer before it turned in place and spotted the remains of a body onboard the ship. The creature bent down, sniffed at the corpse, and ignored the body, completely uninterested by it. The dragon then stood in place, slowly looking around the wreckage and the empty, burning deck on its far side of the ship.

"It looks almost like..." Was-Grounded softly hissed.

They both froze when they saw the dragon staring directly at them through the billowing, roaring fire. No words were necessary between them both as they let their light flare brightly as one, illuminating the entire deck above even the glare of the flames.

It never looked away from them or winced at their display. While the deck where it stood was bathed in a blue glow, the dragon's dark scales and hide were not. It turned fully toward them, slowly stalked up to perch on the edge of the burning hold, and stared calmly at them with its light-consuming wings spread wide. Its serpentine head had a series of bony spikes almost like a half-crown. Its shadowed black eyes seemed as windows into a void, an emptiness, a hole in life.

"Be ready to fly..." Shadowwing whispered as they both braced themselves and crouched.

A moment of relative silence passed as all were frozen in place.

Then Grimmel dove to the side and rolled out of reach of their claws.

The remaining Deathgripper dove down from the sky, protectively jumped toward Grimmel, and covered him with its bulk.

And the strange dragon on the other side of the ship jumped forward through the billowing flames and screamed a cry that pierced the heavens.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note – I am guilty of a bit of misdirection. There have been previous hints that this reveal was a possibility. After all, no 'normal' dragon is a match for a full strength Alpha Night Fury, let alone two. What follows is a dance with the devil and is definitely a Horror thriller.**_

 _ **SLIGHT FILM SPOILER**_

 _ **I did consider whether or not to include the mind-control collar. I decided against it being used because mind-control is too powerful of an ability to give out to 'lesser' dragons. It should be reserved to the great Bewilderbeasts, in my opinion. Deathgripper venom being a paralyzing agent or a method of rendering a victim unconscious is a reasonable adaptation for a hunter, but mind-control/suggestibility does not follow as being a necessary ability. So, no Grimmel riding on Luna, and no controlling the Deathgrippers with their own venom.  
**_


	78. III - Dance With The Devil

_**Author's Note – I highly recommend that you read this chapter and listen to 'Mars, The Bringer of War' from Gustav Holst's 'The Planets'. That epic musical piece is about seven minutes long, and it is basically this chapter converted into music since I wrote this chapter with that piece in mind. You should be able to pair up the moments of action and calm within this chapter with the music.**_

* * *

" _Black it stood as night... Fierce as ten furies, terrible as hell... And shook a dreadful dart; what seem'd his head... The likeness of a kingly crown had on... Satan was now at hand." - John Milton – Paradise Lost_

* * *

Dance With The Devil

* * *

They jumped off the deck in opposite directions with a pair of very quick thrusts of their wings. They heard the dragon crash down on the deck where they had stood. Out over the water and then up into the air they flew, leaving behind the burning husk of a ship. Their flights came together up in the sky as the unearthly shriek finally stopped ringing in their ears.

Once the initial shock wore off, dread and fear replaced it as they stared down together at the deck where they had stood only moments before. They could both clearly see Grimmel standing next to the remaining Deathgripper. Neither of those two mattered anymore in comparison to whatever this was.

The strange dragon, its very appearance a visage of malice, was staring up at them and watching their flights, its body clearly coiled for a strike.

"What is that Monster?" Shadowwing shouted.

"I do not know! It wants to hunt us!" Was-Grounded yelled back.

Shadowwing blinked in vague recognition.

 _'There is one kind of dragon that I tried to kill off entirely.'_

 _'He wants to hunt down every Night Fury and is somehow very good at it.'_

 _'A certain... ally who shares my mission in a way.'_

"What do we do to Monsters?" Shadowwing answered.

"Kill them!" Was-Grounded smiled widely with all his teeth bared.

The Hunter jumped from the ship and raced toward them, its dark wings carrying it much faster than most other dragons.

"As one flight!" Shadowwing shouted.

They let their light flare brightly as they banked in opposite directions to force the Hunter to choose. It decided to follow after Was-Grounded which then let Shadowwing fly a bit closer to it to get a better look.

 _Threat assessment... Do not get close to it because of its long claws. It is fast but probably not as fast as us. Very nimble and agile for sure from the tail-sails. Do not know if it has any fire. Great..._

The wings were very much like a Night Fury's wings though perhaps larger with a bit more drag and less speed. It more than made up for that by being more muscular overall with a slightly more extended torso and by having the longer claws on its forearms.

 _I think it wants to force a close fight. Definitely keep this at range._

He saw his brother begin to turn in a wide loop, almost dragging the Hunter's flight with him. And that let Shadowwing beat his flight into the Hunter's blind spot up and over its back. Closer and closer until he was certain that the shot would strike.

 _Perfect, it has bigger wings and it is flying a predictab..._

The Hunter seemed to twist in midair, arrested its momentum with its larger wings, and hurled itself at him. He angled up to keep the higher air and snarled in murderous wrath as the Hunter approached. His own glow burned hotter as he readied a death shot and narrowed his eyes on its wings that seemed to drip shadows.

And something felt different about the world.

The air felt heavier, and he felt weaker.

The Hunter extended its claws and opened its monstrous maw, flashing its sharp and inward curved teeth.

His fire should have burst forth and hurled into the open maw to tear the Hunter apart from within.

But nothing happened.

He beat his wings at the last second, flipped his tail, and hurled up and over its back. Its jaws snapped shut and barely missed clamping down on his tail. And in that moment when he spun over its back, he noticed something else terrifying when he caught a glimpse of himself.

He was not glowing with power.

 _What!_

He beat his flight away from the Hunter as quickly as possible as he rejoined his brother's flight. And then everything changed again as he put distance between himself and the terrifying Hunter.

The air felt lighter, and he felt stronger again.

His powerful glow returned in full, and a faint stream of fire erupted from his maw as the remaining unflamed gas was set alight. He breathed heavily in shock.

 _Ok... think... what just happened?_

He glared at the Hunter as it twisted toward them. A bizarre explanation came to mind. It was crazy and made little sense but nothing else made any sense at the moment when everything he thought he knew about his own abilities seemed uncertain.

 _It drains my power or stops me from making fire somehow, but only up close? Well, great..._

"Stay away from it! It stops you from making fire or body-light close to it!" he shouted.

Was-Grounded shook his head in surprise and growled his understanding.

"Flame it together?" Was-Grounded then snarled.

They turned toward it together and roared in defiance. They beat their flight directly toward it as fast as possible as they readied their fires.

Two glowing shots flew forth toward the Hunter.

It twisted faster than thought and dodged between both shots.

And they angled their flights away from it to try again.

A shadow of doubt began to grow in Shadowwing's thoughts.

 _Ok, Night Furies never miss what we aim for. It is very fast though. Need to try something else. Maybe it needs to be distracted enough. I really do not like this._

"I will be the prey! You dive at it from above!" he shouted.

Was-Grounded grumbled at that but turned his tail to the ground and flew straight up toward the dark clouds.

Then Shadowwing turned toward the Hunter.

 _Time to go dive into the Monster's den... Love it._

He deliberately flew closer to the Hunter, sending a single small shot its direction to get its attention. That at least worked.

It turned for him and flew with haste. He let his light stay bright like a beacon, hopefully being enough of a distraction to let his brother take the necessary diving shot.

Closer it flew. Only a few lengths separated them until he started feeling that impending weakness and drain. That was as close as he or his fear would allow.

A glance followed at it over his shoulder. Surprisingly, this time it did not have its jaws wide open. It merely stared at him. Its dark eyes were as windows on a void, an emptiness, a hole in life.

 _A blazing white sun that hunted its kind with lightning and death. Hiding in the corners of the world until it was found by an Alpha-two-leg that had need of it long ago. A secret champion and a shared need made known and understood. Smelling. Hunting. Diving at shadows. Dens found. Conflict forced in defense of dens. Need satisfied. Purpose met._

And it was hurling itself through the sky with impossible speed and sinking its teeth into his tail which it bit off.

And it was ripping off his brother's wings and snapping his neck.

And it was tearing out Luna's heart and feasting on her entrails.

And it was eating Moon-Dancer and Mist-Wings alive.

Paralyzed by fear and horror and dread.

A void, an emptiness, a hole in life.

Jaws wide and claws flashing.

Stalking closer to him.

Into nothingness.

Useless.

Useless.

Weak.

Weak.

He recovered himself with a gasp as a bright explosion erupted in the night. The paralyzing spell was broken, and the Hunter was knocked from the sky by his brother's diving blast that glowed like a sun.

 _No... Not true... No... It did not... They are still..._

He whimpered weakly and shook his head at the terrible fading images.

 _Gods! What was that?_

The relief was only momentary though as he glanced down and saw the Hunter start to recover its flight. It had survived an Alpha Night Fury's full diving shot without even appearing to be terribly distraught beyond a glowing patch of scales on its back and sides.

 _How is that possible?_

Was-Grounded flew in next to him and gave him a worried growl.

"Do not look in its eyes!" Shadowwing gasped.

"That was my strongest and hottest fire," Was-Grounded bemoaned.

"And it did not die? Now what?"

"I do not know. It has no blind spots or weaknesses that I see. It saw my shot and was not hit in the wings. Does it have any fire?"

They both looked down as the Hunter seemed to recover and turned its flight up toward them.

"I have not seen..." Shadowwing began.

The Hunter shot a ball of dark blue fire that erupted into a cloud into which the Hunter flew. The flaming cloud quickly faded, and the Hunter vanished from their sight into thin air.

Both of their jaws fell open in horrified shock.

"That is very bad!" Shadowwing screamed.

"To the clouds!" Was-Grounded yelled.

They both flipped their tails and flew toward the thick clouds above as fast as their wings could carry them. That was very fast.

* * *

It made her liver burn hot to strike at the Monsters. These Monster two-legs that would fly against the Haven-nest and which were led by an Alpha that hunts Night Furies. An Alpha who would wear her mate's hide as false-skins. An Alpha who had several hunter-kin and used them as flight-mates. An Alpha who had attacked her own den and taken her from Moon-Dancer. An Alpha that both Alpha Furies were about to kill if it was not already dead.

There were already water-walkers turning around and flying at different directions than others in the flight. Confusion and fear were spreading without clear flight-leaders to guide the flight.

She flew high above, well beyond the range of any two-leg danger, as she flew down the path of fighting and roared aloud to all the kin. While she was not an Alpha herself, she was mated to an Alpha and all the wild kin knew her voice. They knew to answer her call as she cried out in triumph and fight-leaving. She flew down the fighting range where most of the fighting had happened with the water-walkers. The few not-grounded kin still fighting two-legs on the ships answered her summons and rose into the air. All kin able to fly were leaving and flying off toward their nest wingbeats later.

Then she turned away from the grounded flight of water-walkers and looked around for the two she expected to see leading the flight.

 _Where are they? They should lead this flight in their victory._

There was nothing over near the burning water-walker that they had both been on. Then she glanced away from the remaining water-walkers when she noticed something twisting. There were flashes of kin-fire far away out and over the waters where there were no water-walkers.

 _What?_

She stared up toward those clouds until she saw it again. A distant kin glowing with blue life-fire dove and shot a fire-sun that struck another unknown kin. The unknown kin fell, recovered itself, and turned for the other two bright kin before she lost sight of it. The other two kin with glowing life-fires then turned for the distant clouds up above and flew very fast, apparently being chased.

 _Shadowwing! Was-Grounded!_

They were Alphas and should be able to ground any bad kin, but that had not happened here. Something had turned two Alpha Night Furies into prey and was driving their flight.

She turned for them, completely forgetting the remaining water-walkers, the lone kin flying away from the burning water-walker, and the flight of kin turning for the horizon, and flew with all possible speed. Another flash of hiding-fire erupted before her. She flew through it and knew that she had vanished from all eyes.

* * *

The thick darkness closed around them both as they settled into a smooth glide in the thick clouds.

"No light..." Was-Grounded whispered.

They willed their light to fade to better hide them in the darkness and because the commanding light would not help them now. The fear and encircling dread made it easy as they faded into the dark clouds.

It felt not so different from how they had hidden in the clouds many years ago under very different circumstances. At least until they remembered that this enemy was completely invisible and could be anywhere.

It felt terribly real at the moment. The possibility of what might happen.

"Toothless, I want you to know... if we die... I am glad to be flying with you... at the end," Shadowwing whispered.

Was-Grounded brushed a wing against his.

"I would be also, Hiccup. But we are not dying to that Monster."

"We cannot see it..." Shadowwing whimpered.

There was no sound but the whistle of the wind and their own heavy breaths.

"Remember what I said? We can see life-fire..." Was-Grounded explained.

Was-Grounded then closed his eyes and started smoothly gliding. His ears that had been swiveling every direction stilled, and he made no sound as they glided in the clouds.

Almost total silence and emptiness.

"I do not see anything. There are no other lights," he whispered.

 _Lights? What?_

All of Shadowwing's nerves were frayed as he strained his senses to take in everything around him. They both glided out into a gap between the dark clouds.

Every change of the wind was its attack.

Every disturbance, flash of light, or swirl in a cloud was its unseen dive as its invisible body flew through a cloud.

It was too distracting and terrifying, not being able to see the enemy and plan accordingly.

 _'Life-fire, you can see it without using eyes.'_

There was too much around him.

 _'Life-fire...'_

He closed his eyes and let the world fall away as he glided behind his brother and focused on nothing but breathing.

The stroke of the wind on his wings was gone.

The whistle of the wind in his ears was gone.

The rushing beat of his heart was gone.

The sound of his breath was gone.

There was nothing but himself.

His wings, fins, and tucked limbs.

His breaths and pounding heart.

Then even all that was gone.

It was a strange sense, a confusing mix of seeing and feeling that did not need eyes and that he did not know he had until then. A sense that he had never needed until then. Something similar to the seeing with sound but always available to him, though he had never explored it.

There were indeed no lights anywhere around them except for his brother's, which seemed to burn like a sun in the shape of a Night Fury, and presumably his own but which he could not see or feel. The clouds did not seem to exist to this sense, maybe because they were not life and did not have life-fire, whatever exactly this was.

Life itself? Heat? Something else?

There was nothing else anywhere around them except the far distant darkness all around at the limits of this sense and ahead of them.

He blinked and recovered himself as all his awareness returned in an instant. The wind was again, and he could see all the dark clouds before them. Everything was normal except that the air felt slightly heavy, and he felt slightly weaker than he thought he should.

Heavy and weak.

"Brother!"

Was-Grounded blinked, recovered himself, and glanced back at him over his shoulder.

"Do you feel..." Shadowwing paused.

Windows on a void, an emptiness, a hole in life. A darkness in the clouds ahead.

Clouds are not life.

"DIVE!"

The cloud before them was torn asunder from within.

Pure terror and horror was all he felt in his dive. There was no point turning to glance over his shoulder because the Hunter could not be seen. But then he heard, even above the whistling wind, the pained scream behind him. A shard of ice plunged through his heart in that instant.

In all the fights he had been in it had always been he who was behind his brother's capabilities, Was-Grounded simply being more aggressive, protective, and a better dragon.

All sensation fell away as he acted without thought, twisted onto his back, and loosed a glowing shot slightly off target from the bright light that he could see. The shot even burned his own mouth at its departure. So much more potent than the normal fire that was easy to summon.

The target was clearly visible as if it was noon. A dark, twisted void. A gaping hole in life. It was terrifyingly close behind the light, almost close enough to snap at the light's tail.

The shot passed barely under a tucked wing of light and flew straight into the void. A dark shape like a wing was hurled out from the unseen Hunter's side by the force of the blast. Its diving flight was fouled as it momentarily spun out of control.

He returned to the world and recovered his dive next to his brother.

"Follow!" he shouted, barely audible over the rushing wind.

They flew on as fast as possible for several seconds. He checked again to make sure that they had a moment and then slowed when he saw that they had put distance between themselves and the void.

There was a narrow bleeding gash in his brother's lower back, a painful injury but not life-threatening at all.

 _That was far too close._

"Look for darkness, not a light!"

Was-Grounded was visibly trembling from the pain, but he managed to close his eyes and then growled softly in surprise.

"I see it now! And there is... another light!"

 _What!_

Shadowwing checked for the Hunter's advance, easily spotting it again as the emptiness approached, but he also saw something else as well. Another sun was circling up above.

A sun that he could not see when he looked with his eyes.

 _No! Why are you here?_

They both beat their flights toward the unseen sun up at the nearest clouds. And then he realized something wonderful and frightening at the same time. It was not one sun. Rather, there were two lights, one large and one very small but both burning brightly.

 _Oh Luna... why didn't you tell me?_

"Luna!"

"Shadowwing!"

He felt an invisible wing brush against his. There was no time for pleasantries.

"Can you see life-fire?" he shouted.

"Yes!"

"Do it and look for darkness! It is a Monster. Our fire is not hot enough to kill it!" he yelled.

A moment of silence passed.

"I see it! Attack with me!" she shouted.

He and Was-Grounded gasped in shock when she growled anew.

"I have hot fire! All flame it as one!" she commanded.

Wordless agreement passed between them as the rest of the world fell away. Then they all turned as one toward the Hunter and beat their flight toward it.

Three burning suns threw themselves at the void and scattered around it. Their first volley of shots was dodged entirely. The second volley was not.

The Hunter twisted furiously and howled as a singular strike tore away a patch of scales on its back. Another series of shots followed, and the darkness screamed in pain at the united strike that burned hotter and hurt more than any of the others had. Especially when the shots hit the opened weakness on its back where it had lost its thick and protective scales. It was very fast at keeping its wings away from the shots, but even strikes on its armored back were not safe for it anymore.

A burning, white-hot shot flew from Luna as a dark shot erupted from the void. The two shots collided with a flash that lit up the night sky. And then Shadowwing could visibly see the Hunter's terrible shape trembling as it hovered in place. Something, perhaps the force of that flash, had torn it from its hiding.

He and Was-Grounded both loosed two glowing balls of bright death that had broken a great tusk once before. They were perfect shots directly at the opened wound on the Hunter's back.

Both shots struck the Hunter's belly and broke like water on rock as the Hunter wearily twisted in place to block the shots. It let out a confused and pained growl as it wildly shook its head. It could not dodge the next shot hurled from the nothingness above, and it howled in pain.

Shadowwing was coming back around for another clear shot when a flash of motion up in the clouds caught his attention. It almost looked like a...

He shook his head and ignored the distraction. He was in position and prepared to ready his fire for another careful shot. Then the weary Hunter turned slightly and angled itself toward a patch of empty air away from himself and his brother.

Almost as if to flee.

Toward the only hidden fighter whose fire was hot enough to pierce its protection without any help.

Toward the two lights that should be hidden from all eyes.

The terrifying knowledge passed through his thoughts in an instant and shattered all his calm confidence. A perfect explanation formed for how it could see them up in the thick clouds, seemed to have no blind spot, and why it had just turned to stare at the empty air.

It could see life-fire also.

It could see her.

She did not know that it could see her.

The frozen moment passed, and the Hunter hurled itself through the sky with a burst of speed that quite belied its weary condition.

Panic forced him to ready another shot as he had planned. Then he realized in another terrifying instant that he could not. Glowing with this powerful blue light did not mean that he had an unlimited supply of gas. He still had a shot limit and was now useless after having reached that limit.

He heard her terrified scream and saw nothing but his failure.

 _'I fear that flying above will be my death one sun...'_

Always useless to protect her as he promised he would.

 _'Two times now you have not been there...'_

His own weakness.

 _'What am I to you, Shadowwing...'_

Useless.

 _'You will not fail us again...'_

Useless.

 _'I would die for you...'_

A wall, a barrier inside that had never before been crossed...

 _'You are the wind in my sky...'_

Shattered at the imminent deaths of one, of two, of three he would die for.

.

All thought vanished in that moment as his blue light changed into blue fire that flowed around him and streamed behind him.

 _._

 _'A blazing white sun that hunted its kind with lightning and death.'_

.

Lightning and death.

 _._

The lightning crashed through all the clouds in the sky, struck him as he hovered in place, and jumped from his glowing maw in a strike that turned night into day.

.

Awareness returned to him for an instant in which he saw the Hunter's charred corpse falling from the sky. But then it was hard to see anything past the flashes and spots of light in his vision. He could not hear anything over the ringing in his ears from the thunder centered on him.

Wings were there passing through the sky before him. But he was tired, so tired and weak after a long chase over Haven, trauma and fear, a long flight over the sea, battle in the sky, battle on the ship, a raging inferno, and this finished dance with the devil.

A sudden lurch of weariness and burning pain from everywhere. Everything hurt where the lightning had struck him. His wings and tail threatened to fail him. A growling whimper escaped him as he struggled to remain in the sky.

 _What... did... I... just..._

.

Time seemed to slow again as he saw Grimmel the Grisly on the back of his last Deathgripper, the pair having crossed in front of him in the confusion after the lightning strike. Grimmel's empty crossbow was in the terrible man's hand.

.

Shadowwing glanced down in weary curiosity at the large bolt buried in his own chest.

.

A creeping, spreading spike of numbing cold fire.

.

"Oh..."

.

 _'I will kill a Night Fury before the end.'_

.

So weary as the clouds above bathed in the dawn's first light.

.

Sound faded except for the buzzing in his head.

.

The sun flashed in the sky above and faded.

.

As the darkness grew all around him.

.

As the roaring wind was silenced.

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As the sky was falling down.

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As his wings failed him.

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As his tail went limp.

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As his breath stilled.

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Up through weary eyes that struggled to see anything at all.

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The clouds high above.

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The whipping wind.

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The darting shadow.

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The diving moon.

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The fading light.

.

The silence.

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The dark.

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Alone.

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Weightless.

.

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Falling.

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Floating.

.

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.

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Oblivion.


	79. III - Requiem

_**Author's Note – A requiem is a song or ceremony in honor of what is dead. I recommend 'Tchaikovsky - Hymn of the Cherubim' as background music for part of this.**_

* * *

" _The reappearance of the crescent moon after the new moon; the return of the Sun after a total eclipse, the rising of the Sun in the morning after its troublesome absence at night were noted by people around the world..."_

* * *

Requiem

* * *

Weightless.

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Falling.

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Floating.

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Oblivion.

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Darkness.

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Timeless.

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Void.

.

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Empty.

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.

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.

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Gone.

.

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.

Lost.

.

* * *

.

A roar of an inferno.

.

A flash of lightning.

.

A cry of mourning.

.

A roar of command.

.

A whisper on the wind.

.

A summons before the end.

.

* * *

 _._

 _'Who are you, dark wing...'_

 _._

 _'I'm sorry, dad...'_

 _._

 _'You don't have to go up there...'_

 _._

 _'Stay with me, bud...'_

 _._

 _'I hurt you. I broke tail...'_

 _._

 _'Fly the same air in the skies of life...'_

 _._

 _'Almost sounds like us...'_

 _._

 _'Teach me flying...'_

 _._

 _'I will make fighting not happen...'_

.

 _ _ **'And even if you did have that power...'**__

 _._

 _'You were looking for me...'_

 _._

 _'Yes, you are my egg-mate and best friend... and my brother...'_

 _._

 _'We can do this, you and me as one...'_

 _._

 _'I am safe now...'_

 _._

 _ **'Y** _ **ou would not be able to give it...'**__

 _ _.__

 _'You are not a Monster...'_

 _._

 _'I will fly this flight with you...'_

 _._

 _'I do not want to be alone...'_

 _._

 _'You are the wind in my sky...'_

 _._

 _ _ **'Unless life was in true danger...'**__

 _ _.__

 _'If you had to choose the two-leg world or me...'_

 _ _.__

 _ _'I would choose you...'__

 _ _.__

 _'I promised to keep you safe...'_

 _ _.__

 _ _ **'And your want for it eclipsed your own will to live...'**__

 _._

 _'I would die for you...'_

 _._

 _'I will destroy everything you love...'_

 _._

 _'We will turn this hunt on it...'_

 _._

 _ **'Who are you, dark wing...'**_

 _._

 _'Do not make me lose you...'_

 _._

 _'I am glad to be flying with you... at the end...'_

 _._

 _'I saw your Haven... It should not be... Peace is a lie...'_

 _._

* * *

.

There was light.

.

Life was in him again?

.

With each breath of air?

.

Who was he?

.

Why was he?

.

When was he?

.

Where was he?

.

What was he?

.

He opened his weary eyes, blinked away the confusion, and beheld a strange island covered in snow. Despite the snow, there was a warm wind blowing in from the sea. A twilight glow seemed to burn at every horizon as the stars and the aurora adorned the heavens. The sun, slowly rising to welcome a new day, was still hidden beyond the horizon.

He wearily pushed himself to his feet in the long grass and tried to ignore the faintly burning pain all throughout. It all hurt. His wings, his tail, and his chest especially pained him. The pain vanished almost as soon as he noticed it though, apparently blown away on the warm wind.

Memories were slowly taking shape from the void. Everything that had happened in the last few minutes, hours, weeks, or years seemed oddly distant, almost as a part of a different world or life entirely, and did not seem to concern him at the moment.

He was too busy staring with wonder at a massive, gaping cave glowing with a faint green light before him. And he knew exactly where he was without questioning how he could have gotten there. It was the island on which the spectral dragon Mimir, that strange seer who told him such impossible things about the world around him, apparently lived. The island that hid a door, possibly one of the few ones, into the mysterious hidden world where many dragons lived in secret, hidden from the rest of the world.

A shape slowly emerged on foot from the mouth of the massive cave. It was almost the same strange dragon that he saw years ago. A dragon with a long tail and soft spine covered neck and back. Its eyes were fathomless with age and filled with memory. However, this dragon was grey, seemed formed of mist, moved very slowly and weakly, and did not glow with pure light as it had before.

He and Mimir faced each other in a long silence with only a couple paces between them.

 _'It is finished.'_

"Finished?"

He blinked as recognition or painful understanding took form in his thoughts. With that knowledge came the resigned emptiness.

He had fallen.

"I... am... dead?" he weakly sighed.

 _'Yes, and no.'_

"What?" he groaned in confusion.

 _'You are less alive than you would like to be and less dead than you could be.'_

He closed his eyes as the confusing truth circled him, as the terrible memories slowly took shape and sorted themselves into something comprehensible. A dangerous battle in the sky against a foe that was beyond them. None of his or his brother's fire could harm the enemy. Only Luna's fire could...

Then a truly terrible idea clenched its teeth around his heart.

"What about Luna? Is she... still...?"

 _'She is safe. You killed the last of those Hunter dragons, perhaps the most ancient and deadly of them if it evaded even me all those years. The world became... cleaner. I felt it. And now the last of those relics of a great and terrible world is no more.'_

He gave a great sigh at learning that detail. Hope and relief poured into his heart on her behalf.

"As long as she is safe and lives, I would give anything for her. I did... actually. What happened with the lightning before I... died?"

Mimir gave a phantom sigh that echoed on the wind.

 _'You dark wings and light wings never stop amazing me. That was your life-will-power.'_

"What! I... did not have one... and that is not what it... does," he exclaimed after a moment of shock.

 _'You thought it was something that would only make one be changed or hatched as a new dark wing?'_

"Yes," he mumbled.

 _'No. You saw a threat to the life of one, of several you love. You were ready to die for them. You gave up your life-will-power in that moment and made the world one without that threat. It was not so different from how Toothless trying to save himself and Hiccup both made them both... new even though it was not intended. Think of it as the only way for the saving of both to be.'_

"But why lightning?"

 _'You remembered how I hunted them long ago. You knew without knowing that lightning was the best way to kill the Hunters.'_

"I... always had that power then? I only needed a true reason to use it?"

Mimir winced slightly at that.

 _'Yes... you understand more of it now. I wonder what the limits of that power could have been under other... circumstances.'_

"What do you mean?"

Mimir almost answered but bowed his head and sighed without saying anything. There had been a wary, appraising, and haunted glimmer in his spectral eyes for an instant.

 _'No, it does not matter now. It was not my place to... test that... though I wish that I had now...'_

He wondered at apparently being back on this strange place so suddenly, if he even was here. The chaotic events of the recent past slowly began to weigh on his heart again despite the knowledge that she was alive.

"How... how did I get here if I am dead?"

 _'You should already know the answer to that.'_

A glance at the ground and sniff at the air followed before he realized something peculiar. There was nothing there to experience. There was no chill of cold or smell of the nearby sea. He could not even truly feel the ground beneath his feet. It made sense also given what Mimir had said about him being dead, sort of.

"I am not truly here. This is all in my head. It is not real."

 _'Why does it being in your head mean that it is not real?'_

Mimir for the first time seemed to almost smile.

 _'As I said before, you are dead and not dead at once.'_

He blinked, begging for explanation.

"I do not understand..."

 _'It depends on what you want I suppose. You could truly die and pass on now to what awaits, be it something or nothing. I imagine that all you would have to do is follow me...'_

"Follow you?"

 _'When I pass from... here. It will be my time to pass soon after the great deed you did.'_

"But I can live again?" he gasped as hope came to life in his heart.

 _'Yes, you would merely stay... here until the sun rises. But it would be to a life of some pain from now until your last days. You were burned by the lightning. You were also shot by the hunter human. And there is another pain you would feel if you return.'_

He did not need to think about it to know what he would prefer.

"I would rather live in some pain than be dead. To leave her, my son, my unhatched one, our children that would never be, my brother, and everyone else... never."

 _'Then you will live. It is your choice to make, and it is good to say yes to life.'_

He hummed softly at the reassurance and wondered at something else he had never gotten a clear answer on.

"Can you tell me how long I will live? No one else seems to know."

Mimir blinked and softly growled.

 _'No dark wing I know of has been allowed to die well of old age. I do not know how many years you will have in life. Longer than humans but not nearly as long as me, I would think.'_

"That is very strange to think about. I guess I will find out. What did you mean about another pain though?" he sighed.

Mimir's shape rolled and swayed, seeming to lose form for a moment before it recovered. The thought voice was frail and slow when the specter continued.

 _'I kept the other life-will-powers alive. Part of my life-fire was in all the dragons. It is almost my time to pass and fade now. I... wanted you to know...'_

"Know what?"

 _'There will be no more great 'magic'. No more making the world and life as you want it with will only. No more saving life from the teeth of death. No more thought-whispers and distant thought-sharing. And for all dragons still to be in the future, all their fire breath or ice breath might not be.'_

He stepped back and gasped at that terrible notion. Dragons that could not breathe fire?

"What! No! How can that be?"

 _'Part of that breath was 'magic' as you call it. I do not know if those still to be will have enough spark on their own. Maybe they will, maybe they will not. Your kind and the light wings of course will have your own spark, but you will not have any more life-will-power.'_

He lay down on the false sand and stared blankly as the enormity of what this meant crashed upon him.

"But how... how will we hunt? How will we defend ourselves? How will we live?" he bemoaned.

The specter sighed, and it felt like the wind itself answered.

 _'I once thought that the dragons could be free in the world as long as they had help from me. My gifts to them would be enough to help them protect themselves. I hoped that they and humans could share ranges or at least not clash. Do you know how many deaths I have felt so recently? The ice nest with the great-tusks... The battle that just happened... The fighting all across the world that you never knew of...'_

Countless daggers pierced his heart as he saw and felt the deaths himself in Mimir's eyes.

.

A rain of arrows piercing through his eyes.

Massive jaws closing around his head as the audience cheered.

A hurled spear buried in his chest.

Diving to catch his rider and having his wings tangled in a fall.

A hurled rock flying at him with no time to dodge.

A poisoned arrow pouring death deep into the strike.

Wings torn off in a fall onto a ship.

Drowning in the water after a crash.

Finding his mate dead and eggs crushed.

.

That eternal moment passed in an instant. All the voices, all the pain, all the loss cried out...

 _._

 _'Never again.'_

"Never again?" he weakly gasped as he recovered himself from the terrible vision.

 _'I called to all the other good dragons before; water dragons to the deeps and both sky and land dragons to their nearest refuges. They all heard me, except those that look to you and your brother as their Alphas. They could not hear me, nor could you. The rest are hidden now, never to see the Monsters again. I spent almost all my power before the end, and I broke all the other paths to the hidden world except the one you see now. Only it will stay open.'_

He stepped back from Mimir's darkened shape, thoroughly shaken by what he just heard the shadow of the ancient dragon say. He almost protested when he remembered why there were so many dead. Why there were so many dead which he had felt himself in the eternal instant.

So much hate, fear, and pride. And in part, it was the dream of peace and coexistence that led to this terrible outcome being possible, at least for those dragons that recently fell. His own dream that lasting peace was possible despite all evidence to the contrary.

 _'I finally understood that this would not have happened if they were all some place safer.'_

The terrible familiarity of Mimir's last thought was as another spike driven through his own heart.

"No, you are wrong... It was... We... lived in... peace..." he moaned.

 _'That peace was weak. Those good old days had their time and will not return. How much was needed to build it, and how easily was it shattered? Why build something that will be broken again and again and again? That blindness only leads to death.'_

"You, you have given up hope then?" he exclaimed.

Mimir weakly sighed.

 _'Hope... dragons have none in the upper world. That world belongs to the humans again. Let them take it and burn it as they will. But they will not touch or foul the hidden world now or ever.'_

"You would have us give up and not even try to make the world better?" he growled back.

Mimir looked into his eyes, almost with pity in his ancient and tired gaze.

 _'You know what will happen if you stay above. You will meet with death. Maybe not you yourself, maybe it will be your young who are killed for their hides or the pleasure of the hunt or the fault of being dragons. Maybe you will watch your life-mate die before you. Will you bring that on them? What will you be willing to lose to try to make that impossible dream of forbidden friendship live?'_

His heart was completely pierced again by the familiar warning and his own pained realization, far too long coming.

It was too dangerous and violent for dragons in the world. All dragons had to disappear entirely from the world. They had always been seen as the enemy of humans in general, and that was not going to change any time soon. People change too slowly, if they ever do. And the risk involved in making the dream real, the price that would certainly have to be paid in blood, was one that he was not willing to pay. He had no right to condemn his own family, Luna, his son, future children and grandchildren, and all in his brother's family to deaths because of an old dream of his. And that was not even considering all the dragons he was responsible for alongside his brother.

Unless there was another possibility.

"We... can bring our humans with us into hiding with us..." he desperately offered.

Mimir gave a wary growl tinged with a hint of anger and shock.

 _'You would bring the humans into the hidden world? Who do you think you are to so change the world? You know that is not possible or good. The other dragons from the corners of the world remember and know humans as the threats they are, unlike the dragons that always lived in hiding. The light wings especially would not accept them.'_

"There are other Light Furies there?" he weakly gasped in a moment of surprise.

 _'Yes, several packs of them.'_

"Why did you not tell me about them before?"

 _'You did not need to know about them. The light wings want to be free from humans and live always in hiding.'_

"But our humans are good to us, and they do not hurt us. We can..."

Mimir interrupted him.

 _'The hidden world is wild and free, and that is not what humans want. They would foul the hidden world with time. They want to control and subdue dragons, even if it starts slowly and in what seems to be peace and friendship. They are the enemy of life and freedom! That is what I have learned after over a thousand years! I remember it all! They cannot be trusted with the knowledge of where we are in hiding. You know that as well as I do even if you do not want to accept it.'_

He hung his head and weakly whimpered as he remembered the great foes; the Berserker tribe's thirst for blood, Drago Bludvist's apparent mission of control, the Grimborns and all the dragon hunters, Grimmel the Grisly's terrible purpose born of fear, and the monstrosity of a dragon that he himself had killed, giving his own life in the process. The other dragon riding tribes had, for the most part, forsaken their surviving dragons after the cataclysm on the Bewilderbeast's island. Even within Haven there were still those who occasionally seemed to see dragons as merely useful beasts of burden or pets, even if those ones were the vast minority.

 _'What you dark wings choose and where you will live is your choice though. You may be the last ones of your kind, I am too weak to see if there are others now. It is your flight to fly even if you want to end your own kind. But remember that your dragons will follow you and your brother as their Alphas. Their lives are in your claws. Will you will fly them to their deaths?'_

Then Mimir's otherwise stern appearance seemed to soften.

 _'I told you before that there were winds you could only fly on your own. That there was a truth about yourself that you never knew. Who will you live for and who are you, dark wing? Dragon or human? It is a choice you must make. Now.'_

Mimir slowly retreated into the giant cave, paused in the entrance, and then gave a heavy sigh heard on the wind itself. Mimir turned to warily glance at him one more time. Then the spectral shape melded with the darkness in the cave, leaving him completely alone. He slowly turned away from the entrance, what Mimir claimed was now the only one, to the hidden world and then looked out to the cold ocean and the skies where the hidden sun was nearing the horizon as dawn neared.

A whispering zephyr.

" _You promised me..."_

He walked long without knowing why or to where until he approached the ocean itself. Out onto the sandy beach he strode until he came to the water. The water was impossibly still, as though it was an isolated pond somewhere instead of the great and wild ocean.

Then he looked down at his familiar reflection. The same one that he had looked into for nearly nine years.

It was the reflection of a Night Fury.

" _Come back..."_

He closed his eyes and saw terrible visions burned into his thoughts. They drove him to his belly in the sand as he wept without any tears and keened softly in consuming grief.

A mournful howl echoed on the wind from off the sea.

Moon-Dancer's head mounted on a pole.

Luna on the ground in a pool of blood, a cruel hunter carving off her precious hide.

His brother's heart cut out and skull adorning a Great Hall.

Any of his nieces and nephews hunted because of what they were.

Dozens of dragons dead in the waves after flying at his command and trusting in him.

They all tore at his heart with vicious claws and laid bare the terrible choice. The reality of being between two worlds that were torn apart at every attempt to join them. The inability of others to let go the past and let something new and good live. The pain of having a dream that was not meant to be. Grief from seeing his dream, the very purpose that he had built nearly nine years of his life on and wished for the future, crumble before him.

As fate decreed.

" _My love..."_

He then opened his eyes and beheld the blue sunrise and the bright, shining moon up above. And he felt the burning and weakness everywhere. The soreness in his tail and wings, places where it felt like spikes had been driven into his back and side, and what seemed like burns in his mouth. A particularly deep and biting pain in his chest. He drew a weak breath as his lungs burned with a spike of pain.

And he looked up at a swirling mass of shapes that was initially indistinct. Then there was movement and touch. Something was warm around his neck.

His eyes opened slightly wider and saw more of the world again.

The indistinct shapes melded together into very different heads and wings. The bright white moon and warmth against him was arms and a head. The cries filling the sky were of mourning or relief, he could not tell which.

And then he clearly saw them both as the sun first cracked the horizon at dawn.

His brother, glowing with blue light, had his head lifted to the sky and was howling a mournful cry. Luna was the white moon holding his own fallen head in her arms as she keened weakly for him with her head bowed.

"Lllunnaa... brrrotherrrr..."

* * *

The shadow Monster kin hurled a ball of death-fire at her, a strike met by her own. The two strikes met with a flash that tore the Monster from hiding.

But spots of light and head pain fouled her thinking for several wingbeats. The Monster kin recovered in that time and dove after her, as if it could see her.

It was close enough that she could see its eyes. Dark voids that hungered for her flesh, that would tear her apart, that would eat the egg she carried now, that would destroy and kill everything that was warming in life.

The scream of horror burst unbidden from her as she tried to flee, but it was too fast and would catch her.

Then the sky-light crashed through all the clouds in the sky and struck the Monster in the next wingbeat. Its entire terrifying body sparkled with the sky-light, burned from within, and then fell dead from the sky before her.

She saw the bright blue life-fire-power-light burning around her Shadowwing as the sky-light danced around him and faded.

 _What just..._

Then another kin, one of the death-grabbers, appeared in the sky above her, having flown out from a cloud in the confusion. The kin was carrying the two-leg flight-Alpha who had attacked her den and shot her with a sleep-making shot.

Pure horror and cold spilled into her liver as she saw the two-leg raise a thin-tooth-stick throwing weapon. And it felt as though the world ended and all warmth departed from it when Shadowwing rolled onto his back a few wingbeats later.

As he too fell limp from the sky.

The glowing ball of white fire flew from her and struck the death-grabber and the two-leg Alpha from the side. Was-Grounded's wrathful fire struck from the other side.

The death-grabber and the two-leg Monster were blown apart from each other, the kin's wings broken and the two-leg knocked off its back, as both fell from the sky to their deaths far below.

She roared in fear and pain and dove to save Shadowwing. His being bigger and heavier than her did not matter. Could not matter.

They collided, and she grabbed his limp body. So terribly different from the last time they had held each other in a fall from the sky. But she was weak and weary from the fighting, and he was so heavy.

Then suddenly the weight was not so great because Was-Grounded had flown up under him and was carefully bracing him against his back. It was not an easy flight to fly together, but they avoided fouling each other's flights. It also helped that they were starting from quite high up and could almost glide to land.

Shadowwing made not a sound, nor moved anything in all their time in the sky.

"Shadowwing!"

He did not answer her fearful scream.

They glided toward the nearby island with nothing on it but grass and sand. Was-Grounded slid out from under her and let her take Shadowwing's full weight for those last few lengths. She landed as smoothly as she could, setting her life-mate down as gently as possible on his side on the sand. Then she hopped off him and froze in total liver-chilling and life-breaking horror.

The sky-light had struck him everywhere and left burn-hurt-marks all over his body. The thin-tooth-stick was buried deep in his chest. And he was not breathing.

"NO!"

She nosed his head and forcefully nudged him, pushing over his limp head.

"You cannot die!"

He did not react.

"Live!"

Nothing.

Impossible.

"No!"

She bent down and put an ear to his chest.

His life-organ was stilled.

Dead.

Gone.

She remained frozen as her liver broke and all warmth was swallowed by the emptiness.

Cold.

Alone.

Empty.

 _'I will not hurt you.'_

 _'Almost everything.'_

 _'You did... I see it...'_

 _'Luna, you are the wind in my sky.'_

 _'My life-mate and my sky-light.'_

 _'I... gave you my liver... I would choose you...'_

 _'I promise you this, Luna...'_

Her cries of mourning echoed in the dim light as she held his head in her arms. He had somehow thrown sky-light at the Monster that would have killed her. And he had fallen in doing so. He gave his own life for her.

Was it her roar of wrathful sorrow that filled the sky?

His warmth taken from her always.

His first promise... His promise that he would not hurt her.

He was hurting her now by being dead.

"You... promised me... come back..." she weakly gasped.

The sun finally cracked the far distant horizon as she held his limp head, not believing and not accepting the terrible truth of an empty life in the skies of the future. After all the pain and loss in her life-flight, how was any kin supposed to fly on and let go of this? Nothing could fill this life-emptiness.

She finally understood the true meaning of that strange word through the loss of that it referred to. Understood the power of sacrifice and other-thinking. Understood too late.

"My love..."

She hung her head and closed her eyes as she refused to let go his great head. Keening the loss and emptiness inside, as if doing so could fill the void within. He could not be... he promised that he would...

"Lllunnaa... brrrotherrrr..."

* * *

Was-Grounded collapsed limp to the ground with his eyes closed, too stricken to even moan aloud. He had seen many dead kin before, but this was far too close and liver tearing.

 _Seeing the two-leg standing near him as he lay fallen and grounded in a trap..._

An emptiness and always-cold where warmth had been.

 _The fledgling two-leg who freely entered a place of hiding in the wild to meet him, a kin..._

A loss that nothing could ever fill.

 _The fledgling two-leg holding out a paw toward him in trust and letting him decide whether this two-leg deserved a chance to fly the winds of life with him..._

His own egg-mate, nestmate, and brother was dead on the ground before him, Shadowwing's body burned by sky-light, a two-leg weapon in his chest, and his great breaths stilled.

 _His bond two-leg falling toward a hungry fire, the two-leg's small chest broken, and only one hope at life for both of them..._

Terribly unlike his own seeing Shadowwing enthralled by a great-tusk-Monster from which it was possible to free him.

 _His former bond two-leg, now his hatchling nest-mate, staring warily at him, uncertain who he was after they both just hatched..._

No life-will-power of his own remained, and such power could not save that which was already dead anyway. It could only save life that still remained but was threatened.

 _Hiccup being twisted in his thinking and freely running close to an angered two-head-gas-breather..._

Luna gave a terribly pained and empty cry as she held her dead life-mate's head.

 _Hiccup trapped by the bad two-leg nest and held by the bad Alpha..._

It was too much.

 _Hiccup mourning all the death on home-nest-island after the bad nests attacked..._

His own hatchling promise, now broken, to keep his brother safe echoed in his torn thoughts.

 _Finding Hiccup, now Shadowwing, again after two full turns of the seasons and being able to introduce him to Green-Wings and Dawn-Singer. Joy and warmth..._

The same defiance that he had burned with when fighting Monsters in the past came forth easily now, but strong-mourning-light could change nothing.

 _Freeing Shadowwing from the rotted great-tusk's thought control and fighting it together as one flight..._

He turned away, not wanting to see his dead brother's body, lifted his head to the skies, and howled his cry of mourning, loss, and emptiness at the empty dawn, both now and all to be.

 _Finding Shadowwing trapped down by the water after the trappers entered the Haven-range in secret..._

Why were the winds of life so cold and cruel and biting? Pain and loss had followed his tail ever since fleeing his hatching cave in another life.

 _Promising him that they would prevail and would not die to the Monster of a kin..._

Why was there never any chance to live long in peace? Why could he not...

"Lllunnaa... brrrotherrrr..."

He froze, spun around, and opened his eyes.

The world and life itself paused at those weak words.

Shadowwing's eyes were cracked open and looking back and forth between them both in recognition. His chest was weakly rising and falling with breaths in and out.

With life in and death out.

Those two tortured words were the most wonderful sounds he had ever heard.

The gaping void in his liver, in his life, collapsed on itself.

Was it a roar, a whimper, or a sob that escaped from him?

From her?

From them both?

It was not possible.

It was not natural.

And it had happened.

Luna cried aloud something between disbelief, shock, and wonder as she lay down and held her life-mate's head in her arms. Her eyes locked on Shadowwing's green ones.

"Luna..." Shadowwing weakly gasped.

Then she held Shadowwing's head to her neck. She shook softly with feeling and soft keening in the way that only a kin could.

Words failed Was-Grounded and were completely insufficient anyway. He could only stare as the winds of life took one of the most dear parts of his life from him, showed him future skies empty of that warmth, and then gave it all back to him.

"Brother... take... it... out... and flame... the hurt..." Shadowwing softly moaned.

The other two spared a glance at the thin metal weapon buried in his chest, having pierced his scales. It was not in any life-important inside-parts, but it did need to come out.

"It will hurt much..." Was-Grounded warily answered.

"Do it... now... please..."

Was-Grounded bent down, closed his jaws around the extending part of the weapon, and pulled it straight out with a liver-chilling tearing sound. Shadowwing gritted his teeth, trembled, and moaned worse than anything Was-Grounded had ever heard from his brother before.

Then the open hurt was dripping life-water, at least until Luna bent down and stuck her tongue to the hurt. She tended to it for a moment and then breathed a very fine stream of white flame onto the hurt. Shadowwing screamed aloud from the momentary pain, and then he lay weakly on the sands, crying his pain while slowly trembling. Luna kept licking the hurt as his whimpering slowly faded.

Silence fell over them all save for the constant, reassuring purring.

It was finished.

"Luna, brother..." Shadowwing whispered.

Luna then held her mate's head again to her neck, ever so gently cradling his fallen head in her arms.

Was-Grounded eventually lost patience and bounded forward with a wordless roar of joy and love as Luna stepped partly aside to make some room for him. He nuzzled his brother's muzzle on the other side as Luna was doing and then gave him a lick on the face while whining weakly. Many wet licks on the face followed as Shadowwing slowly and painfully rose to his feet.

A moment passed in which neither of them moved. Then Was-Grounded rested his head on Shadowwing's and completely broke.

They both did and were reduced to whining, nuzzling, and gasping for neither of them knew how long.

"Brother..." Shadowwing eventually sighed.

"You life-twisting... stupid... amazing... liver-breaking..." Was-Grounded fumbled.

"Useless kin?" Shadowwing whispered.

Was-Grounded only nuzzled his brother's head tighter at that. And he also sobbed uncontrollably in his own way.

"Brother, why are you sad?" Shadowwing softly purred.

"I am not sad... I am warm again... and so... very happy..."

Shadowwing gave a very soft warble of relief.

"What happened to you?" Was-Grounded gasped as he released him and stepped back with a glance to the many sky-light-burns and the new hurt-mark on his chest.

Shadowwing then looked at Luna and whispered.

"The Hunter-Monster was flying at you Luna. Then I was filled with fear and I... threw sky-light at the Monster. It was my life-will-power. I always had one, but my seeing you in life-danger helped me use it."

"But... how is that possible?" Luna whispered.

Was-Grounded grumbled for a moment in his own confusion.

"Maybe I did not understand how the life-will-power worked. I do not know."

"I was willing to die for you Luna, and I... made the world one where the danger was not. But it almost killed me to throw sky-light. And the two-leg Alpha... shot me," Shadowwing tried to explain.

"How do you know that about the sky-light?" Was-Grounded wondered.

Shadowwing almost spoke but paused after giving a great sigh.

"I will tell you later. How is your back-hurt?"

They glanced at the narrow gash in Was-Grounded's back.

"It hurts little..."

"You... false... let me..." Shadowwing grumbled.

Then he got to his feet, stumbled over as his brother lay down, and then licked the wound clean.

"Thank you," Was-Grounded hummed and nuzzled his nose once it was done.

"Luna, your hurts?" Shadowwing asked.

She did not protest and bent down before him. He licked the whip-marks and welts on her forehead. She responded by licking his nose when he was finished. He could not find it within him to complain. Then he turned away and glanced to the dawn.

"We should... fly to our range now," Shadowwing groaned.

"Can you fly? You were... not... with us until now..." Luna softly cried.

"I was... dead for a time yes, but I was... hatched..." Shadowwing's voice died off.

Then he did something very strange and slightly worrying to the other two. He started laughing wildly, though he stopped when the laughter seemed to pain him.

"What? Why are you laughing?" Was-Grounded worriedly glanced at him.

"I was dead, but now I have life again! I am a twisted one hatched from the sky-light and death itself!" Shadowwing exclaimed.

Was-Grounded and Luna shared a worried look and grumble.

"Did the sky-light twist his head and burn-rot his thinking?" Luna moaned.

Shadowwing rubbed his head against her neck.

"No, my love. That is a two-leg saying about Night Furies. They say that we are... twisted ones hatched from the sky-light and death itself."

Shadowwing then stepped away from them and stretched his wings while looking around the island, apparently for the first time. They could all see the distant ships and smoke from the far battle, though none of the ships had any interest in this small island.

"How did I get here?" he weakly asked.

"We caught you and carried you here. Do you truly think that you can fly?" Was-Grounded answered.

"I feel weak, but I think that I can fly on my own."

The three of them then jumped for the sky and turned for home. Shadowwing's flight was indeed labored, but he managed to get and remain aloft. Was-Grounded flew above him while keeping a lookout for any sign that his brother's flight was going to fail. Luna flew at Shadowwing's side, a wing slightly overlapping his when they glided.

They passed alone, three shapes below the clouds, without seeing any other dragons anywhere on the wing or any ships sailing on the waters before them. Their flight carried them onward toward the rising sun on the horizon.

And all the while, Shadowwing refrained from thinking about any of the revelations. None of the terrible realizations during the vision or the apparent calling of fate. Those were skies to fly later. The pains in his side, his chest, and the weakness in his wings were distraction enough.

Getting home and abandoning himself to sleep in safety with his family was all that mattered for now.

* * *

" _... these phenomena spoke to our ancestors of the possibility of surviving death._ _" -_ _Carl Sagan_

* * *

 _ **Author's Note – How many of you noticed the culmination of an old foreshadowing? If the feels were strong in this, just wait...**_


	80. III - To Fly On Our Own

_**Author's Note – And now we get to see the aftermath and some truly painful talks, all leading up to what we know is coming. Before reading this chapter though I recommend that you read one of my other posts - To Fly The Winds Of Life – Chapter 5 'Elation' - for a scene from Grimmel's perspective and some insight into his mind, if you dare.**_

* * *

 _"The fatal day, th' appointed hour, is come." - Virgil - Aeneid_

* * *

To Fly On Our Own

* * *

Haven looked exactly as they expected it would when they arrived shortly after dawn. There were dragons flying freely, and there was a general cacophony of noises overhead. But there was a noticeable tenor of something else within all the voices. Something that had definitely not been there before. Fear and concern.

Shadowwing weakly sighed, being quite worn out by the intense battle and long flying. His own pains and fresh injury did not help either, despite them not hurting as much as they had been. Facing the knowledge of the dead and injured and all the ruins in Haven though...

 _I cannot deal with any of that now... All of the fallen... I will worry about that later._

The three Furies flew in, and Was-Grounded gave a triumphant roar which was echoed by many voices.

Then the three of them landed outside their homes, only one of which was still standing. The main door to his brother's house had already opened and a flood of young Furies darted outside, much to all the adults' relief. Dawn-Singer, Aurora, Rain-Eater, and Mist-Wings dashed out and ran toward their father. Green-Wings followed last with Moon-Dancer at her side, at least until the little one saw his own father and mother and dashed for them.

Shadowwing and Luna eagerly embraced their son, purred to him, and nuzzled him in relief. Moon-Dancer's own trauma was still so recent that he was more somber than usual and he stayed very close to Luna's side, even whining softly at her safe return.

The small space between the two homes was filled with purring Furies for several long and wholesome minutes.

"Shadowwing, what happened to you?" Green-Wings quietly exclaimed as she looked at his new burns and chest wound.

"My brother can tell you all. Will you have Dawn-Singer tell Kin-liver that we are here and well?"

"I will," she answered.

"And I must sleep now. May I sleep in your cave-den? Mine... is..." he weakly asked.

"Yes," Green-Wings hummed and dashed away to relay the request.

"Come, little one," Luna called to Moon-Dancer.

Shadowwing, Luna, and Moon-Dancer then made their way inside the remaining Fury house. Shadowwing merely lay down next to the fireplace after setting it alight. He only did so after giving a hiss of pain.

"Do you need anything, my mate?" she whispered.

"Some fish would be good," he sighed.

She waited not a moment before setting forth again and bounding out the house.

* * *

He was safe now. He would live. That was all she could think about as she strode through the mixed-nest toward the fish place.

The Monster-kin and two-leg Alpha died. He, she, and Was-Grounded all lived. Nothing else should matter to her.

But as she bounded through the nest, she realized something strange. Something that she had not truly seen or noticed before. There were others, kin and two-legs, who had not lived. Pairs of two-legs or nests of two-legs were gathered together and quietly mourning. Some of them were even mourning the loss of a kin that they were close to. Other pairs were tending to kin who had some hurts from the other fighting. One kin was licking a female bond two-leg who was clearly mourning the loss of one from their nest.

 _I have never seen that before. They fought as one flight and lick the others' hurts..._

Then she arrived at the fish place, grabbed a mouthful of fish, and turned back for Shadowwing. The burned dens and ash around them were the main reminders of what had happened in the night.

And the worst of these was the one she could not help but stare at even as she stood ready to enter Was-Grounded's and Green-Wings's cave-den. Her own den from which she had been taken, Moon-Dancer's life threatened, and a possibility completely broken.

 _We are not safe here now. The bad flights can come back here to fight more. This cannot be our world now._

Sigh.

 _We can talk after he rests._

* * *

He watched her go and then turned back to his son, who was surprisingly sitting quite still.

"Sire-father?" Moon-Dancer whispered.

"Yes, my son?"

Moon-Dancer was staring at his side. His son tried to speak but struggled to say anything for a moment.

"Did you fight sky-light?"

"In a way, my little one."

"And you won?"

"Yes, I did," Shadowwing purred.

Moon-Dancer's eyes were wide with awe as he gave a little gasp.

"They look like they hurt..."

"Only a little. That happens with hurt-marks, my son."

Sigh.

"Will you sleep on the bed until your dam-mother is here again?"

"Yes," Moon-Dancer hummed, "I have been playing much with Mist-Wings and Rain-Eater."

"Son, are you much liver-chilled by the bad burning of our cave-den?"

It was not something that he wanted to remind his son of, but he wanted to give reassurance if necessary.

"Some, but I am safe now with you and dam-mother here. Green-Wings is a very warm second dam-mother also," Moon-Dancer softly answered before hesitating and trembling.

"Is dam-mother safe now? Will more bad-kin hurt her?"

Shadowwing softly nuzzled his son's nose.

"No, the bad-kin are gone. Sleep now, my son."

Moon-Dancer hopped up onto the rock bed and pulled a small wing over himself.

Shadowwing remained in the fire's warmth as he started to let his weary thoughts wander.

He closed his eyes and thought about the hidden world. It was probably the only place in the world where any other dragons now lived in safety or could live in safety. It would be easy to go on that flight as well since he knew where to go. All the Night Furies together with the remaining Haven dragons. One last flight in the free and open skies, and then the world would see no more of dragons. The skies would be truly empty again.

 _I could not have imagined it in the past, but now... there might never be peace up here. We will always be in danger if we stay..._

A sigh of total, desolate despair.

 _He... was... right..._

So terrible.

So wrong.

It should not be.

There was no other way.

How would the rest of Haven react? What would they say about this choice? This breaking and shattering of what was and what was becoming? Would they see it as betrayal?

But it was his decision along with his brother. They would both consult their mates, of course, but the weight of the decision fell on the leaders, on the Alphas.

The Alphas protect them all and must think about the others first in all serious matters.

The door opened as Luna bounded back inside with several fish for him. He did not even bother with his usual teasing complaining and took the slimy fish straight from her mouth.

"Luna..."

"Is there anything else I can do?" she whispered.

"Hold me..."

He waited as she stepped over to him, lay down at his side, embraced him, and wrapped her tail around his. Several quiet moments passed as they tenderly held each other and nuzzled in complete relief. Then the warmth of her belly against his reminded him of something wonderful but terrifying to learn in the middle of battle.

"Why did you not tell me?" he whispered.

"About what?"

"Our new egg... I can already see the little one's life-fire..."

"I did not think I needed to say anything," she softly answered.

"But you were both in danger..."

"And would it have been better if I was not there? Could you two have killed the Monster without me? Would you have... lived?"

He only answered by clutching her a bit tighter and whimpering softly. Neither said anything until she broke the silence.

"Shadowwing?"

"Yes, my love?"

"There is a cold in your liver now," she whispered.

He sighed softly.

"You see well. Our life will change soon."

"What? How will it change?" she softly rumbled.

"I will tell you after we sleep. I want Was-Grounded and Green-Wings to hear it also. There is something that we must all talk about together."

It washed over them both in the silence that followed. How close they had both come to losing the other. The fear, the terror, the emptiness, and the complete relief that followed. They both trembled as they held each other.

Then the door opened again sometime later. Was-Grounded, Green-Wings, and all their children walked inside and strode directly up to them as they lay together. Green-Wings bent down before him and stared into his eyes with a hurt, pained, and relieved expression. He knew that she had been told the truth behind what had happened.

Then his brother stepped up beside him and lay down at his back, gently snuggling up alongside him.

"Shared warmth," Was-Grounded whispered.

They all gathered around them both, Green-Wings taking Luna's other side and his brother at his back. Their children piled in around them all, and all were covered by Was-Grounded's and Green-Wings's wings.

Shadowwing felt the warm purring from all those who were dearest to him and who were there to comfort him. And he keened softly with open vulnerability, feeling, and something between a broken heart and complete relief.

They had all survived.

* * *

The mouth to the cave-den opened, and Kin-liver slowly walked inside. Luna watched her slowly approach, as did most the other Furies except for Shadowwing and Was-Grounded. The two Alphas were most exhausted after the fighting and were deeply asleep.

"Luna?" Kin-liver asked.

 _What are you doing?_

She warbled softly and shuffled from between Shadowwing and Green-Wings. Almost at the same time, she realized that Kin-liver had something in her paws. A small holding-thing filled with a mix of plants.

Her eyes fixed on the strange thing, and she gave a questioning purr.

"Helps hurts not hurt. I help your head hurts, Luna?" Kin-liver asked.

The holding-thing filled with a mix of plants did smell very strongly of healing hurt-gone plants. So she bent her head down before Kin-liver and gave a purr of approval. Kin-liver then put the strange mix on a digit and carefully put the plant-mix all along the small bites and hurt lines.

Her own warm purr slowly built again as the comforting warmth spread. Whatever that mix was that Kin-liver made, it was almost as good as mouth-water at helping hurts not hurt. It probably was not needed to help the hurts, but Kin-liver wanted to help her.

"More hurts?" Kin-liver softly asked after she was finished.

 _Not on me._

She glanced over at Was-Grounded and pointedly nodded at him. Rain-Eater cautiously stood up from near his sire-father's flanks and then looked down on the hurt on Was-Grounded's back.

That was enough flight-guiding for Kin-liver, who then treated that hurt also. Was-Grounded remained asleep all throughout, that was how gentle Kin-liver's paws were.

 _She must have much practice doing this for kin from her cycles in the ice nest._

"No more hurts?"

 _Actually, there is one more, Kin-liver. You will not like it though._

She gave a quick flick of her head and gestured Kin-liver over to stand before her. Then she glanced down at her mate's chest, visible because he lay partly on his side to not aggravate the hurt.

Kin-liver gasped softly and froze as she stared.

The hurt was raw, missing some scales, somewhat charred, red with dried and burned life-water, and would definitely leave a lasting hurt mark for all of Shadowwing's cycles.

Kin-liver and Luna stared at each other. Luna could see it in Kin-liver's eyes. Pain for another. Fear for another. Relief for another. For her own changed little one.

It was not even surprising to her now that Kin-liver started dropping eye-water. She gave Kin-liver a soft and warming purr along with a nod to the hurt. Kin-liver then carefully took more of the helping stuff and gently put it on the hurt. Shadowwing did not even shift in his sleep.

Luna draped a wing back over her mate and then looked back at Kin-liver.

"He good now. I help other hurt kin now," Kin-liver whispered.

Then she briefly greeted all the other Night Furies who were awake, whispered some kind words to them, and then left the den to attend to other hurt kin.

Silence followed except for the purring.

Even as she lay her head back down on her life-mate's neck, Luna could not help but think about the other two-legs and kin of the range though. How many had fought as pairs to protect the range? How many had fallen together? How many were even now licking the other's hurts in their own ways?

* * *

The strange dragon appeared over the ocean late in the morning. The scout noticed the dragon land by the cliffs and a strange man hop off its back.

Chief Thorvald and Valka were summoned along with a dozen guards and dragons. Both Haven leaders started in surprise when they saw the man leaning against the Deathgripper's side.

"Well, well, how did you live?" Thorvald asked as he hoisted his axe.

Viggo Grimborn solemnly grinned at them.

"Strategy. I was not on my flagship when you attacked. Neither I nor my brother were."

"You knew that we were going to attack? How?" Valka exclaimed with a suspicious glint in her eyes.

"After Grimmel's strike, which I argued against as a bad idea, yes. I thought you would do something to strike back, and I took a precaution. Tell me, was that Shadowwing's idea to hit the flagships only?" Viggo asked.

"Yes, no reason to waste life and attack the whole fleet. Why are you here?" Valka answered.

Viggo gave a satisfied nod and looked past them all into what was left of the village behind them.

"Grimmel is dead. I already gave his men and his fleet a place in the new armada, under my control of course."

"So why did you come here? You did not have to," Valka asked.

Viggo only smiled.

"I saw something that I would not have thought possible. I saw a dragon speak to me, show strategy, and try to avoid unnecessary death and waste. I spent my whole life hunting dragons, killing them, and I've... come to respect one as an equal. Shadowwing taught me that."

"Ok, but why are you here?" Valka asked.

Viggo for the first time frowned.

"I am not an honorable man. I have never seen a use for it. But I know when to respect an enemy. I thought I would come here and let you know that the fleet is not stopping after what you did. There are too many people out there who want revenge."

"You come here to threaten us!" Thorvald shouted.

"To warn you. If I go back to my commanders and tell them that we need to take one more day to prepare after that strike of yours... and if we then get here to your home and find it abandoned, well, that would be unfortunate for us, wouldn't it?"

Thorvald blinked and warily glared back at him. Viggo then continued after giving an exasperated sigh.

"Truthfully, I do not care about you all. Taking some of your dragons could be useful, yes, but I would rather have the largest navy in the world. Those at least are not fading as dragons are."

"You were never serious about taking our dragons?" Valka interjected.

Viggo grinned and shrugged.

"The combined fleet is basically the entire navy in this part of the world. I know that it would be very wasteful of men and ships to attack you since you still have a lot of dragons. But I cannot tell the men that we are turning around. Doing that would end with me dead and dumped in the sea. I can go on these scouting missions using my new pet here and push for a little more preparation before we strike. Do you understand me?"

They all stared each other down until Thorvald sighed.

"I understand you. What will you do now?"

Viggo walked back to his Deathgripper and vaulted into the saddle.

"I will go back to the fleet. We will sail to enemy lands after a bit more preparing, and we will drive off the dragon riders from their cursed home! Maybe the other tribes will be happy to hear that. They cannot really expect much more against an enemy that can just... fly away," he winked.

"You do see the irony of that, considering what you are sitting on," Valka laughed.

Viggo patted the Deathgripper's neck and was rewarded with a deep purr.

"Oh, Ripper here is harmless. To me at least. I actually think we are a good match for each other. I made sure to ask Grimmel for the... cleverest of the clutch. The one who will start fights between the others so he can grab more fish. A tamed, trained dragon is nothing to worry about. It is the wild, free ones that are dangerous because you never know what they will do. Give Shadowwing my regards. I truly hope that I never see any of you again."

Viggo gave a signal to Ripper, and the Deathgripper leapt for the sky and turned for the ocean.

Thorvald and Valka stood together and watched as the dragon gradually vanished over the sea.

"Now what? It sounds like they are still coming here," Valka sighed.

"Yeah, I don't know what to do now. Definitely keep some scouts in the air in case he was lying," Thorvald replied.

Then he gave a wry chuckle and continued.

"We might as well start packing now though since we can't stay here. We definitely have practice at that. Where to go though?"

"We can talk to the Furies about it later when they wake up. Let them rest for now. They need it after what happened," Valka softly answered.

* * *

Shadowwing wearily and painfully arose early in the afternoon. He had slept in Luna's arms and under his brother's wing all through the morning. She was already awake and attentively watching him while humming comfort. Actually, she might have not gone to sleep at all.

"Does it hurt?" she whispered.

"Some. I am more weak than hurting now. I will wake my brother and Green-Wings. We must talk."

He slowly got to his feet, pulled himself out from under the comforting wing, and woke his brother with a soft nuzzle to the shoulder. Was-Grounded arose from his place at his side and faced him without saying anything for a while.

"How is the hurting?" Was-Grounded eventually whispered with a glance at the burns and the treated chest-wound.

Shadowwing sighed softly.

"I feel little hurting now. I need to talk with you, Luna, and Green-Wings," Shadowwing whispered back.

"Let us talk now."

"Not here where your little ones hear us. We should step aside."

Then he looked at all the sleeping siblings piled more or less together. All were shaken after the events of the night, the fires spreading through Haven, lookout duty, and seeing the returning flights with the missing who did not return and the wounded among those who returned. They needed their rest in the trust that only family could provide.

"Why only us?" Was-Grounded asked.

"Trust me."

Was-Grounded eventually hummed in agreement and woke his mate. Was-Grounded and Green-Wings stepped aside to join him and Luna a short distance away in a semi-circle around the fireplace.

"We are here. What did you want to tell us?" Was-Grounded softly asked.

Shadowwing first looked at each of them in turn and then he began in a quiet voice.

"You know that there is a hidden world under the ground and under the waters. Many kin live down in this world. I was in it several season-cycles ago. That was where Luna and I became life-mates. The kin live freely in a world with rock-caves, light, fish, prey, different trees and plants, and their own kinds. Two-legs do not know about this world."

He slowly turned to Luna and lost himself in her wide blue eyes.

"That is where all the other kin are now. All the kin not in this range and that do not look to us as Alphas are now hidden from two-legs."

"How do you know that?" Was-Grounded asked in surprise.

"I... met a kin when I was... dead. A kin that I met before and who would know where the other kin are. Also, what that kin told me flies with what the bad Alpha two-legs and thrall-makers said, that there are no kin in any range except this one," Shadowwing answered.

"But if there are no other kin above..." Luna warily began.

"Yes, the bad thrall-makers and bad flights of two-legs will always come here because they can. We will always be prey to them in almost any range we could fly to..." Shadowwing whimpered.

"Why are you telling us this?" Was-Grounded whispered.

Shadowwing slowly looked up and stared into his brother's green eyes. He struggled to speak before he finally forced the pained words out.

"We must leave the open skies and go into hiding with the other kin. We must fly to where there are no two-legs. Kin only..."

A moment passed in silence as they all understood.

"But you have always wanted the nests to be one. Two-legs and kin together in life," Was-Grounded whispered.

Shadowwing stared at the floor without answering, clearly lost in his pained thoughts.

"I wanted two-legs and kin to trust and live in peace. But there might always be another Monster-Alpha two-leg who wants us dead. The bad nests that sent the Monster-Alpha after us might send another flight. There is no range above that would always be safe."

He briefly paused.

"Taking the two-legs into the hidden world would be very dangerous for them. Other kin might want to hurt them and not trust them in their home-ranges. It is a very different world and is not what two-legs know. Even if it was safe for them, it would only take one of them to leave and tell other two-legs how to get in the hidden world."

He weakly sighed.

"We... should fly on our own... to be safe and free..." Shadowwing painfully whispered.

Silence followed.

"You are all kin to me as my own nest-kin. What do you think?" he then asked.

"That hidden world is where I am from. It is close to my liver and memories and is good for us and all kin. We cannot stay in the ranges above," Luna answered first.

"I am warmed by your words of it, a place with no two-legs that could ever become rotted. No more fighting two-leg flights that have thrall-kin... that would be good," Green-Wings mused.

"I would have had us fly there in the past if I had known about it," Was-Grounded added.

Silent glances followed between them.

"We all agree. We should fly all the kin into the hidden world," Luna finally declared.

Shadowwing closed his eyes at the conclusion. At the stroke of fate. At the shattering of his dream. At his failure to change the world.

"When should we fly?" Was-Grounded asked his brother.

"We should... use this sun-cycle to walk in our nest and see all the kin. We fly at the end of this sun-cycle if they can fly. Flying in the dark is safer because no two-legs will know where we are flying. The flight is not to the range that you know, Luna. We will fly to another range in the hidden world. That cave-mouth is big enough for all kin to fly in," Shadowwing whispered.

"Should we tell our young? They might not want to break the nest in two," Green-Wings wondered.

The four of them spared a glance at the sleeping children in a pile together. It was clear that this choice would hurt at least the two oldest of the children.

"No, they will not. They hold some two-legs close to their livers, but they also know that they will not find mates if they stay here and we leave. They saw what happened in the fighting, and they know that other two-leg nests would hunt them. We will let them know when we are ready to fly. If their liver-bond two-legs truly want good for them, the two-legs will let them go and be free," Shadowwing answered.

Was-Grounded then got up and walked over to him. He sat down, tried to speak, and failed for a long time.

"You would let go that vision-hope that has been so close to your liver?" he eventually hummed.

"If I must for us to live, yes. That is what Alphas and flight-leaders must do. They must think about the good of the nest they lead and protect. The kin will all follow us to a better world for them. And this is... good for both the kin and the two-legs of this range. Without any kin to hunt... there will be no good reason for other two-leg nests to hunt these two-legs after they find a new range and become only one more nest among many..."

"You would have us leave all of them? Even your dam Kin-liver?" Was-Grounded whispered.

"Yes," Shadowwing sighed, "even her. To take one two-leg with us would mean that we should take all with us... It would not be safe for them to fly with us..."

"But what will happen to them here? I would not want much bad to happen to this two-leg nest," Luna asked.

"Their livers will be broken by losing their bond-kin. Much of their life-ways need their kin with them now. But," Shadowwing weakly answered, "two-legs have rock-head... problems. They can find a way to keep flying... to keep walking... in life when we are gone. They have many water-walkers..."

"I did not think that you could let go. What happened to your rock-head problems?" Was-Grounded softly asked.

Shadowwing briefly moaned and then leaned against Luna's side.

"I lost them when I almost lost you, Luna, and Moon-Dancer. Nothing can change what is important more than to almost lose... everything I love."

* * *

Shadowwing, Gobber, Valka, and Chief Thorvald stood together in the Great Hall in the midafternoon. They had summoned the Fury to share important news with him.

"We wanted to tell you that Viggo was here earlier. He flew in with his Deathgripper," Valka announced for everyone's benefit.

 _So he lived... good for him._

 **Why was he here?**

"He wanted to warn us... yeah, amazing... that the fleet was not stopping. He said he would give us one day to disappear. Oh, he also wanted us to give you his... regards. You changed his mind on something," Thorvald explained.

Shadowwing looked up from having hung his head.

 _Their coming here does put a timer on everything. The lands to the east are rather open for everyone here, or they could take the ships and try to disappear off the map on the sea. I guess that they would only be hunted out of revenge by the rest of Grimmel's fleet and the dragon hunters if they stay here._

 **What did he say?**

"That he came to respect you as an equal. He knew that it was your idea to hit the flagships only."

Sigh.

 _I really wish I could have gotten to know him some other way. He sounds like someone I could have possibly respected as well if he meant what he said._

 **How bad is it here?**

 **How many died?**

Chief Thorvald squared his shoulders with an odd, rueful grin.

"Not too bad actually. We lost five of our dragons and maybe fifteen of the wild ones from what we could tell, but we also rescued several new ones that were trapped. Six of our riders and fighters fell."

Shadowwing considered the final tally. It was not as terrible as he had feared, and yet it was still a painful victory. He was certain that he would have known, at least by name, each of the six humans who were now gone. Dead because of the mission that was his idea.

 **I feared it would be worse**

 **How many dragons cannot fly?**

"Uh, none of them. The ones that were hit in the fighting... all fell. The poisoned arrows were... very effective when they hit. The rest of the injuries are all minor," Valka winced.

 _So that is it then... we fly tonight after telling them they must leave... actually..._

 **Could you all take the saddles and armor off**

 **Give all the dragons some rest  
**

"Yeah, that sounds good. They deserve a break. Thank the gods that we had armor for them. It would have been far worse without that protection," Thorvald answered.

 **Good to hear**

"What about you? How did all this happen to you?" Valka asked with a nod to his burns.

She was not the only one who had been eyeing his new injuries.

 **Lightning strike**

"Lightning? I remember seeing that strike, but how? There was no storm."

He slowly shook his head without saying anything. His shrug would hopefully suffice for them.

 _I am not telling them about that beast or what happened. Better that no one ever knew it existed._

"And that on your chest? Does it hurt still?" she kindly asked and moved toward him.

He again shook his head and stepped back from her without letting her touch him.

 **I will be fine**

 **I need some time to myself**

Valka nodded in apparent understanding, though she also seemed a bit hurt by his reluctance.

Shadowwing then left the Hall and slowly walked through the village. Many buildings and perches were now flamed and charred from the raid in the night. So much had been built up in almost three years. Every glance toward the remaining stables, perches, and fish stations was painful. The fields were filled with crops nearing the harvest. The distant mountains and the caves held so many good and bad memories. The ever-present cloud of dragons above the village was filled with their various, different cries.

Several dragon and dragon-rider pairs were working at various tasks together. He briefly paused to watch Dawn-Singer and Aurora quietly writing to the small group of friends they were closest to.

That hurt so much to see what was becoming here. Something that was so familiar in a way. Something that might have been between another Night Fury and human who had once lived as friends.

Something apparently not meant to be. A truly forbidden friendship.

The pain flared in his back and sides, almost like tiny daggers were being plunged deep. Even the new wound on his chest noticeably throbbed. A faint snarl escaped him as he slowly hobbled back to what was serving as his home for a few more hours. Then he slowly walked inside. All the other Furies save his two were out getting fish or spending time with their friends.

"Sire-father, are you better now?" Moon-Dancer bounded over to him with concern shining in his wide eyes.

Shadowwing bent down and gently nuzzled his son's little head.

"I will be, first of my liver, my son. Are you ready to stretch your wings for a long flight?"

Moon-Dancer warmly trilled and bounded on his feet while ruffling his wings.

"I always want to fly!"

Shadowwing laughed softly, no longer feeling much of the pain that had recently struck him.

 _Oh son, you are so cheerful so soon after what happened to you._

"I know you do, my son. And very soon you will be able to show me how strong your flying is."

Then he walked over to the rockbed, sat down, and stared into Luna's eyes.

"What do you say, my love?" she whispered.

"There are no grounded kin. We will fly at sunfall."

"I did not know if you could do this. To truly fly from all you knew once..." she gently nipped at an ear of his.

Shadowwing sighed softly and cast his eyes down.

"I was not speaking false when I said that I would choose you," he weakly whispered.

Then he felt a nose gently nuzzling his own and heard her loving croon.

"It will still hurt my liver much, but as long as I have you, Moon-Dancer, my brother, and all his nest-kin, I will say that my life-flight is a warm one."

"What about the two-leg nest? What will it do?" she asked.

"They will need to leave this range to be safe. All the bad nests know that they are here. This nest might take their water-walkers and start living... always-grounded life again in other waters and ranges. Or they might walk to the rising sun and go to a new range. We will tell them before we fly this night so that they know why we must do this. The two-legs will be gone from this range before the next sun-cycle," he weakly mused.

"I saw them together with their bond-kin and trusting them when fighting the bad flight. This nest's two-legs were nuzzling their bond-kin when they got back to this nest," Luna remarked.

Then she grumbled softly.

"And they will want their bond-kin to be free and fly on their own without them?" she wondered.

"They will when they know why we must be free to fly on our own."

"Free?"

"Yes," he whispered.

She looked like she wanted to say something but remained silent. She merely hummed softly and started licking some of his more prominent burns. He sighed softly and let her tend to him as the faint pinpricks of pain seemed to fade.

But he knew that the scars weaving down his neck and side would never fully fade. Neither would the new wound in his chest. And he doubted that the scars from the hurts still to be received would ever fully heal.

* * *

Evening drew near as the sun fell lower in the western sky and filled the sky with an orange glow.

Shadowwing and Was-Grounded stood side by side up on the rocky cliff, silently staring out over the waters toward the far north. Toward a place that one of them had been in and the other had only heard related to him.

Then Was-Grounded stepped closer to his brother's side and extended a wing over his back along with giving him a mournful hum. They both looked back out over the ocean before either of them spoke again.

"How long of a flight will it be?" Was-Grounded asked.

Shadowwing hummed in a moment of thought.

"I think three suns would be enough for all the kin here. Maybe slower with the young kin."

Then Was-Grounded chuckled softly at something.

"We left our hatching island, found new roosts, flew from those roosts to find new nests, I flew from here to fly to the ice nest, we flew from there to come back here, and we are going to fly to another range soon. Did two kin ever have more twisted life-stories than us?" Was-Grounded pondered.

"No, but you knew that you were going to have a twisted life when you held a small two-leg close to your liver many cycles ago," Shadowwing answered.

"I know."

"Whatever else happens, we will not be alone on these... strange new winds that we will fly. What did you say about us? We fly the winds of life within call of the other?" Shadowwing whispered.

"Yes, egg-mate brothers," Was-Grounded hummed.

"Hmm... I have been thinking about that..." Shadowwing briefly chuckled.

"What! Why should this sun-cycle be different?" Was-Grounded teased.

"Egg-mates is not us now. That name talks about us and our old egg. That was much in the past, and we are not hatchlings now," Shadowwing answered.

"What are we then?"

"Only brothers, nothing more is needed."

Was-Grounded did not seem very impressed and mumbled for a moment while staring to the horizon before his ears shot up with an idea.

"Brothers of night?"

Shadowwing chuckled softly at the addition.

"Yes, that has some lift. I am very warmed that we will be there in the hidden world together."

"What were you thinking would happen? That I would let you go fly off somewhere and let yourself get grounded in a new range? Even Green-Wings holds you close to her liver, you know," Was-Grounded huffed indignantly.

"Liver-truth, I am not trying to impress her away from you," Shadowwing protested.

"You do have more sky-light hurt marks than me now."

Shadowwing gave him a wry grin and his ears slightly lifted with an idea.

"And if we are brothers of night... our little ones are children of dawn."

"Of dawn?" Was-Grounded warbled.

"Light Fury and Night Fury together as the light and dark touch at dawn," Shadowwing explained to his brother's satisfaction.

Then they both turned their attention back to the skies.

"Brother, did I ever tell you that I thank you for making me a Night Fury with you?" Shadowwing weakly asked.

Was-Grounded blinked and gave a curious rumble at that.

"No, you did not. Why? You know that I did not try to change you."

"True, but you did. That let me hear your words and learn and talk with your words. You gave me a life that I would not have had. I would not have Luna, Moon-Dancer, or her new egg now if you had not changed me. And if we were life-bonded with me as a two-leg now... this would be the end. I would never see you again... after this flight," Shadowwing's voice almost broke as he whispered.

Was-Grounded spun on him and stared in shock at such a suggestion.

"Yes, you would. You would fly with me."

"What if I could not? What if I had two-leg little ones? What if I was the Alpha of the two-leg nest and could not fly with you to the hidden world? What if the kin in the hidden world would not let you bring me?"

Was-Grounded groaned heavily at that.

"I would fly to you when I could, and I would let you fly with me as we did once. I would bring my little ones so you could see them."

Shadowwing slowly shook his head.

"No. I and all grounded two-legs of this nest would need to go to other ranges far away from here or the other bad nests would find us and fight us here. You would not be able to find me because this nest would disappear into hiding in other ranges far from here."

Was-Grounded hung his head and stared at the ground.

"You could come to me on a water-walker, and I would fly to you," Was-Grounded weakly added.

"How would you know when to fly up and see me? We would not be able to talk, you and me. No, being friends and brothers... needs flying together in the winds of life and being within call of the other. Being together cannot be from far away," Shadowwing painfully whispered.

Neither of them said anything more on the terrible idea. They remained at each other's side until the sun, filling the entire sky with its orange glow, finally neared the distant western horizon.

"The skies will be empty of kin after we have all flown this flight. It will be the last flight," Shadowwing grimaced.

"But it must be this way," Was-Grounded added.

"Yes, and something that makes good two-leg livers warm with wonder and what-if thinking will stop being in the world with them when we are gone. We will only fly in their past-stories," Shadowwing sighed.

A shared, sad croon followed.

"That does feel like it will make the world colder to them," Was-Grounded admitted.

"Maybe they will say good things about us, but I do not think they will. They have their stories of us as Monsters," Shadowwing wondered.

"Do you think the ranges and skies up here will ever be safe for kin? What could make all two-legs take the rot from their livers?" Was-Grounded asked.

Shadowwing looked up at the clouds.

"I do not know if anything could. I... much wanted to make the world... a better one for kin and two-legs... together. As... you and me... were once. My hopes... flew so high... and... coming down... is the hardest... thing," Shadowwing weakly answered and hung his head, his voice breaking several times.

Was-Grounded turned to him, and they rested foreheads together with a soft and reassuring purr. Was-Grounded then held his brother's chin with a paw. A silence followed as his brother quietly mourned.

"Are you ready... to fly on our own?" Was-Grounded softly breathed after the long silence.

"I will not be false... it will hurt very... much... but I have you... Luna... Green-Wings... and all our little ones... now and to be. That is... that must be... enough," Shadowwing whined and trembled.

The gentle evening breeze flowed in from the ocean, bringing with it a distant call on the wind.

"We should fly now," Was-Grounded whispered.

Shadowwing took a deep breath and steadied himself, eventually looking up and meeting his brother's green eyes.

"Yes, you are right, brother. It is time."


	81. III - Letting Go

_**Author's Note – Read and weep.**_

* * *

" _Never to meet, or never to part, is peace." - Edward Young – Night Thoughts_

* * *

Letting Go

* * *

A roar echoed over the entire village and the countryside.

A piercing, commanding, and pained roar from a pair of Night Furies.

A summons that was heard and echoed by all other dragons in the village and in the wilds. All took to the sky, flying out from their stables, perches, and the feeding stations. All conveniently had no riding gear on them, all of it having been removed earlier in the day.

The wilder dragons began circling above or landing down the shore while the ones that had bonded humans gathered down on the beach at the command of their Alphas.

The Furies stood at the head of the assembly and watched as people began to filter down from the village onto the shore. Behind their tails stood Cloudjumper, Hookedfang, Stormfly, Meatlug, Jingles the Boneknapper, Gustav's Flame, Vistra's Shimmer, and Tembra's Timberjack, Razor, being nearest. All of them seemed to somehow understand the solemnity of the moment and were solemnly humming.

"What is happening?" Dawn-Singer whispered.

"I do not like this," Aurora whined.

"You will see," Was-Grounded softly answered them both.

The crowd of people approached across the sands, Chief Thorvald, Valka, Gobber, Sifa, Skald, and Eret at the head of the crowd. Many families were also gathered together behind them all as parents held their children close. In truth, it could have been all of Haven that was gathered on the beach in that moment.

Thorvald and Valka stepped forward as did Shadowwing.

A silence fell over all as the warm wind blew in from the western sea.

"What is this?" Thorvald asked.

Shadowwing bent down and slowly wrote the painful words.

 **We are leaving**

"What!" "What!"

He glanced up at Valka and saw that her eyes were wide with alarm, fear, and understanding.

 **The world is not safe for us**

 **Dragons must disappear**

He briefly paused to let the terrible words sink in.

"But... why are you leaving us! Why?" Thorvald wildly exclaimed.

 **There is a hidden world**

Shadowwing stared at Valka for a moment, trying to not see the pain and comprehension in her green eyes.

 **Humans do not know where**

"We... what did we do wrong? Why are you doing this?" Thorvald gasped.

 **It must be this way**

"But we must leave here anyway. We've been packing to leave before the ships get here. Why can't you take us with you?" Thorvald weakly objected.

Shadowwing gave a very heavy, pained sigh.

 **The dragons there will not trust you**

 **It is dangerous for you**

 **We must be free**

 **Let go**

Silence followed save for the soft murmur of the wind and the distant cries from above.

"Uh Chief, what is going on?" Skald shouted from the far, observing crowd.

Thorvald wiped his tear-stained cheeks with his sleeve and turned back to the crowd. He removed his helmet and let it fall to the ground at his side as he walked to the awaiting crowd. To his people and tribe.

He paused before speaking to them.

"The... dragons... must... leave... us..."

If he expected to hear shouts of protest and defiance, he was surprised then to hear nothing but a gasp that gradually spread through all gathered before him.

"And we cannot go with them?" Skald cried out.

Thorvald could give no answer except a slow shake of his head.

More gasps and cries went through the entire crowd as news spread. Children turned to parents and clutched their arms in fear. Disbelieving glances were thrown everywhere. All reached up as one and removed their helmets, which they then discarded. Then all stared across the beach toward the assembled dragons, surely to the ones they themselves knew.

Shadowwing looked away to avoid seeing all the breaking hearts among those he had known as his own tribe for many years and who had shared the dream with him. All those from the other tribes who had been driven from their homes and cast from their tribes for the crime of being dragon riders. All those who had lived years of their lives protecting and freeing dragons and had suffered because of it.

He could not meet Gobber's eyes, the smith who had been like a father to him and had been a true mentor through the years.

But the sight of Valka, his own mother, on her knees in the sand before him as tears flowed down her cheeks made his own rent heart bleed anew. This was the ending of her own dream also.

He stepped over to her and crouched down before her.

 **You said once that we should be free**

 **You understand why we must go?**

She merely stared and struggled to speak. Her voice was terribly weak and soft when she spoke.

"Is that your judgment then? That even we... we who have taken dragons into our lives and made our homes for them... we who left our old homes... we who have fought to free them... we who have died along with them... that even we are unworthy... after all we did..."

He whined softly at the injustice of fate.

 **It was a dream only**

 **I wish it could be different**

 **This might be best for all**

The moment was only interrupted when Luna came forward as well and stood at Shadowwing's side. Her eyes never left Valka's pained ones. They stared until Luna slowly wrote.

 **You are good Dragonheart**

 **I will remember you**

"Oh Luna..." Valka whispered.

Chief Thorvald slowly came forward again, his pace very slow and weak as he stepped up to Valka's side. A painful silence followed until he spoke again on behalf of the tribe after wiping his cheeks dry.

"We cannot... will not... keep you here... if you must go. Will... will we ever see you again?"

Shadowwing answered after a long moment.

 **When humans do not hunt dragons**

 **When the world is safe for us again**

"Never then..." Valka whispered.

 **You can live without us**

 **You have stubbornness issues**

Neither of them laughed or chuckled. Thorvald lay a hand on Valka's shoulder, either to steady himself or her.

"But we are not Nords anymore," Thovald weakly sighed.

Shadowwing winced at how true that was. They had all left that old way of life behind long ago. But now...

 **You can try**

Valka then stepped forward after rising to her feet and dropping her staff. She slowly, warily advanced until she stood directly before Shadowwing. Luna stepped slightly to the side to give them both a moment.

Silence reigned save for the zephyr of the wind as they stared at each other, tears freely falling down Valka's cheeks.

Then she slowly threw her arms wide and embraced his neck as he sat back on his rear and gathered her in for a hug. He keened very softly while gently holding her, remembering a distant winter when he had similarly given her a hug after learning who she was.

"As long...as... you are... safe... my son..." Valka whispered so only he could hear.

Then she let go, stepped back, and slowly walked back to the crowd. Thorvald followed a moment later. Gobber, his own cheeks quite moist also, softly embraced her with his arm while Thorvald held Sifa and their two young children.

It was a scene recreated all along the beach as parents comforted children and spouses comforted each other. All threw pained glances across the beach.

Not wanting to drag out the grief any longer than was necessary, Shadowwing turned away from the assembled humans and walked over to his fellow Furies.

Dawn-Singer, Aurora, and Rain-Eater stood around their father, all of them with a wing over their backs as they hung their heads and quietly mourned. They were old enough and attached enough to certain of the humans of Haven to truly understand the significance of what was happening. Their father was even now whispering words of comfort to them. Green-Wings gently held Moon-Dancer and Mist-Wings, the youngest ones all being aware that something important was going on but seeming to be spared the worst of the grief because they were not yet attached to anyone.

Shadowwing took a very deep breath and stifled his pained whine as he retook his place at the head of the dragons alongside the other Furies. All the other bonded dragons he could see looked very solemn as well.

The sun fell lower over the horizon as the beach was then almost perfectly separated into humans and dragons.

* * *

Luna remained standing where she had been ever since she wrote her parting picture-words and stepped aside from her mate.

She stood between the two packs and stared at the two-legs standing before her, confusion dancing in her liver at what she had seen. At what these two-legs had just done.

 _They want us to leave and be free... to live without them. They are letting go._

The two-legs almost without exception were dropping eye-water or softly whining in their own way as they held their nest-kin and stared across the divide, surely to their bond-kin that they were never to see again. Never to nuzzle and play with. Never to warm and be warmed by. Never to touch the clouds again. Always to remember what they held close to the liver and lost. Always to be grounded because they have no wings.

Always to be fallen.

On the warm wind she heard a sigh. The call to hiding and to depart this world.

 _They do not think of us as their life-thralls._

She slowly walked forward toward Kin-liver, feeling a need to do something for the first or maybe the last time, and stared into her kind and pained green eyes even as all the other two-legs stepped back to a respectful distance. Kin-liver's eyes, even in such a different shape, reminded her of her own life-mate's eyes.

Then she looked down at Kin-liver's paw hanging at her side. Kin-liver, clearly seeing the request, warily raised the shaking paw and held it out before her.

The moment hung in the air.

 _'You will do things that no light wing has done before.'_

For the first time in her life, she stepped forward with a soft purr and put her nose to the paw. It felt liver-warming to do.

"Luna... be good to... Shadowwing... for... us... for... me..." Kin-liver weakly whispered.

They both understood the true meaning behind the words. They were a plea of a pained dam-mother who was wishing a warm life for her little one. For the changed little one Kin-liver held to her liver and would likely never see again after gently holding him.

She stepped back from Kin-liver, glanced over her own shoulder at all the kin on the ground, and then looked forward to all the two-legs standing before her. All were looking at her.

Then she glanced up to the ending-sun sky and closed her eyes, remembering everything in that moment.

Being caught and held by thrall-making two-legs with kin-hate in their livers. Grounded, starved, and used in failed, empty egg-making. Rescued and helped by two-legs with kin-warmth in their livers and by two dark wings. Learning more about how life-twisting and filled with danger two-legs could be. Given back the sky and freedom by a two-leg who wanted to heal the wrongs and hurts of the past. Welcomed into the nest by two-legs who bent their heads to her wishes and thought warmly of her. Given a new cave-den by two-legs who put their own backs and paws into the making of the cave-den. Being always given food and seeing other two-legs provide food and care to the kin who need it. Attacked and taken from that good cave-den, and her little one threatened by a Monster two-leg. Seeing these two-legs fighting and dying for their bond-kin and for other wild, thrall-kin whom they owed nothing to. Seeing these two-legs let their bond-kin go to fly on their own.

Then she opened her eyes, turned back for the other kin, and strode across the warm sands, her tail swaying gently behind her. She sat down before her mate and stared at him while humming softly.

"Luna? What is it?" Shadowwing whispered.

"We should bring these two-legs with us," she answered.

The warm wind carried the distant cries from above and the crashing of the ocean even as Shadowwing and Was-Grounded blinked in confusion.

"What?" "What?"

"You heard me. They have shown us their livers. We should bring them with us when we fly to the hidden world."

Shadowwing glanced at his brother and Green-Wings before he looked back at her.

"But Luna, we talked about this. We cannot do that..."

"No? Why not?" she softly growled.

"The other kin in the hidden world will not want that. It would not be safe for the two-legs..."

She glanced past him toward the other bonded-kin on the ground. She remembered how they had fought alongside their two-legs, protected them against the bad flight of hunter two-legs, and licked the others' hurts.

"And you think that these kin will let bad things happen to their bond-two-legs, to their own ground-kin? Do you think that two Night Fury Alphas will not be able to keep the peace and protect all in the range? I do not think that life as kin-bonded two-legs is safe now, but they choose to live it," she countered.

"But they do not belong... there. It is not... what should be..." Shadowwing tried to explain.

"Not the normal way? That way would have had me die in my egg and would have had a two-leg and a Night Fury kill each other many season-cycles ago. You know that the normal way is not always good or what should be."

"But... how can we... trust them? What if one of them... leaves and tells bad two-legs where we are?" he continued.

She huffed in amusement and rolled her eyes.

"We will bring only the two-legs who will leave this above world now and always because they want to fly with us. They flew from their old nests once. They will not turn their tails on us."

Silence fell again as Shadowwing seemed at a loss for words.

"Do you know if they can live in the hidden world? Does it have what two-legs need to live?" Was-Grounded warily broke the silence.

"My life-mate would know better than I would," Luna answered.

"They... can live in many... different ranges... They would need a range... with dirt and light... to grow plants and prey-animals for eating," Shadowwing whispered after a moment of thought.

Luna hummed at that.

"Many of the hidden ranges are rock and water only, but some ranges are more like this above world. Ranges like the one my sire and dam nested in. Yes, kin-bond two-legs can live with their kin in the hidden world. Should they is a different question. Will they foul the hidden world? Can we trust them to not make us their life-thralls?"

She purred softly and glanced at both Shadowwing and Was-Grounded.

"I say yes, we can. They showed us that when they let us go to fly on our own."

Shadowwing and Was-Grounded stared at her in disbelief.

"After everything that two-legs did to you... holding you in traps, trying to use you for eggs, grounding you, and almost killing you, you do not hate them?" Shadowwing whispered while hanging his head.

She stepped closer and nuzzled his forehead.

"I only hate the ones that deserve that hate, and those ones are dead now. And we will not be bringing two-legs with us. These are ground-kin," she answered.

Shadowwing whined softly at her words.

"Who are we to change the world this much?" he weakly wondered.

"Who are we? We are Night Furies and Light Furies, there are no better kin to change the world. Should I do the picture-talking or will you?" Luna chuckled.

He took a deep breath, glanced at his brother, put a wing over Luna's back, and they slowly walked together into the space between the two different kinds. Chief Thorvald and Valka were staring at them both with an indeterminable expression on their faces.

Shadowwing started writing.

 **Would you leave behind everything?**

"What are you saying?" Valka weakly asked.

 **Do you want to come with us?**

"Yes, you are all... like family to us," Valka answered for both herself and Thorvald.

"What is this world like?" Thorvald asked a moment later.

 **Under the ground and filled with light**

 **You could live in it**

 **But you would have to trust us**

 **We will not say where it is**

Shadowwing softly growled.

 **Those who fly with us cannot leave it**

 **That would be too dangerous**

Thorvald put his arms behind his back and started nervously pacing, clearly deep in thought.

"That is quite a lot to ask. To give up everything we know and fly somewhere new," he warily answered.

Shadowwing thought for a moment about the fair concern.

 **You already did that before**

 **When you made peace with dragons**

 **And when you all left Berk**

"Yeah, we did."

 **There will be danger from other dragons**

 **We would try to protect you though**

"Danger? Something about... other dragons?"

 **Ones that were above and hunted**

 **Might hate humans more**

 **Than those that do not know you**

Valka glanced at Thorvald.

"Danger that we know and would have to face alone up here, or danger below that might be and which we would not face alone," Valka softly observed.

"When has life ever been safe for us? Occupational hazard, I guess. Still, I'll ask everyone else," Thorvald shrugged.

The Chief took a breath, composed his thoughts, turned to his mournful, almost broken, and fallen tribe, and raised his voice to all with his practiced tone of authority.

"Would you all leave everything you know and fly with the dragons to their hidden home? They will not tell us where it is, and there is no coming back if we do go with them! We cannot stay here now even if we like it here! Our enemies found us! We are on the map again!"

He walked further down the line of people and met as many pairs of pained eyes as he could. Quite a few of them were nervously shuffling at the mention of there being no coming back.

"We let the dragons into our worlds when we made peace years ago, and they trusted us. We protected the dragons from those who wanted to hurt them. Now, the dragons want to do the same for us! They are asking if we will go with them to their world! A world where we will be safe from all other tribes that hate us. That sounds good to me. Think about Bucket, Hroggar, Hrormir, Orgnar, Safiya, and Tordek."

All bowed their heads in a moment of respect to the fallen.

"Think about all who died before. Stoick and Astrid. They died for us all and for our world! How will we celebrate the fallen? Live in the world they died for so that their deaths were meaningful!"

There was more muttering but also a lot more nodding of agreement. Stubbornness and honoring their own was definitely understood and appreciated.

Thorvald paused and crossed his arms, needing to bring up the most important objection of all.

"Yes, there is danger! Some of the dragons in that world might not like us or want us there!"

Everyone in the crowd nervously shuffled. Parents clutched their children closer and started whispering.

"But we are dragonriders! It is an occupational hazard! They said that they will protect us! I trust these dragons! Do you?"

He then turned around and faced the dragons. The entire tribe watched their Chief as he knelt on his knees in the sand. Gasps of amazement went through the entire tribe. A moment of silence passed as everyone looked around, uncertain what to do. Then they all did the same as their Chief, and in so doing filled the beach with men, women, and children kneeling to the Furies and other dragons before them.

Shadowwing whined softly even as Luna purred at his side. Something shifted in his heart at the sight of something that had surely never happened before in history.

The moment lasted until all stood up as one.

Valka was the first to step forward and approach in the fading light.

"When are we leaving?" she barely whispered.

 **As soon as we can**

"We already have our things packed. We can be ready in minutes. We just need to figure out who is going to carry what," Thorvald explained after he also stepped forward.

 **We will bring the dragons to you**

The next few minutes were a frantic flurry of activity and chaos as people ran up into the village to grab bags of supplies from their homes. Torches and fires were lit to illuminate the activities. Many voices lifted with relieved cries as familiar dragons descended from the darkness and touched down. Lengths of ropes were brought out of storage and used to tie various supplies to the willing and trained dragons who again donned their saddles. Livestock, food supplies, leather, tools, clothing, all the essentials were assembled and stuffed into crates. Two special tapestries were packed up as well and given to Valka to carry.

Then it was finished, and all were ready to depart.

Another roar from a Night Fury triggered the last flight as all the dragons, lightly laden with supplies and their riders, rose into the dark sky. The storm of wings turned for the north and flew, being led by Valka and Cloudjumper and the rest of the Furies except one.

Shadowwing slowly floated on the wind and looked down at the lights of the abandoned Haven below to make sure that there were no stragglers.

Circling over a now desolate and partly burned village, having watched a flight of hundreds of dragons and all the remaining Haven humans depart these lands, he closed his eyes with a peaceful sigh as an unseen burden felt lifted away. His thoughts drifted to the hidden world that this refugee people would soon live in. The hidden world where he and Luna became one. The hidden world in which almost all the living dragons of the world would soon live.

Finally convinced that the village was truly empty by seeing no motion at all down below, he turned his flight to the north to follow after the other dragons. Once he reached the old cave that Luna had once claimed as her own, he glanced back at the massive range where so much had happened.

Where he had found his own lost brother after years of searching and separation during which they both learned to fly on their own. Where they had both learned how to be capable leaders who answered the difficult call of duty. Where a village had been built from the ashes of destroyed tribes and shattered lives. Where homes had been constructed for both humans and dragons. Where a people had come together and changed. Where new life had been begotten and welcomed into the world. Where a dream had been re-established, questioned, and strengthened. Where one person changed the course of the future.

He glanced out toward the far distant south-western waters where an armada was inbound beyond the horizon. A mild voice tinged with obsession seemed to whisper on the wind.

 _'There will always be war... Us against them...'_

 _'You would always choose your own kind in the end...'_

 _'I have already won...'_

He weakly sighed and glanced up at the moon high above in the heavens.

 _Grimmel, you won... and you lost... because you are wrong._

Then he turned away and flew along the coast through the falling darkness. When he finally caught up to them, wove through the other flying dragons, and fell in at the head of the massive flight alongside all the other Furies and Valka on Cloudjumper, there was nothing left in his heart and thoughts but a bittersweet peace as he remembered all the pairs aloft together. All the sacrifices and losses through the years had led to this last flight for all. It truly felt as though they were all finally on their way home.

 _Dad, you were so right. I found the hidden world, and we are going there to finally have peace. Even if no one could have imagined how back then. It will not be easy, but when has that ever stopped us before?_

His reflection was disturbed when Luna gently brushed against his wing while Moon-Dancer flew above her. The moonlight glistened off her wings as she glided at his side. They stared into each other's eyes, neither of them saying anything aloud.

 _Luna, we have to talk about how amazing you are... my love..._

* * *

 _ **Author's Note -**_ _ **If that twist does not touch the heart, I doubt anything could. This chapter will hopefully generate as many thoughts from you all as any other chapter thus far. There is obviously a lot of discussion and reflection on the implications of this choice in the following chapter.**_


	82. III - The Hidden World

_**Author's Note – I am glad that many of you felt that last chapter. This chapter starts something of a miniature closing arc before the epilogue, but there are still plenty of epic moments within, including one obvious scene for the moment in the cover art and another trailer moment.**_

* * *

" _Still 'round the corner there may wait... A new road or secret gate... And though I oft have passed them by... A day will come at last when I... Shall take the hidden paths that run... West of the Moon, East of the Sun." - Lord Of The Rings – The Return Of The King_

* * *

The Hidden World

* * *

The flock flew long without stopping, though it did have to slow for those with less endurance. It was a storm of wings and occasional cries from the front of the flight to keep all on course. The massive flock ended up descending to an empty patch of beach and land sometime past midnight.

Shadowwing circled up above and watched everything down below while a few other scouts kept watch on the horizons. Wild dragons wandered with their fledglings out beyond the meager camp. Wild and bonded dragons flew over the sea in the search for fish. There were no lights of any villages or other peoples anywhere around because this was the middle of the wilderness.

Then he again saw the sight down below which almost made him whine in solemn relief.

Valka leaning against Cloudjumper's side while petting his wings. Thorvald and Sifa walking together with their children while Hookedfang eagerly followed after them. Gobber helping Jingles to polish his bone collection that had after all been made into something like a coat of armor. Eret being chased across the grass by Stormfly who was apparently eager to play fetch with her human. Skald tossing Meatlug some rocks to munch on and then being sat on by said Gronkle. All the other bonded pairs that he could see were similarly doing something together, even if only resting. There was a lot of head nuzzling and licking despite everyone's exhaustion.

Then he saw the ones he was naturally the most interested in. Dawn-Singer, Aurora, and Rain-Eater were sitting together down on the sands with a few of their closest friends, Erevan, Helga, Alvor, and Safiya, while slowly writing. The moon was so bright out that it was even possible to read on the sands well after midnight. It seemed a more solemn gathering than he remembered seeing. Several of the young humans were under a sheltering wing. Not far away from them and next to the water's edge rested Luna, Was-Grounded, Green-Wings, Moon-Dancer, and Mist-Wings. The two fledglings were the most exhausted after the long flight and were sound asleep under their mothers' wings.

He dove down, landed, and bounded up to them all, taking his place at Luna's side and slightly sheltering her under a wing as his brother did the same for Green-Wings. The four of them then passed a silent moment simply regarding each other as the waves lapped nearby on the ocean and the bright moon shone off above the horizon. Their purrs of relief were simple yet beautiful sounds to each of them.

"Why?" Shadowwing then hung his head and whispered.

"Why what?" Luna asked.

"Why did you want our two-legs to fly with us? Of all of us... I did not think that you would be the one to want to bring them to the hidden world."

She softly chuckled at his words.

"We are not bringing two-legs with us. These are ground-kin, very different life. Why? I learned that I should not think bad about one two-leg or one kin because of bad that others did. The bad of the kind or the nest is not put on each in the nest, even if many two-legs beyond think with such flights. Some kin have done bad in their life-flights also."

She paused as she looked down at the dozing Moon-Dancer under her white wing.

"I was still always chilled by the idea of the two-legs making kin be weak life-thralls. But the ground-kin showed us that we are not life-thralls to them when they told us to fly and be free. They would let us go so that we can be safe and live. We can live with them and not be less wild, less free in the liver."

"What if they change badly? What if they have a rot that grows in their livers? Taking them down into the hidden world will change that world for all cycles to be," Was-Grounded offered.

Surprisingly, Green-Wings was the one who answered while rubbing up against his neck.

"I do not believe it will happen," she whispered.

"No?"

"I see how their fledglings live around our little ones. The fledgling... ground-kin will not change and turn their livers on us. Yes, they can be twisted, as our Dawn-Singer learned, but that is not a liver-rot. That twisted one learned. We can teach them good thinking toward us and all kin," Green-Wings explained.

Was-Grounded spoke up again after a moment of thought.

"I once started to become a Monster toward two-legs. That was after I escaped from the thrall-makers and before I found you Green-Wings. I wanted to hate all two-legs, burn all their nests, and drink their life-water. But I remembered that I should not put blame on them all for what one or some did. It would be bad to turn my nose up at all fish because one fish was rotted inside."

He glanced over at his children.

"I also see how warm Dawn-Singer, Aurora, and Rain-Eater are to be able to talk with or fly with the ground-kin. They think of them as nest-kin brothers and sisters, even if they still fight and growl at the other on some suns."

Then he paused.

"Like another two-leg and Night Fury that were once..." Was-Grounded whispered.

Luna hummed softly and continued.

"The ground-kin here have shown us their livers. To be under the ground only with other kin that we cannot give words with, even if our bellies are full, would be a colder and smaller life to only wake, eat, survive, and sleep. To remember the good that the ground-kin are and not have it with us would make life smaller. To forget them through life-cycles as would happen would be bad. Our future young would never know them. We are warmer together than we are apart. We are more as one and less as two," Luna answered them all.

Then she grumbled with a hint of wariness.

"I do think that the normal way of thinking for the kin in the hidden world is to fear two-legs and not trust them. Peace and life-sharing between kin and ground-kin needs both nests to see the good in that life-flight. What we will make will show all the hidden kin that ground-kin are not Monsters," she explained.

Shadowwing could summon no words and had to settle for squeezing her tail tightly while purring to her and the others. He lay his head down on the sands and hummed softly as she lay her head on his neck to rest. A very pensive mood came over him in the relative silence that followed.

 _My Luna, how far you... we all have come... And I almost gave up on them. I... did give up. I lost hope..._

Was-Grounded grumbled softly, breaking the relative silence.

"What about us though. About us Night Furies and Light Furies. What will we be to ground-kin? We are not truly the same as the other kin who want bond ground-kin. What is our place in what will be?" Was-Grounded wondered.

Shadowwing hummed softly.

"I was thinking much about that on our flight. The other kin are warmed some to be cared for by their ground-kin. We are more like ground-kin in our thinking in some ways. We can do for the other kin what they cannot do for themselves now. We know more of the danger in ground-kin and can see if there is rot or twisted thinking in them."

"You would know best," Luna teased.

He laughed deeply at her wit.

"What I mean to say is that we are between. We are true kin who are warmed by flying, fish, sleeping-piles, and having our nests with many eggs and little ones. But we also think more and want more. We look up at the sky, the moon, and suns, and we think about what might be."

Shadowwing then purred to the other three in turn after lifting his head again.

"I was between the worlds of two-legs and kin for many season-cycles. I thought that was twisted, but I think that was where I should always have flown."

"What do you mean?" Was-Grounded asked.

"We and all of our little ones now and to be will fly and live between the two flocks in whatever shared range we live in. We will help protect the ground-kin from kin that might want to hurt them. And we will protect the kin from any ground-kin thinking that would be... thralling," Shadowwing explained.

"We will have the kin be free always," Luna hummed in agreement.

"And especially us. We will keep our backs and wings as ours, though we can always share them with those we want to fly with us," Shadowwing added.

Was-Grounded and Green-Wings both purred in understanding and agreement as well. All returned to a period of quiet rest to reflect on the future.

"And Luna," Shadowwing whispered to her, "if all the other kin are in the hidden world, then other Light Furies would be there also. Maybe your own sire, dam, and nestmates."

"They would be, I hope," she sighed.

"I promise you that we will try to find them."

"When the time is good for that. I will not bring any little ones into danger between ranges and nests only to try to find those of my old nest. That would be bad of me to put Moon-Dancer or any others in danger," she answered.

Moon-Dancer, perhaps having heard his name spoken, then awoke from his nap, got to his feet, and stretched his wings, tail, limbs, and jaws.

"How are you, little one? Do you have your flight-strength now?" Luna asked.

"Yes, dam-mother! I am ready to fly!" Moon-Dancer pawed at the sand and spread his wings.

"Or we can play Monster!" Shadowwing got to his feet and lunged.

Then he was chasing an eager Moon-Dancer across the sands. He ran and leapt very slowly to give his son a chance. Moon-Dancer found his courage, spun around with wiggling hindquarters, and attacked. The strike was successful as he forced the great head to the ground with one of its ears in his toothless maw.

"Grounded..." Shadowwing hummed.

Moon-Dancer put his forelimbs on his father's head and roared softly.

"Yes, I have grounded the big..."

Luna's maw closed around Moon-Dancer's torso and lifted him into the air with a soft growl.

"Dam-mother!"

He thrashed his tail wildly and tried to nip at her ears, successfully too as she also went down onto the beach. Then she released him and gave him a tickle and licking attack. He was defeated.

"Maybe we should change his name to Ear-Biter," Shadowwing laughed.

Luna chuckled as well and then froze with a gasp. Her tail went still, and she stared off into the distance.

"Luna, what?"

"Ear-Biter, that is what my sire and dam's second was named. My little... sister, remember?"

He blinked in surprise.

"Yes, you told me long ago."

Moon-Dancer recovered himself and warily crept toward her side after seeing that the play was over. A white tail and fins curled around and sheltered him.

"Yes, she was always more filled with fear than I was. I wanted to fly in the above to find my life-mate."

She took a moment to nuzzle Shadowwing's neck.

"But she wanted to stay in the hidden world and not fly above," she continued.

"Then her thinking might have been better than her sister's," he teased.

A wing-swipe was his reward for his clever remark.

"She did not get a Night Fury as a life-mate. I think that if I had to fly and live all those life-winds again, all the chills and warmth, the same as they happened before only to be here again with you now, I would," she hummed.

He could summon no words to answer her and had to settle for giving her a soft nose-nuzzle. For her to say that having him in her life was good enough that she would willingly endure all of that again was almost unbelievable of her. They returned to the other Furies, and all lay close by together to rest in peace without any great rush or haste to fly. There were plenty of scouts still on patrol to warn everyone if there were any threats. There were none out here in the complete wilderness.

"How long have you known about the egg? How long do you have now?" Shadowwing whispered.

"Half a moon-cycle, and I can carry it that long if I must. I must drop it and sing to it after that though," Luna answered.

He held her a bit tighter under his wing.

"We will be in the hidden world long before then. Green-Wings, do you have an egg now also?"

"Yes, you doubt that my mate and I flew well?" Green-Wings teased.

"How could I? You both fly... much," Shadowwing chuckled back at her.

"I told you that we would not fail in our flight and let you both catch up to us!" Was-Grounded smugly grinned.

"What is he teasing you about?" Luna chuckled.

"My always-close-to-my-liver brother challenged me to a life-race to see which of us will have more eggs. Who will be sire-fathers to more little ones?" Shadowwing explained.

"We are flying ahead of you at this race now and always!" Was-Grounded laughed freely.

Shadowwing rolled his eyes at the taunting remark and then hummed with a question.

"How big can nests be? We only have one egg in a season-cycle, but how many eggs can a pair of life-mates have over a full life?"

They all looked around at each other, none of them having an answer.

"None of us saw old life-mates to be able to learn that from. I do not know. Why do you wonder?" Was-Grounded asked.

"Because ground-kin females stop being able to make little ones after enough season-cycles. I do not know if that is true with us."

Luna and Green-Wings shared a glance and a questioning purr.

"We do not know. We will all fly the winds of life and learn," Green-Wings eventually answered.

Then Luna laughed again and shared another glance with Green-Wings.

"More little ones that we can count on our paws..." Luna whispered.

Both females chuckled at each other, clearly sharing some inside joke.

Was-Grounded added his own throaty peals.

"I do not know if this hidden world will be big enough for us all. We will fill the hidden skies with our kin! Sire-fathers and dam-mothers of them all!"

All four of them lost restraint at that remark and fell on the sands together. Cries filled the skies and tails thrashed with abandon, at least until Shadowwing recovered himself. He then took his place at Luna's side and addressed the others with a slightly wary croon.

"But... we will need to think about nest-sizes once we are in the hidden world."

"Nest-sizes?" Was-Grounded wondered.

"We cannot be too many, or there will not be enough food for all in whatever range we live in," Shadowwing explained.

The other three grumbled softly at that and shared glances with each other.

"What does that mean for us?" Green-Wings asked.

"It means that we will need to learn how many Furies, other kin, and ground-kin can live together. Then we make sure that our nest-packs do not become... too big."

"No flying together?" Was-Grounded barked in dismay.

Green-Wings and Luna laughed openly at that.

"No, not no flying together. Only, we might need to fly together when we will not get an egg from it. That is still liver-warming, yes?" Shadowwing grimaced as he glanced at both females.

They spared a glance at each other and then at their mates.

"It is different and not the normal way, but it might be what we must do. And yes, my life-mate, it is liver-warming," Luna answered.

"And belly-warming," Was-Grounded snickered.

"Brother!" Shadowwing exclaimed.

The laughing started again, drawing looks from many of the others on the beach.

Then Valka finally approached. She was clearly anxious even though she had a faint grin from having watched the recent hilarity.

"S... Shadowwing, can we talk?" she whispered.

He got to his feet, glanced back at the other Furies, took some comfort from their encouraging hums, and then followed her, knowing that this could be a painful talk. They walked together away from everyone else so that they could speak and write freely. However, they started by staring out over the ocean together without saying anything for a long time.

"I... don't know where to start..." she then sighed.

 **Nor I**

"Why?"

He sat down on his rear and stared at the sand for a long time to gather his thoughts on that simplest and most complicated question.

 **I met Mimir again**

"What?" she exclaimed.

 **I was dead**

 **After the lightning hit me**

 **Grimmel shot me**

She stared blankly in evident disbelief and shock.

 **Mimir said that humans**

 **Should not be allowed there**

 **He lost hope that you are good**

She said nothing for a long time until a single tear rolled down her cheek. She somehow seemed to overlook his mention of being dead for a while. Perhaps it helped that he was not dead now.

"Why?" she gasped.

 **He remembered many dragons' deaths**

 **All because of humans**

"He was very sad the first time I met him, but he did not say anything like that..."

Sigh.

"You agreed with him?" she whispered.

He winced at that comment.

 **I did not know if humans can live there**

 **It is a very different world**

"I lived in the Bewilderbeast's nest for twenty years. If I can do it... any of us can. Stubbornness issues... If we could survive on Berk where it snows nine months of the year and hails the other three... I think we can make it in a massive, bright cave where dragons can live."

He warily growled softly.

 **There is danger from other dragons**

 **They may not want you there**

 **But we will protect you all**

 **We Furies and all bonded dragons for sure**

Valka solemnly nodded at that.

"Thorvald and I talked about it with the other families already. That is a risk we would gladly take. We trust you. Occupational hazard and all. When has being a dragon's friend ever been safe? And with all the dragon hunters and ships out there, everyone knows where we are now. We would be on the map anywhere we would go."

 **Fair point**

"It might help if as many people as possible are wearing the scale-armor though when we go down there."

 **Crazy feral vigilante dragon people**

 **Guess they needed more of this**

He gently nudged her side with a paw. They both chuckled at that, and then Valka glanced over toward the other Furies.

"What did Luna say to you? I saw her talking to you both for a while... when we were... on the beach," she whispered very softly.

 **Everything we needed to hear**

 **This was her idea**

He sighed.

 **It will be a very different world for everyone**

"But we will figure it out... together. That is what family does, right?" she gently put a hand on his shoulder.

Together, they glanced back at all the resting people and dragon and dragon-rider pairs that were happy and content simply to be. He was quite overcome with feeling at her words and at what he saw before him.

He reached out and put an arm around her back to gather her in for a hug.

"Oh son..." she gasped.

He rolled onto his back and pulled her onto his belly. Then he held her with both arms and purred warmly.

 _Got you!_

"You! What are you doing! Unholy offspring!" she laughed as well.

Then the tickling started, which was quite unfortunate for him as he could not as easily and safely dislodge her as he could a fellow Fury.

"And it is ugly! Dragons and humans, enemies forever!" she laughed.

 _No, please stop..._

Then he rolled slightly and aggravated one of the burns on his back. He froze with a growl and winced at the pain that suddenly flared. She noticed and stopped her tickle attack.

"Son?"

He let go of her and carefully rolled onto his side before slowly getting up with a wince.

 **The burns hurt a bit**

 **I forgot about them**

She frowned and gave him a piteous sigh as she looked at them.

"Sorry... they look... quite impressive to be honest. And you are sure that you have no idea what happened? No idea why you were struck?"

He only slowly shook his head.

 _Maybe one day I will explain it to you mom. Or at least try to. Not sure I understand it all myself._

"Come on then, you should be proud of those even if they hurt a bit. You big baby boo!" she nervously chuckled as she picked up her discarded staff.

"Big baby boo..." he grumbled and huffed.

She weakly laughed at his teasing reply. He glanced at her after a moment had passed and saw her staring at him in confusion.

"What did you just say?" she asked.

 **The tease?**

She briskly nodded once.

 **Big baby boo**

She stepped back and steadied herself with her staff.

 _What is going on mom?_

"I thought I heard you... say... that," she slowly whispered.

 _Yeah, so what are you... WAIT!_

He stepped back a few paces from her and stared in shock. All sound around them seemed to cease as they warily regarded each other without looking away. Then his thoughts started flying impossibly fast.

 _Is it possible? I mean... I guess I never really tried. Humans cannot hear what we say to each other in our language and definitely cannot speak it. They don't have the ears or throat for it._

 _But maybe... maybe I can make sounds they can hear if I... oh gods... I am an idiot..._

He slowly bent down to the sand and wrote with a trembling claw.

 **I need lots of practice**

 **If it is possible at all**

She then slowly nodded, seeming to recover something of her inner poise.

"Yeah, let's not try to change... everything about the world right now. We will have enough to get used to soon anyway. But think about what this means if... if you can, then... then all of you Furies can..."

Together, they looked over toward all the resting Furies, the other children having returned from meeting with their human friends and wherever else they had wandered off to.

"What if," Valka whispered.

Shadowwing closed his eyes and sighed.

 _What if indeed..._

Then Valka started across the sands toward the other Furies as he followed behind her. The three oldest children got to their feet and hopped over to her to greet her with warm purrs. After sharing words with them, she walked on up to Luna, who gave her a warm croon as well.

Valka slowly held up her hands to Luna's chin and let the Light Fury touch her first.

"Thank... you... Luna..." Valka whispered as he gently leaned her forehead against Luna's nose.

Luna had no time to react before Moon-Dancer decided that he had not played enough and launched himself at Valka. Valka fell onto her side on the sands and was viciously attacked by the laughing yearling even as Shadowwing and Luna stared warmly at the play.

Then Luna chuckled softly.

"Kin-liver is like a second dam-mother to him... and me."

"Why for you?" Shadowwing purred.

"She gave me life and the skies by healing my wings."

Shadowwing sighed softly.

"And you are like the dam-mother of the mixed-nest that will be, Luna. You did the same for us all..."

She laughed openly at that, as did Was-Grounded and Green-Wings.

* * *

Was-Grounded glanced at his oldest who were laying on the ground next to him and his mate.

"What is twisting you, my little ones?"

Dawn-Singer, Aurora, and Rain-Eater gave each other glances before speaking. Their eyes and ears fell slightly.

"Why did you not say what was happening with the kin flight?" Dawn-Singer eventually asked.

"We had to do what was best for the nest. It was not your decision to make," he answered.

"But the two-legs are as kin to us. You would have us break the nest?" Aurora whined.

"They are close to our livers," Rain-Eater bobbed his head also.

Green-Wings sadly hummed at them.

"The skies are not that clear, little ones. There is much danger in bringing the ground-kin two-legs with us to this hidden range," she explained.

"Danger? What danger?" Rain-Eater warily asked.

"Other kin might try to hurt them because they do not want two-legs in hiding with them," Was-Grounded explained.

"But our ground-kin never hurt kin!" Aurora protested.

"Other two-legs do though. The other ranges of the world are not safe for us. That is why all kin must go into hiding now. Kin that flew in the above might have been hurt much by two-legs," Was-Grounded answered.

The nestmates glanced at each other again.

"But we will protect our ground-kin," Dawn-Singer firmly declared with a faint growl.

"Yes, we will," Aurora added.

"They trust us to keep them safe in this new world after they flew from the Haven range. And we will," Dawn-Singer continued.

Was-Grounded reflected on it later after his young had fallen asleep next to him and Green-Wings. Everything that happened so recently reminded him of something else that had happened many season-cycles ago.

 _The kin from fire-nest-island lost their home there and trusted the two-legs. The bond two-legs and Hiccup's sire protected the kin from the bad, rotted two-legs in the nest. Now we will do that for them. It is only fair to protect them now that they cannot stay in the above._

He sighed and looked out to the horizon.

 _I wonder what this world will look like._

* * *

It was very late in the afternoon, almost sunset even, when the massive flight finally arrived on the third day since departure.

The nondescript island, complete with its central peak, cliffs, beaches, trees, and even the strange and forgotten ruins, lay before them. Over the fields, the slopes, and the forest their flight took them until all descended toward a plain next to one of the mountains.

Shadowwing flew them all down toward the massive cave that glowed from within with a faint pale green light. The entire tribe, all their dragons, and all the wild ones started settling down on the plain before the cave.

"That is a big cave," Was-Grounded hummed as he stared with amazement.

"Wait until you see what is below. All of home-nest-island could be in the cave under the waters," Shadowwing answered.

Then he walked up alongside Thorvald and Valka. The former was staring at the cave in open awe, as were all the other humans in the extended tribe.

"That is it? Our new home?" Thorvald wondered.

"Yes, the hidden world. Or at least that is a door to it. It is... amazing," Valka answered.

"Well, there is no point sitting around out here and waiting. Shadowwing, shall we fly now?" Thorvald asked.

They all turned around and looked at the assembly of humans and about three hundred dragons. All seemed impatient, in part due to it being a bit cooler this far north.

 _Yeah, no point unpacking everything just to pack back up._

Shadowwing stepped over to Valka and gently nudged her scale-armor gear.

"Yeah, everyone who has any is getting theirs on too," Thorvald answered.

Shadowwing nodded and hummed in answer as he stepped away from them and then walked toward the cave. Then he flared his wings and gave a loud roar while glowing softly with command.

 _Fly down into hiding. Go fly on your own. No more being hunted. Safety finally at home._

The roar was echoed all across the plain as bonded dragons flew to their humans and picked them up along with the supplies being brought. Thorvald and Valka both ran back to their dragons, and wild dragons began spiraling in the sky with their broods.

Then Shadowwing bounded over to Was-Grounded.

"Brother, will you lead the flight down? The winds are warm, and the light is much. It would be good to have an Alpha lead all. I will fly with the tail of the flight."

"It is a strange range and skies for me," Was-Grounded answered.

"You will feel much warmth in the range though. It will make your liver burn hot when you see the rocks that burn with light," Shadowwing happily hummed.

"Are you well to fly last?" Was-Grounded warily asked.

"Yes, and if I do have problems I will have Luna with me."

Was-Grounded nodded, hopped over to his family, shared a few words with them, and then they all leapt for the sky. All of them, Was-Grounded, Green-Wings, Dawn-Singer, Aurora, Rain-Eater, and Mist-Wings, joined voices, roared aloud as one, and flew into the massive cave.

As the last flight in the open skies began.

The wild dragons flew first after them, almost swarming to return to a hive as they filled the skies with roars. The rush of wings formed into a massive line that vanished within the cave. Then, all the wild dragons having flown their flight, all the bonded dragons lifted for the sky and flew within as well with Valka on Cloudjumper and Thorvald on Hookedfang at the head of the flight.

And all the while, Shadowwing stood at Luna's shoulder and stared off into the west at the approaching sunset.

"Where are the kin and two-legs flying?" Moon-Dancer asked from beside them both.

Shadowwing and Luna shared a warm glance between them before answering the question.

"They are flying to a new home-range, my little one," Luna hummed.

"It must be a big cave for all to fly in!" Moon-Dancer exclaimed.

"Yes, my son. It is much bigger than the old-home-range," Shadowwing added.

The last of the other dragons finally flew within the cave, leaving only the three of them behind. The entire plain was empty of any visible signs that anyone or anything had passed this way. All was silent save for the wind and their own soft purring.

"Look at it, my life-mate," Shadowwing whispered.

A bright red glow filled the sky as the sun was half vanished beyond the horizon. The brilliant white moon shone clearly overhead.

"I remember the first time I saw the sunfall and the moon that looked like me," Luna hummed.

An eager fledgling hopped up on her back.

"They make me feel warm and happy!" Moon-Dancer added.

"And now we will see no more of them. I do not think I will ever see these skies again," Luna solemnly whispered.

Then she stretched out a wing and draped it over Shadowwing's back.

"But that is not bad. I flew these skies to find something that I did not have. I have it now, and I will fly the winds of life in warmth," she added.

Shadowwing tore his gaze away from the sunset and faced her, quiet acceptance in his eyes.

"We should go and fly... home," he whispered.

The three of them took to the air and flew at Moon-Dancer's pace as they left behind the open skies and began the descent into and down the cave. It was exactly as he remembered. The cave's walls glowed with the pale light from moss as they flew. A faint wind blew in their faces as they slowly glided down, down, down, following after the large flights that had flown before them. Distant cries echoed from ahead as the voices of dragons ahead bounded up the cave.

"Wow!" Moon-Dancer roared aloud.

 _Wow indeed, my son..._

Just as he had done many years ago and after descending for an unknown amount of time, they burst out of the massive cave and into the open air of an impossibly large chamber filled with green, light, and life.

"Shadowwing! Moon-Dancer! Look at it!" Luna cried aloud and spun in a roll out of joy.

He brushed her wing as they flew, and took in the view as they passed through the hidden skies. It seemed almost familiar to him now after his previous experience in a far distant corner of the hidden world. The massive supporting rock columns had the same glowing spikes of crystal while the bases of the columns were shrouded in darkness and mystery. Parts of the chamber were covered in a forest made of mushrooms, mosses, and other alien plants while other parts of the chamber were the same large lakes that he remembered from long ago. The plants themselves even glowed with all the colors of the rainbow. Something almost like a sparkling or glowing mist filled places in the chamber.

The only major difference from how he remembered it was that there were many more dragons now. Their presence filled the air with a more constant drone or hum of activity. And they were all flying in the same direction toward what looked like a brightly glowing passageway at a far corner of the chamber.

 _They must have all flown that way._

The three of them followed all the other dragons in their flight. It was a storm of wings, roars, and calls all around them. Between spires of light and dark rock, over swarms of tiny orange dragons, around massive glowing mushrooms, along something like a flowing river, along sparkling and roaring waterfalls, and eventually down into a very large passageway filled with the bright glowing crystals.

 _Where are we going?_

Then they emerged from the passageway into a chamber that dwarfed the previous one in its scale. His jaw fell open as he beheld it in full. It was a bowl-shaped, rocky chamber filled with crevices all along the walls. In the center of the chamber stood the largest and brightest crystal of all, jutting out many lengths from the rocky ground at a slight angle. All kinds of dragons perched on the walls or lay on the ground all around the crystal as though in an audience. Almost every kind of land or sky dragon represented in the Book of Dragons seemed to be present as well as others that were completely new.

Then he gasped in alarm when he saw what had to be several dozen dragons angrily flying and swarming over all the Haven survivors down on a rocky corner of the chamber. He beat his flight toward them all as fast as he could, and then he saw an amazing sight.

Almost all the Haven dragons were flying as well and forming almost a living barrier over the survivors on the ground. Some of the larger ones on the ground, including Cloudjumper and the Timberjacks, were sheltering people under their wings. There was much roaring and many close calls as swarming dragons were beaten back with teeth and fire. Even the bonded dragons on the ground had their wings lifted wide, teeth bared in warning as they stood around their humans. The larger Furies were hovering nearby and roaring at any of the dangerous dragons that tried to get close.

Then he blinked and stared in open wonder when he saw that Was-Grounded, Dawn-Singer, and Aurora were glowing slightly with blue light.

 _So they can do that also! Amazing!_

The overall effect was very striking, loud, and worrying.

"Brother, what is this?" Shadowwing shouted.

They both dove to the rocky ground a short dash from the assembled refugees to be able to speak more easily.

"They do not want the ground-kin here," Was-Grounded explained.

Shadowwing grimaced as he looked up at the swarm and the other hissing dragons on the ground.

 _Well, that is obvious. Those are probably the ones that were in the above before now. The ones that were more hunted and are more afraid._

Luna and Moon-Dancer landed behind him, and his son immediately curled up on her back because he wanted rest after the long flight. Green-Wings joined them a moment later with Mist-Wings and Rain-Eater at her side.

"What are we going to do?" Was-Grounded asked.

"We cannot stay in this place. Maybe we can..." Shadowwing started to answer.

"Monsters!" a voice shouted from the open air.

"What?" Shadowwing, Was-Grounded, Luna, and Green-Wings all exclaimed together.

Shadowwing checked with life-fire-sight and gasped in shock at what he saw. Circling above them in the open air, completely hidden to other eyes, was a bright light.

"A Light Fury!" he shouted in amazement.

The other three lifted their voices high and waited. They did not need to wait long before something happened.

A male Light Fury appeared from nothingness in the sky and dove down toward them, touching down and bounding up a safe distance from them. He was noticeably smaller than they were but was also very quick and agile. He had many old scars on his back and sides. His wings had what looked like old tears that had healed long ago. This one was clearly a fighter of some kind or had seen much in his life.

The strange Light Fury stared first at Luna and then at the other three of them in a mix of obvious amazement and alarm.

"You are dark wings," he spoke.

"Brother, are we dark wings?" Shadowwing teased.

"The last time that I looked at you, yes, we were," Was-Grounded answered.

"And you, what is your name?" Shadowwing asked.

"I am the First-Far-Watcher for the pack. Why are there Monsters here now? Did you bring those... things?" the Light Fury hissed.

Luna stepped forward without hesitation after Shadowwing plucked Moon-Dancer from her back.

"They are not Monsters. They are ground-kin. And no, these dark wings did not say to bring them here. I did," she confidently declared.

The male's already cold eyes narrowed.

"You... you brought two-leg Monsters into the hidden ranges! Do you know what you have done? They all must die!"

All three Night Furies snarled openly and bared their teeth at him in an instant.

"You do not know what these ground-kin two-legs have done! They have joined life-flights with the kin! They have fought and died to protect these kin from true Monsters!" Luna calmly answered.

The male stepped back from them and growled angrily.

"You, female, you have joined flights with those Monsters and these thought-twisted and rotted dark wings. You are no light wing, you are not one of us!"

If his words were meant to strike at her, they did not have the intended effect.

She only laughed.

"No, if you are what it is to be a light wing, then I am not a light wing. I am a Light Fury!"

"What?" he growled and pawed angrily at the rock.

"Yes, and these two Night Fury males are Alphas of many kin. What are you going to do? Attack an Alpha's life-mate when she is carrying his egg and he is standing with her? It would be the last thing you ever do. We have grounded far more dangerous things than you," she stepped toward him and snarled.

"I helped kill a male dark wing much bigger than you! He threatened my mate. I tore off that male's wings," Green-Wings added with ire in her normally calm voice.

The male Light Fury stepped back from them, still growling softly but no longer appearing to openly consider an attack.

Shadowwing took the opportunity to take a very deep breath and step forward.

"We do not want fighting or killing. We, the ground-kin two-legs, and all the kin in our flight, only want to live in peace. Where is the Alpha of this range?"

The male Light Fury warily regarded him for several moments before he decided to answer.

"Gone," he snarled.

"There is no Alpha?" Was-Grounded interjected in surprise.

"No High-Alpha. He left the rock-light-place so he could die in peace and not leave a body to rot. That is where the High-Alpha perched over all in this flock-making place."

The four of them shared a glance up at the prominent glowing crystal outcropping that rose up into the chamber.

Then Shadowwing had a thought, a suspicion.

"Do you remember what he looked like?"

"Yes," the Light Fury answered.

"Was he a white kin a little bigger than us and with soft spines on his back and a very long tail."

"Yes."

"Did he have a name?"

"He-Who-Remembers."

 _Mimir... he was the last... High-Alpha or King down here in this part of the hidden world?_

"I do not much trust you for bringing those two-leg Monsters into this range. The other true light wings in the pack think the same as I do. We... were hurt much and hunted by two-legs in the above," the male continued.

Luna snarled openly at that.

"If you only knew how much bad was in my life-flight because of bad two-legs. But I do not hate these two-legs for the wrongs and rot of others," she explained.

"They are all the same! All rotted thrall-makers and kin-hunters!"

"You do not know what you are talking about," Luna answered.

"I saw two-legs kill hatchlings and crush eggs! Do not tell me that I do not know!"

The four of them stared in surprise at his fierce words that held such pain in them. He slowly caught his breath and calmed though, especially when he saw Moon-Dancer and Mist-Wings nervously staring at him.

"Many of these kin and all in my pack remember. They were out in the bad world beyond until the High-Alpha called them to hiding here and in other ranges. We left the beyond several season-cycles ago."

Shadowwing started in surprise as he remembered that detail from his vision with Mimir.

 _He really did call the other dragons into hiding. How powerful was he?_

"You are wrong about the ground-kin. They are not Monsters," Luna insisted.

The male Light Fury only snarled softly.

"Think about the Monsters how you want. Many kin here do not want those things, and we true light wings will not stay anywhere near those Monsters. They have hurt us enough already, and nothing can change what they did or are. I must tell my pack of this," the male firmly declared.

The male Light Fury flew off and vanished in a flash of fire in the sky. Shadowwing briefly checked and confirmed that it was indeed flying off down a far passageway.

The four of them then looked to each other in weary, deep thought.

"Now what? We are not welcome to stay in this range here with our ground-kin," Was-Grounded observed.

A silent moment passed between them as they all looked around the massive chamber.

"They could not stay in this range here, I think. This place with rock does not have what they need or even what we need. This is not a roosting-range," Luna answered.

"We can find another range for them, but the kin here do not have much trust and have hurt livers..." Was-Grounded groaned.

"Brother, I have an idea," Shadowwing purred.

"What?"

"How bright is our light?"

Was-Grounded followed his gaze and then froze when he saw where Shadowwing was staring.

"What are you thinking?" Was-Grounded exclaimed.

Shadowwing turned back to him and gave him a happy growl.

"We are Alphas of our kin flight now. I say we go become High-Alphas of this range!"

"And tell the kin that they do not need to fear these ground-kin..." Was-Grounded whispered.

"Yes. We cannot make them not fear, but we can make them hear. Those who will not listen to us will fly away to other ranges. Those who will listen and can be peaceful will bend their wings to us, I think. Bring all your nest-kin with you up onto the light-rock," Shadowwing answered.

They flew back to the gathering on the ground, quite thankful that the swarm of angered dragons circling overhead had dispersed, and shared the necessary words, Shadowwing by using a bit of the precious paper. Then Shadowwing and Was-Grounded turned their flights to the massive central crystal and landed on it. All the other Furies, Night, Light, and Dawn, flew up from the Haven crowd and landed next to them both.

Both families stood as one on that crystal in that moment. The children all eagerly examined the rock that they were standing on, none of them having seen such a thing before.

Then Was-Grounded bounded over to Green-Wings and nuzzled her nose.

"What are you doing?" Green-Wings whispered.

"Remember what I told you at the ice nest? You do not bow to me," he answered her.

Luna stepped closer to Shadowwing and purred to him, knowing already what would happen.

"Luna, I will never have you bend your wings to me," Shadowwing hummed.

She only hummed softly and glanced toward the glowing rock while Moon-Dancer stood nearby.

Shadowwing and Was-Grounded turned away from their families, spared a very nervous glance at each other, and then looked out the crystal to the natural high ledge it formed. They could already see countless shining eyes fixed on them now, but they would be visible to all once they stood fully up there.

"I am afraid..." Shadowwing whispered.

"Me also..." Was-Grounded whispered back.

Then they glanced back at each other and gave twined toothless grins.

"As one, Toothless?" Shadowwing asked.

"Always, Hiccup," Was-Grounded answered.

They started walking side by side. Step by step up the gentle slope of that glowing rock. Slowly walking higher and higher along the smooth surface. Feeling their inner warmth growing hotter with each step and click of their claws and swish of their tails on the glowing rock. The burn in their hearts grew as they held their heads high.

Sacrifices made, lessons learned, battles won, scars gained, comfort given, families started, duties answered, and fates embraced.

Then they finally stood on the edge of the overlook, and they looked out over the world around them. Many hundreds of dragons, maybe over a thousand, representing all types were present and interspersed apparently at random on the strange ground, up on the wall ledges, in distant waterways, and still winging in from passageways, perhaps summoned by the echoing calls of all gathered together. Then they both faintly noticed, as if it was only a curiosity, that there was a single-tusked Bewilderbeast off in the distance near a large watery pool. The fallen Alpha was merely resting there in peace among all the free dragons.

They stepped over to opposite sides of the crystal ledge, threw out their glowing wings, and took very deep breaths.

.

Then they roared as one.

.

Two claimed the position together, neither having sought after it for themselves.

Two who had suffered from the worst abuses of power and betrayal.

Two who had learned to trust the other implicitly in all things.

Two who filled their thoughts with a plea to allow those who look very different and who have no other place a chance at peace and a new home.

Two who watched with acceptance as hundreds of dragons in the chamber growled defiantly and turned their tails for distant passageways and far caverns.

Two who watched as all the hundreds of dragons that remained down below in the chamber bowed their heads and wings and raised their voices in roars of acclaim.

Two who watched as several dozen human families bowed and cheered wildly for them alongside their dragons.

Two who were Brothers and Kings.


	83. III - Eternal Twilight

_**Author's Note – It is time for the refugees to finally find a home. I also got to use my imagination a bit on how to develop the hidden world. A good bit of inspiration comes from the Blackreach in Skyrim mingled with a bit of Pandora from Avatar.**_

* * *

" _Out of the Great Sea to Middle-earth I am come. In this place will I abide, and my heirs, unto the ending of the world." - Lord Of The Rings – Return Of The King_

* * *

Eternal Twilight

* * *

Thorvald stared in an open stupor. None of them had ever seen anything like this before.

That the dragons had an entire hidden home underground was life-changing indeed. For that hidden home to be so completely strange, beautiful, and dangerous at once was even more amazing.

To have thousands of dragons flying around them or perched in this massive chamber filled with glowing rocks...

To see hundreds of the dragons bowing to the two Night Furies who stood up above all of them...

To the same two Night Fury brothers who were hatched in Berk all those years ago and grew up together in Chief Stoick's house...

The two Night Furies who had been driven from Berk by betrayal, had saved so many lives on the Bewilderbeast's island, had become truly family and part of the tribe, and had fought Grimmel and the dragon hunters...

It drove home his own insignificance in this world. Everything was so different now in this thoroughly alien world. Basically everything about the old way that this people had lived did not matter anymore. Three years he had led the dragon riders and done a good enough job by all accounts.

But now... staring up at the glowing Night Furies above them... and considering how different the world was...

He then walked over to Gobber and Dragonheart. There was something that had been on his mind ever since the departure from Haven.

"Would you look at that, now those are Kings..." Dragonheart sighed.

He nodded in agreement at how amazing the sight was.

"I need to talk to you both."

"Uh, yea'... ok..." Gobber answered, still in awe himself.

"A Chief must be able to lead and protect their people however is needed, right?"

"Yeah, thaz' kinda tha' point," Gobber answered.

"But I don't know anything about this world. None of us really do. This is the home of the dragons."

The three of them glanced around at the strange, red plant things growing on the rocky surface.

"And?" Dragonheart prodded.

"I was thinking about making Shadowwing our Chief if he wants it."

Amazed glances from the other two followed his announcement.

"Have a dragon be our Chief? Oh Thor Almighty..." Gobber groaned.

"Why not?" Dragonheart chuckled.

"Fair point. I guess it could work. No one ere' would object, I think," Gobber finally mused after stroking his mustache.

"He was basically raised by Stoick so he would be in the line... in a way. Like he is Stoick's adopted son," Thorvald then added.

Dragonheart and Gobber shared a wary look.

"Are you sure about this? You would give up being Chief?" Dragonheart asked.

Thorvald waved his arms around at the massive cavern and glowing crystals.

"There are no other human tribes we need to worry about now. We have left behind so many of our old traditions. The only groups we might need to negotiate with would be the other dragons. I think it might be better to have a dragon as our leader now," Thorvald explained.

"Got'ta admit, is' eh good point," Gobber chuckled.

"I will ask Shadowwing about it then," Dragonheart announced.

They returned to doing what everyone else was doing. Sticking close to their dragons' sides while staring up in awe at the Kings standing above them. It was best to stay close while the unfriendly dragons sorted themselves out and flew off to be on their own.

* * *

The wild dragons, both from Haven and not, had all flown off and started dispersing to the unknown passes that led to undiscovered countries in the hidden world. All the Furies flew down to join with Haven as everyone still stood where they had during the massive ceremony.

Shadowwing strode up to the human leaders and purred warmly at them all.

"So now what?" Thorvald asked after the awe wore off.

"First, I think we find a home down here. Ideally a big chamber that we could grow food in and which is somewhat remote, right Shadowwing?" Valka offered.

Shadowwing nodded.

"Yeah, no reason to bother the dragons unless necessary. This is their home after all," Thorvald added.

"And about that, there is something else that we wanted to talk about with you Shadowwing," Valka began after glancing at Thorvald and Gobber.

Shadowwing gave her his fullest attention.

"We want to know if you would be our new Chief."

Shadowwing blinked and barely kept his jaw from falling open.

 _Did I hear that right? Chief?_

"It would not be like before of course, so much of that role does not matter now. But it might be better to have a dragon as our leader and representative now. That Light Fury did not look like it wanted us here, and many of the other dragons that left were not so friendly either," Valka explained.

 _True, but me as a Chief after everything... and being a King down here, whatever that will mean..._

He turned to Luna and Was-Grounded and approached them.

"Luna, brother, the ground-kin want to make me their nest-Alpha. They think that it would be better for the future mixed-nest to have a Night Fury as the Alpha now. What do you think?"

"Would it mean you would need to do many ceremonies and be away from me and our little ones?" Luna warily asked.

"No, I would not let that happen. There are many old ceremonies that will not be now. Mixed-life will be different now from what was before. And ground-kin problems between themselves do not always need an Alpha to help with," Shadowwing explained.

"What will you do as High-Alphas?" Luna wondered.

Was-Grounded answered.

"I think it is much different from what Alphas did above. There are no two-leg threats down here, and many problems in living in peace should not be now. The not-bonded kin were very many in the Haven range. The kin that will live in these ranges and that bowed to us will only come to us if there are true threats to the range. Most fights in their own kinds they can end on their own."

Shadowwing huffed and rolled his eyes.

"Keep safe these ranges is what we must do as High-Alphas? We would fly that flight anyway. I can be named the Alpha of the mixed-nest then. Would you say no, Luna?"

"I would not, as long as it would not make you fly many flights away from us," she answered.

"You and my little ones will always be my first flight," he nuzzled her nose.

Then he gestured his brother and Luna to follow him over to all the other Furies.

"Our ground-kin need help. This is a different world from what we knew above. You saw that many of the kin were not warmed by our ground-kin."

All solemnly hummed and ears fell slightly.

"The ground-kin need to find a range to make a new mixed-nest in. It will need to be a big range like the first one we flew into down the cave. It should have water, dirt, plants, and light. We should fly these big caves and find a range for them."

Then he grinned and purred.

"And for us."

They all warmly hummed this time and began to make their plans for who would take which chambers and paths to search down and for how long. Then Shadowwing went back to Thorvald, Gobber, and Valka and used a bit more of the precious paper to tell them that they would talk about the role of Chief later and that the whole tribe should rest by the water in that first chamber.

The Furies were going exploring.

However, Luna sought him out again before he left to go flying. They had already left Moon-Dancer and Mist-Wings with Valka and Luna though, and the others had already flown off. Luna had volunteered to stay with the two youngest ones so that Green-Wings could stretch her wings some and help in the search.

 _I think I know what is bothering you, my love._

"Shadowwing..." she whispered.

He lay down on his belly before her and softly purred to her.

"My love and my life-mate..." he answered.

"There were no other light wings, were there?"

He sighed.

"No. He was the only one."

She sighed.

"I hoped that maybe my sire and dam were here and would have known me..."

A soft nose nuzzle was all he could do for her in the moment.

"This hidden world is very big with many ranges. We are very far from the most good range where we became one life and where you hatched. Not finding them here does not mean that they are not," he whispered.

"True," she softly rumbled.

"We will look for them. We can go fly to the Light Fury pack and see if your sire and dam are there," he added.

"Maybe we can, but for now we should find a home-range for all of us," she answered.

Then she turned back to Moon-Dancer and Mist-Wings and called them over to play.

* * *

Dawn-Singer hovered in the mouth of the passageway and stared within while grumbling softly in thought. It looked like a big chamber for sure, but it also had many different kin within. These kin had no problem with flaming each other to show their dominance and claim their place in the nest-order. There was even a dead fire-scale on the ground from how bad the fighting must have gotten recently.

 _This is not the range for us. Too much flaming and biting. Actually, many of the kin are like that._

He put his tail to that chamber and flew off for the others.

 _I wonder why they did not do that much in the above._

* * *

Aurora whipped her tail and struck Rain-Eater in the side.

"What was that for!" he barked.

"That is for you being a brother!"

"I am sorry about that! I cannot help who hatched me!"

She sat back on her rear and crossed her forepaws on her chest.

"You should be sorry. Why do I have to watch over you?" she pouted.

He grinned and purred as he stepped up next to her.

"Sister, you are flying tail-first on this flight."

She only rolled her eyes at that while giving a questioning grumble.

"And what about this range? Do you think it is good?" he continued, interrupting her thoughts.

They stared out over the very water-filled range. It looked almost like an ocean itself, except that it was also filled with the shining light rocks and spires of normal rock. Neither of them could see a far shore. The water was very, very deep in places. Water-kin, mostly hot-water-spitters and very-loud-big-mouth-roarers, were visibly swimming throughout.

"It has many fish yes, but this is not a good range for ground-kin," she answered.

"You speak truth, sister. Sire told me that some of the water-kin are eaters of two-legs... and our ground-kin."

They both shivered at the thought and turned tail on the water-range. It was not a good place for their ground-kin or for them, though it might have good fishing if needed.

* * *

Was-Grounded stared into the new chamber with a tail-tickling feeling creeping on him. It was a very rocky chamber. He could see many rock-belly kin buzzing around on the ledges inside. That was not a great problem. More chilling were the holes dug into the rock itself and the very faint whispering that he could hear. It was not a sound that sparked any liver-warmth.

 _Sharp-teeth-rock-diggers? I have not seen any of those in a long time. Not since that one that I had to fight._

Then he spied something far off in the distance. Something that would have sent him diving for hiding out of fear if he was not an Alpha and a High-Alpha. There was a pure white and very, very, very big Sharp-teeth-rock-digger resting deep within the new chamber.

 _That... could have challenged the Monster on fire-nest-island. And this is not the range for us, even if those kin were not living in it. It has no green or dirt._

He turned away from that chamber and flew back the way he came. Then he softly grumbled to himself in confusion.

 _Why would any kin need to have spinning teeth? Teeth in and out like we can do is one thing, but spinning? How?_

* * *

Shadowwing returned to the resting tribe by the water in that first chamber. His wings were tired after all the flying they had all done. He had volunteered for the lengthiest flight of them all to help keep the children safer, capable though they were. His own search had yielded some possible chambers, a few filled with some dirt and light. But none of them felt right. Many of them were occupied by dragons that were a bit too violent toward each other, in his own opinion.

The tribe had assembled roughly into family units gathered near simple tents and piles of supplies. A few of the adults and more capable riders were still alert and aloft while on patrol duty. It was unlikely that anyone would run into any marauding dragons now, but everyone was going to exercise caution for now.

He dove down with a relieved roar when he saw that almost everyone else was there. Dawn-Singer, Aurora, Rain-Eater, and Was-Grounded had all returned.

"Sire-father, you are back!" Moon-Dancer bounded up to him.

"Yes, my son," he licked his son on the face in greeting.

"Ugh, sire-father, why would you do that?" Moon-Dancer sputtered while pawing at his face.

"You know why," Shadowwing chuckled.

Luna purred at that and nuzzled him at his return.

"Did you find a place for us?" she asked.

"Not yet. Did any of you find a range for us?" he turned to the three oldest children.

They all looked down at their paws and hummed softly.

"No, they are either not good for living in or are filled with danger," Dawn-Singer answered.

"What about here in this one? This place has water, dirt, and much light," Aurora proposed.

Shadowwing warily hummed as he looked around and remembered key details about this place. Yes, it has a strange forest, prey animals for hunting, dirt, water, and much light. It could possibly work, but there was one main problem.

"There are many side-caves that go to far ranges. Kin that are flying between ranges must fly through here. It would be better if we and our ground-kin could be in a different range that did not have much flying in by other kin."

Everyone began to disperse after that, the children wandering off among the humans to find their friends. Several riders were aloft with their bonded dragons. Others were cautiously exploring the nearby foliage, all while their dragons stayed close to help protect them just in case.

Shadowwing sighed softly and then felt Luna nuzzling his neck.

"How are you, my love?" he hummed.

"I want us to find a range soon. The sooner that we do, the sooner I can drop the egg and sing to it," she purred back to him.

"Flying much with an egg inside is not much good. Green-Wings was very tired after we flew from the ice nest to our old cave," Was-Grounded offered.

"Does it hurt?" Shadowwing warily asked.

Luna huffed at that.

"Hurt, no. Will I sleep much after we find the range? Yes."

He licked her cheek at that.

"You are very brave and strong. You can sleep now if you want."

She chuckled softly at that and lay down at his side. Then he covered her with a wing.

"I think I will," she whispered.

They waited in quiet peace until it was clear that she was asleep. Was-Grounded went aloft and spiraled high above the rest, keeping an eyes out for the one member of the search party still to return. Then he eventually saw Green-Wings gliding in from down the long passageway that she had been assigned.

 _She must be very tired also after all that flying. She is bigger and stronger than Luna, but it is still hard for her to fly much with a grown egg inside._

He darted over to her and brushed her wingtips with his. Then he saw her expression. She looked very, very solemn.

"Green-Wings, why are you chilled?"

She looked over at him again and sighed.

"I think I found the range for us."

* * *

The four nestmates stayed very close together while keeping their eyes alert for trouble and danger. There did not seem to be any now, but remaining alert was definitely a good flight.

"What happened to them?" Mist-Wings hummed from Dawn-Singer's side.

"What?" Aurora asked.

"To sire-father and Shadowwing? Sire-father has a back-hurt, and Shadowwing has many hurt marks..."

All looked at each other while keeping watch on the hidden skies. A kin or two occasionally flew by, but none were filled with fighting-wanting.

"They did not say. They did fight a bad flight of two-legs that were going to hurt all at the Haven-range," Dawn-Singer mused.

"And there were the bad kin with tusks. The bad kin that took Luna," Rain-Eater pointed out.

All four snarled softly at that.

"Maybe one of those hurt sire-father..." Aurora wondered.

Mist-Wings gasped and whined softly.

"But he won and grounded the bad kin, you twisted little nestmate," Aurora hummed.

Mist-Wings growled softly at that.

"I heard that they were fighting in sky-light. Twisted as that is," Rain-Eater warbled.

"And the sky-light only hit Shadowwing? Why?" Aurora asked.

"I do not know. Sire-father said not to ask," Rain-Eater answered.

"I want us to find a range soon. My wings hurt," Mist-Wings ruffled them softly.

They glanced over to Kin-liver as she watched over a dozing Moon-Dancer at her side.

"We all do. Sire-father and dam-mother flew with Shadowwing and Luna to see a new range that might be good for us all. Kin and ground-kin together," Dawn-Singer answered.

"Now what?" Aurora wondered.

"Now... you three should go over to Kin-liver and Moon-Dancer or be with our ground-kin. I will fly and watch us all," Dawn-Singer replied.

Then they split up again with him taking to the sky and his three nestmates bounding off toward Kin-liver. He was very certain that all in this mixed-flight had flown from the danger, but having his eyes watching over all was still good. He also remembered the feeling of power and warmth that had come over him when the dangerous kin had tried to hurt the ground-kin.

That need to protect those he held to his liver and the power-light that came with it, something his sister Aurora had also but which Rain-Eater was not old enough for yet, gave him a purpose now. He could act as an Alpha, or at least watch over all, while the true Alphas were away.

* * *

Green-Wings led the four adults down a long passageway off the side of the main chamber through a few twists and turns.

The passageway opened onto a chamber that was somewhat narrower than others at the entrance. Narrower meaning the width of maybe twenty longboats piled end to end. The pass was flanked on both sides by a rocky cavern wall with many visible outcroppings, ledges, and caves. Just like elsewhere in this world, supporting columns of rock rose all throughout from the bottom of the chamber to the ceiling.

This first fourth of the chamber was substantially darker than the remainder because there were far fewer crystals. What glowing crystals there were gave off darker shades of purple, blue, and some green. Ledges and raised plains on one side of the pass had a large mushroom forest and many of the strangely glowing flowers. The base of the cavern in this initial part of the pass was a lake filled with fish, as they found from brief diving done to test the waters, and also glowing plants sprouting out from the waters. There was also a faint chill that hung over the place from the lack of lighting. It was a place that felt unknown and mysterious even though none of them were at all afraid.

It seemed shrouded in almost an eternal twilight.

Even so, the flight through that darker part of the chamber was not a short one. It had to be the equivalent of a flight from the mountaintops of Haven down to the shore.

The deeper three quarters of the chamber, which more than dwarfed all the land of Haven, was bright with light from many large glowing spires above and many bright rocks at ground level. The ground itself was covered in soil, grasses and moss, and the strange forest that was not so completely strange by now. It appeared fed by underground springs or undiscovered streams. Part of the chamber was covered in waters that teemed with fish, the same waters as flowed in the darker part of the chamber. Birds-things, tiny orange dragons much smaller than Terrors, and various insects were plentiful. The place had a mild yet slightly cool temperature. There were even what looked like a number of small and large game animals in the alien forest.

The four Furies perched on a large crystal as they overlooked all they could see of the quiet and very empty chamber.

"I do not see any large kin here," Was-Grounded observed.

"There is nothing bad that we can see in the range. Why would it be empty of kin?" Shadowwing wondered.

"I did not like it when I saw it first because I thought it was all dark and cold. I thought that all the chamber was that. Other chambers seemed to have more waters with fish also. And I did find... something else in here," Green-Wings answered with a sad warble.

"What did you find?" Shadowwing asked.

She shuffled in place for a moment before slowly spreading her wings.

"Follow me. I should... show you," she weakly hummed.

They flew into the brighter part of the massive cavern. Then they all arrived and landed at the place she clearly meant to show him, a side ledge near a grove of the large mushrooms.

The other three froze when they saw them. It made perfect sense in that instant why this chamber must have been avoided by most all dragons for a long time.

On the ground before them, among a patch of long grass, and partly covered in moss were several Night Fury skeletons, all bearing terrible marks of violence. A short distance away was another skeleton that had a set of spikes on its head and very long claws on its broken forearms.

Shadowwing's burn marks throbbed in that instant as a wave of phantom pain and horrible flashes of memory crashed over him.

 _'A void, an emptiness, a hole in life.'_

 _'A blazing white sun that hunted its kind with lightning and death.'_

 _'Lightning and death.'_

He gasped softly and recovered his breath.

"Green-Wings... that dead thing there... is one of the Monster-kin that hunted me, Was-Grounded, and Luna."

Green-Wings stepped closer to him and cautiously nudged his shoulder while giving him a soft purr. Luna did so as well on his other side a moment later. Then she warily looked up around them.

"So those Monsters did get into this world once," Luna whispered.

"And they killed many of us. But the Monsters are all dead now, true?" Was-Grounded asked.

"True. The High-Alpha said that he felt the last one die when I killed it. They are gone now," Shadowwing answered.

"Did you find more... bones in this range, Green-Wings?" Was-Grounded whined.

She closed her eyes and gave a very sad croon.

"I did. Several nest-packs of them."

Silence fell, none of them wanting to say what they all were thinking.

"This was a range of Night Furies until they were killed or flew away. That is why the other kin do not want to live here. Seeing the bones might be a threat-sign to them, or maybe they remember the dying and fighting that happened here," Shadowwing sadly mused.

"But that past is dead. Maybe this range can have life in it again," Luna wondered.

A moment of quiet consideration passed between the four adults.

"Is this the range for us all?" Luna asked.

Shadowwing glanced around and considered everything about it one last time as compared to all the other options. There was something slightly morbid about the idea, but it was definitely the best option, if for no other reason than that it was uninhabited and there would be minimal tensions with other wild dragons.

"It is good for us. I think that this is the range for all of us together. The part of this range with dirt, green, and much light is good for the ground-kin. The bones of our kin in this range can be given a death-resting ceremony."

Then his ears lifted as he looked over his shoulder into the dark and mysterious passageway.

"And I think that we will be warmed by that part of the range. That looks like the only flight into the range, so any kin that would fly in must fly past us. That will let us keep the peace and keep safe all in the range," Shadowwing explained.

Green-Wings and Luna stepped over to each other, stared without saying anything, came to some agreement, and then spread their wings.

"We will look for a cave!" Luna shouted.

Then both females were off and flying toward the peaks of the ledges and the visible crevices carved into the side of the large passageway.

Shadowwing blinked and turned to his brother as they both gave a questioning hum.

"Did she say a cave? Not caves?" Shadowwing wondered.

Was-Grounded laughed freely, loped closer to his side, and shoved him with his shoulder.

"I think our nests will be one sooner than we thought."

Shadowwing added his own laughter and shook his head with amusement.

"There will not be need for sleeping-piles because there are no cold-seasons here. But there is a good chill in that darker place, and I think having both nests pile together more will be liver-warming."

"Now and always. Will you be twisted about this?" Was-Grounded teased him.

"No, I will not be twisted as I was. There is no bad in living as one nest."

Then they took to the sky as well to aid their mates in the search, knowing that they would soon turn back for the initial distant chamber where a tribe awaited news of its destiny. It felt good to take a place that had seen terrible death once and to fill it with life again, especially the same life that had once been taken from it.

* * *

To say that the dragon riders were eager to finally settle down was an understatement. They had been flying and waiting for almost a week, were hungry, had limited opportunities to properly relieve themselves, and were in a completely strange, if amazing, world.

A round of cheering had went up when the four Furies returned with news that they had found a new home for everyone. Supplies were repacked, explorers were recalled, children were safely strapped in place, and all took flight again toward the future, led by the Furies.

* * *

"Well, look at that," Valka whispered to no one.

She stood on the edge of a ledge that dropped off vertically several hundred feet into a strange forest by the water's edge. A small waterfall fell from another ledge down to the distant lake in which she could already see dragons diving to bathe, drink, or hunt. The different ledges and spires of rock were set at varying heights, which made it possible to travel down certain of them in dramatic fashion.

She flung out her arms in her flight suit, jumped from the ledge, and glided across the chasm to the lower ledge. Then she awkwardly landed, rolled to her feet, and stared into a familiar owl-face that had hopped after her.

"Cloudjumper! I flew! Did you see that?"

He huffed happily in her face and followed her over to edge of the rocky ledge. Then she held up her arms, looked around at all the other dragon and dragon-rider pairs flying freely or wandering on the ground to explore the new world.

"This is what it is to be a dragon!"

Cloudjumper lifted her back up to the level where the other village leaders were busily planning. Thorvald, Sifa, Skald, and Gobber in particular were gathered together.

"So how is this going to work? I don't know what the village will even look like down here," Thorvald muttered.

"Aye, true. But rememba' we aren't Nords anymore," Gobber answered.

"I may have an idea," Valka interjected.

The others eagerly looked to her for her council.

"We are starting anew here. Maybe the old way is not the right way anymore. We should have a Great Hall for when the whole tribe must meet or celebrate important things, but I think spreading out the village further might help. Each type of dragon likes different ledges; some warmer, some cooler, brighter, darker, closer to water, further from water... Let each family decide where to make their home. And there is a lot less danger as long as everyone stays here."

They thought about it and saw some sense in it.

"Except fer the farmers. They will need ta be down in what will be tha fields over there. Do we have tha potatoes?" Gobber asked

"Yep, crates of them for eating and growing. Most common vegetable of all and toughest also, just like us!" Thorvald laughed.

"Yeah, those things can grow in anythin'. And the potatoes should have eh' good chance down here too!" Gobber chuckled.

Valka immediately caught on with a laugh.

"I lived in the ice nest for decades. We will be just fine down here. There is plenty of hunting also."

Thorvald chuckled a moment later. Then he frowned.

"And what about the dragons? They won't just leave us here will they?" Thorvald worried.

Valka shrugged as they watched the hidden skies. Dragons, both with riders and without, flew freely in the chamber in exploration.

"They might for a while. They are free now, definitely not our pets, and they can go wherever they want. This world is their home. But I have a feeling that the ones we know are not going anywhere for too long..." she explained with a chuckle.

"And the Furies?" Gobber wondered, also giving her a subtle and knowing look.

They all turned and looked off toward the far corner of the chamber. Toward that large door riddled with glowing spires of light and through which they had all flown in wonder and awe. Toward that more mysterious place where shadows lay and darted in the pale light. Toward where all the Furies had flown to search for their own new homes outside the village but still nearby where they could be gatekeepers of sorts.

"I think we will be seeing a lot of them. They are truly our family after all," Valka whispered.

Then they all flew down to the ground and joined all the others involved in the various duties of rebuilding, however that would work down in this world. Crates of supplies were gathered and unloaded, duties were assigned, and encouragement was given. Plans were made for various homes, fields, and pens for livestock. People began exploring and finding the various new plants in this world. Temporary tents were put up in the clearings. Hunting and fishing began.

None had any doubt that they would endure.

They had stubbornness issues.

* * *

All four of the adults lay on one of the taller spires as they stared ahead into a massive crevice that was not truly a cave. Their youngest ones stood with them while the older, more capable children flew nearby and explored their new range in a pack of three.

The crevice before the four adults formed a ledge that looked out onto a darker portion of the distant wall while also being lit faintly by a purple crystal on one corner. The other side of the ledge partly overlooked the deeper section of the cavern where more grass and plants grew in the brighter light.

"Shall we?" Shadowwing asked.

The other three adults purred, and all leapt to glide over to the large rocky ledge while Mist-Wings and Moon-Dancer followed. It was mostly flat on the inside, was not exposed to any wind, what little of that there was, was definitely large enough for dozens of Furies at any given moment, and had some crevices where they could be a bit more isolated.

The two fledglings bounded around the ledge to inspect the place closer.

"What do you think?" Shadowwing rumbled to both Luna and Green-Wings.

It was ultimately their decision where they would all stop and live together.

"We will need to bring sand for our egg-nests," Green-Wings hummed.

"And I can find the strong-life-hatchling-flowers for the future," Luna added.

Green-Wings's ears went up with an obvious question at that.

"They are light-making flowers can help make a hatchling strong if we eat the flowers before we make their egg," Luna explained.

Was-Grounded and Shadowwing spared each other an amused glance.

"So, when you see her eating light-making plants, you know you will warm her belly soon!" Was-Grounded laughed.

"Toothless! Did you have to say that?" Shadowwing exclaimed.

"That knowing might fly over your rock-head if I do not tell you!"

"That knowing... is not a problem for me!" Shadowwing protested while indignantly pointing a paw at him.

They all joined in the laughter until Luna gave a gasp.

"There is a problem!" she exclaimed.

"Great, we needed some of those!" Shadowwing chuckled.

"Long-tooth-grass does not grow here in these ranges. Dropping eggs will hurt more here... unless..." her voice died off as her tail slowly swayed.

"Unless what, Luna?" Green-Wings eagerly asked, knowing that this matter definitely involved her soon.

"There are other plants that make soft blue light and can help make hurts not hurt much," Luna explained to her.

Then both females turned as one and expectantly looked at their mates.

"We will get them for you both!" Shadowwing instantly spoke up.

"I promised that I would bring long-tooth-grass always... Bringing this new plant will keep the promise," Was-Grounded grumbled.

Then he laughed.

"Luna, have I ever told you how good your thinking is?" Was-Grounded asked.

"No, you have not," she teased.

He swept out a wing and gently swiped her on the head while Green-Wings and Shadowwing chuckled to themselves.

"Grr, that is my mate! Do you want me to pin yours?" Shadowwing teased.

Was-Grounded, toothless maw gaping wide, leapt at him with a soft roar. The battle began as they joyfully attacked and carefully swiped at each other while prancing around the large ledge.

"Males," both Luna and Green-Wings groaned in amusement while Moon-Dancer and Mist-Wings chortled and pounced at each other in play.

Then Shadowwing was gently knocked onto his side. But he growled and whimpered in pain when he fell. Was-Grounded immediately froze and bent down to him.

"Brother... what?"

Shadowwing hissed as he slowly recovered and got to his feet. Both Luna and Green-Wings were also over at his side as he rose.

"The sky-light hurt-marks... they hurt when I... fall on them or hit them..."

Was-Grounded winced as he again glanced at all the marks on his brother's neck, side, and back. The new one on his chest from where he was shot would leave a very impressive hurt-mark once it healed.

"Grr, licking those hurts will not help them be better or not be," Was-Grounded groaned and hung his head.

"I do not know if those will ever not hurt some," Shadowwing sighed.

Then he growled and cautiously got to his feet.

"But I will not be a hatchling about it."

Was-Grounded then slowly stepped over to him and gently butted heads with him.

"You are very strong, brother. I will remember your hurts always, and we must play with care now..."

"We will. And your back-hurt?" Shadowwing asked.

"It does not hurt much. It was licked much, and Kin-liver helped it and your chest-hurt with helping-plants."

Several sets of wings approached as Dawn-Singer, Aurora, and Rain-Eater bounded down and landed on the ledge.

"Is this the almost-cave-den?" Aurora asked.

"Yes, Aurora. This is our shared den-ledge. We will live more as one nest now," Was-Grounded answered.

Then Aurora and Rain-Eager started dashing around the massive ledge to inspect the whole place. Dawn-Singer only walked up to the adults and gave a peaceful but solemn hum.

"What is twisting you, my first?" Green-Wings wondered.

"I was thinking about my name while flying these cave-skies. I will never be able to sing to the dawn now because there are no dawns here. My name is still me because I will remember watching the sun hatch, but it feels sad and happy, cold and warm in one memory-flight," Dawn-Singer sighed.

Shadowwing padded over to his grown nephew and nudged his shoulder before putting a wing over him.

"I know that feeling much also. But you will learn that losing some of what was is not only bad. You change into a new kin who grew stronger unless you lose too much. I learned that life-lesson. You have us always and all the ground-kin who came with us."

Dawn-Singer warmly hummed at that and then dashed over to join his parents and siblings, all of whom were gathering together into one of their bigger sleeping-piles.

Shadowwing stood there on the ledge and stared out at the familiar strangeness of their new home. The spires and supporting columns, the faint chill in the air and in the rock he stood on, the darkness broken by the glimmers of glowing shards of crystal, the faint flash of fire from a far and dark ledge, the rippling waters far below, the large mushrooms, the...

 _Wait, what? Fire? I know I saw something over there..._

He jumped from the ledge and soared over toward that place where he saw the strange flash until he finally arrived and touched down on a large ledge. Nothing was there except for a strange but faintly familiar scent. But that was impossible.

 _Maybe I am just seeing things. I don't think Luna was ever over here, so why would it smell like a..._

Gasp.

He closed his eyes and looked around. There it was. A lone bright light was shining up above him and circling in the sky. It was a light he could not see with his eyes. He jumped and flew for the hiding Light Fury, uncertain whether this was dangerous considering how unpleasant the last such encounter was.

 _Let me try the friendly approach. I don't think this is the same Light Fury._

"Do not hide!" he shouted.

The unseen dragon circled up above for several moments as he followed and glided under it, content to let it make the first move. Then it dove for another ledge and landed. He touched down a respectful length from where it had to be and then made a point of sitting down and tucking his wings away. A strange shimmering was all he saw in the pale light before him.

"Do not fear. You can let me see you. I am your kin."

A moment passed during which he could hear the other dragon's breaths but could see nothing of it. Then the shimmering slowly vanished as a grey and white shape appeared in its place.

She was not as bright white as Luna, had very faint streaks of a yellow shine in her wings, and was also slightly smaller. Her eyes were a deep blue mixed with silver, and her body had no scars at all. She also looked far more wary from how she kept shifting on her feet and her tail had a twitch. She was perched on the ledge with her wings still fanned, ready to fly off at any warning.

"You followed us here?" he kindly asked.

"Yes, I heard about you," she softly answered.

"Do you have a name?"

"I am Flies-Alone."

He blinked at that.

 _I'm not sure that I want to know why..._

"I am Shadowwing," he answered.

"You are one of the dark wing Alphas... of these ranges," she warily continued.

"Yes, me and my only nestmate are the Alphas. Why did you fly here Flies-Alone?" he asked.

She shuffled nervously again.

"I have never seen your kind before, and it is very twisting to see those two-leg things flying on the kin deeper in this range."

"You have not seen kin-bond ground-kin before?"

"No, I have never flown from these ranges. The hidden world above is filled with danger," she said.

 _What? Oh yeah, you would think of the above as the hidden world. It is to you._

"There are other kin like you, other dark wings, yes? I heard that there were..." she continued.

"You want to meet my nest-kin?" he eagerly asked.

"Yes, if there are no two-legs there..."

"It is only us. I will fly you to my kin. Follow my flight."

He jumped from the ledge and flew back to their new sheltered ledge with Flies-Alone gliding behind him. He bounded up to Luna's side as soon as he landed, just to make it very clear that he was taken.

A moment of silence passed as all who noticed on the ledge got to their feet, gasped in amazement, and watched as the new Light Fury dove and landed among them. Then Flies-Alone and Luna stared at each other.

"Who is this?" Luna hummed in surprise.

"She is Flies-Alone. She flew here because she wanted to meet our nest and kin," he answered.

"I heard that a light wing was with the dark wings," Flies-Alone warily said.

Then she cautiously stepped closer and looked again at Luna, Shadowwing, and Moon-Dancer.

"You are mates. What is your name, light wing?"

"I am Luna. Shadowwing is my life-mate," she proudly answered while nuzzling Shadowwing's neck.

"Luna? What does that mean?" Flies-Alone wondered.

"It means Like-The-Great-Night-Sky-Rock," Luna explained.

Flies-Alone hummed in surprise.

"You have seen the great sky rock? Yes, you would have if you flew in the filled with danger world above. And you two dark wings?" she turned to the other pair.

"I am Was-Grounded, and my life-mate is Green-Wings," Was-Grounded answered.

Flies-Alone stared in wonder between Was-Grounded and Shadowwing.

"You are the two Alphas and are living as one nest with no fighting? Do you not want to be the one Alpha?"

Both males laughed after glancing at each other.

"We fight the other for fun and liver-warmth..." Was-Grounded began.

"And take the other's fish..."

"And foul the other's flights..."

"And hit the other with our tails..."

"And pretend to want the other's mate..."

"Because we fly the winds of life within each other's call..." Shadowwing ended with a chuckle.

Flies-Alone blinked in apparent confusion and amusement at this.

"We hatched from one egg together. We trust the other in all of life," Was-Grounded hummed warmly.

Then Dawn-Singer, Aurora, Rain-Eater, and Mist-Wings came forward from behind their parents. Aurora, Rain-Eater, and Mist-Wings bounded forward and danced around Flies-Alone with cries of welcome and play.

Dawn-Singer froze. His wings fell to the ground and his jaw hung open as he stared at her.

Flies-Alone noticed him and stared back at him as her ears went up.

Silence fell over the ledge, and no one moved.

"Who are you... dark wing?" she asked.

"I... am... Dawn-Singer..." he fumbled.

"I am Flies-Alone. Where is your mate, Dawn-Singer?"

He was unable to look away from her and subtly stood a little taller.

"I do not have one."

Flies-Alone did not react for several moments until she finally spoke.

"Neither do I."

Then she turned and faced all gathered before her.

"This is a very warm mixed-nest, you two pairs of life-mates and your little ones. There are two-leg... ground-kin in this big range also? You dark wings and light wing know the... ground-kin?"

"Yes, we do. Their warmth and chills, good and bad," Shadowwing hummed.

"I do not know them except that I should flee from them on sight. These are the first I have seen of them. I have never flown in the above."

Flies-Alone then turned and pranced over to the ledge where she perched with her wings fanned and tail swaying.

"I will fly in this range for now. If any of you want to fly with me and... show me these ground-kin things... and talk much... I would be warmed by that."

Then she jumped off the ledge and began to glide away.

All eyes on the ledge immediately went to Dawn-Singer.

"Go fly!" Green-Wings grinned a very toothy grin.

Dawn-Singer glanced at his father and mother, found his courage, and then bounded forward off the ledge.

The other adults crowded together on the ledge and watched as Flies-Alone and Dawn-Singer gradually soared through the spires deeper into the cavern toward where the rest of Haven was settling down.

Then Was-Grounded and Green-Wings purred very loudly.

"They will be mates before the end of the... sun-cycle," Was-Grounded declared.

"Is that not very fast to be... mates?" Shadowwing wondered.

"Why? Neither of them have a mate now. They are both life-making mature, and they both smelled of much wanting," Was-Grounded answered.

"Yes, but they do not know the other's... life-fires or livers yet."

"She seems good in her thinking, and we know that he has a strong life-fire. I do not think he will want her if she has ground-kin hate in her liver," Green-Wings hummed.

Shadowwing sighed and closed his eyes.

 _Practical dragons... Though not being dramatic about relationships is probably good overall. Something tells me that Dawn-Singer might want to make sure of her first though._

"Luna, what do you think?" he asked.

"I think Flies-Alone will not fly alone in life now. Hmm, there is something different about her also," Luna purred.

"True, she was not like the other Light Fury. I do not think she has hate for ground-kin because she has always been in this hidden world. She does not know what to think of them yet," Shadowwing mused.

Then all glanced toward the rear of the ledge.

"Sleeping-pile!" Aurora voiced what they all were thinking.

"But you males have a flight to fly first. Blue flowers, remember?" Luna interjected.

"Yes, you do not want your mates to hurt much from dropping their eggs, would you?" Green-Wings added.

Shadowwing and Was-Grounded sighed to themselves and spared a glance at each other.

"And the sooner that you bring us those flowers, the sooner you can hold our tails and see your eggs," Luna grinned.

The ledge had two fewer Night Furies an instant later.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note – Surprise, a new person!  
**_


	84. III - Hidden Hope

_**Author's Note – This is the last chapter of volume III before the two part epilogue. There are a few loose ends to bring up as well as more world building. Take note of a discussion that hearkens all the way back to that which set this entire adventure in motion in chapter one.**_

* * *

" _Peace and rest at length have come... All the day's long toil is past... And each heart is whispering... 'Home, home at last.'" - Thomas Hood – Home at Last_

* * *

Hidden Hope

* * *

Dawn-Singer could not look away from her. Flies-Alone was so... graceful, thin and fast. She had strong wings, a long tail, big tailfins, and good words.

 _What am I thinking... why would she want me? She does not even know me._

Regardless, he followed after her through the hidden skies. Around glowing spires of light and along high ridges. Not in a true sky-dance, such as he had seen his own sire-father and dam-mother fly but instead simply a gentle flying after her as she led their flight. He was very warmed to fly after her.

But to fly faster, dash through the sky, spin with her, and catch her long tail felt so warming of a flight and maybe they could...

 _What am I thinking... grr... I do not know what I am doing._

He warbled softly to himself.

 _Great sire told me about the ceremonies of catching prey, giving her the prey, talking to her, learning about her, showing her my liver, and how to fly the sky-dance after she wants me, but..._

He shook his head and closed his eyes.

 _There is something twisted with me. She has no mate, and I should go catch her, but what if she is not warm to ground-kin? Luna did not want to live near them at first._

Flies-Alone eventually dove toward a ledge high above where the ground-kin were making their new nest. He let her land first so that he could watch how smoothly she landed, pranced to a stop, folded her wings that faintly sparkled with streaks of yellow, fluttered her fins, and stood there waiting for him. So beautiful and liver-warming and...

 _What am I thinking..._

He landed without fouling his own landing or falling over his feet, and then he confidently strode up to her. Or at least that is what he hoped it looked like.

She looked out over the massive ledge down toward the ground-kin. Then she warbled softly and looked back at him.

"Dawn-Singer, what does your name mean?"

He blinked in surprise, confusion, and wonder at how her voice was so soft, smooth, warming, and...

"It... means that I sing to the dawn, or I did much when I was a hatchling."

"What is dawn?" she insisted.

He groaned and almost face-pawed after a moment of confusion.

 _You would not know without having lived in the above..._

"The dawn is the hatching of a new sun-cycle. It is when the dark in the skies is gone and light from the great sky-sun-rock starts to fly again."

She purred softly in thought.

"Your name is sings to the new?" she wondered.

"In a way of flying, yes."

"That is a good and warming name," she softly sighed while glancing away and out over the ledge.

"What about you? How did you get your name?" he asked.

A brief pause followed before she answered.

"I gave myself that name after I... lost my sire and dam. I lost them when I was still a fledgling."

Dawn-Singer blinked and felt a faint cold in his liver. It seemed that she had not had a warm past life-flight.

"But you lived and became strong," he said as he stepped closer to her.

"Yes, I found another range that had some light wings in it. I flew in that range after I found it," she strangely groaned softly.

"You found others of your kin. That is good. There are very few dark wings, Night Furies as we call our kind, in the above."

Flies-Alone hummed warily at that.

"I did not know that dark wing Night Furies lived at all before the far-range-watcher of the biggest pack flew and told all in that pack and the pack I lived near. I thought that your kind were only maybe-false stories the old tell the young. Do not fly too close to the hot-rocks or the great-sky-rock, or you will burn your scales and hide into a dark wing!" she huffed with amusement.

Dawn-Singer chuckled openly at that.

"No, we are hatched from the egg this color. Hmm, our females get their color after season-cycles, but males do not. I think that we stay dark only."

Her ears lifted slightly at something he said.

"Did you ever see another dark wing female?" she warily asked.

That she seemed nervous and maybe-twisted at flying that question seemed... like it must mean something. But what?

"None that were not my own nest-kin."

He could not miss her warm purr that followed or the warmth in his own liver at her purring. But there was something else that was twisting about her life-story.

"You were with the other light wings before now, but you said that you have no mate. Why not?"

She growled softly, though that growl was definitely not at him.

"Almost all the light wings in that range and in many packs are very thought-twisted. They live only for the pack and have ceremonies that are not warming to me. I did not live in the pack."

"What ceremonies?"

"Most do not take names."

"What! No names?" Dawn-Singer barked in confusion.

"They live only for the pack and their places in the pack. Their names are what they do in the pack. The strongest males claim the females who want them for a life-making time, and all the young are raised by the pack. There are no life-mate pairs who only have the other for a mate. Some light wings do take life-mates, but those pairs are pushed out of the pack."

Dawn-Singer remembered to close his mouth after hearing her explanation of why she had not taken a mate in the pack. Those ceremonies seemed very twisted and had no lift that he could feel or see.

"And you never..." he warily began.

"I would not take a male who did not want to fly the winds of life with me, even if the male is the biggest and strongest. I saw how good and warming true life-mates are..." her voice drifted off.

Then she turned and stared at him without saying anything. Her deep blue and silver eyes, which seemed to have some cold or distance in them in that moment, delved into his in open consideration. She was waiting for his answer to an unspoken question.

"I do not know why that pack has those ceremonies. That is not how my sire and dam or Shadowwing and Luna live. Or how I would live," he truthfully admitted.

She purred softly at those words. Was that in relief?

"My sire and dam were life-mates and had a warmth in their livers and eyes that I do not see in those of the pack. Shadowwing is a true dark wing, and Luna is a true light wing, yes?" she asked.

"Yes, they are."

"A light wing and a dark wing can be good mates then. They have a mixed-kin fledgling together."

"Yes, they can..."

He looked up into her eyes that were narrowed on him. He realized what they had both just said applied to another pair also.

Then she turned away from him and calmly walked toward the ledge. If her tail happened to sway to the side and brush against his forelegs as she passed, it had to be an accident.

Or maybe not. Actually, it was definitely planned. He liked to think that.

"You know the ground-kin creatures, Dawn-Singer?"

He blinked and recovered himself.

"Yes... I do. I have known them from a few moon-cycles out of my egg."

She stuck her beautiful, curved, unscarred... head out over the ledge and looked down on the range where the ground-kin were making their new mixed-nest. Her ears went back slightly as she stared down.

"The pack has many stories of two-leg-Monsters in the above. All that I remember of them is what my sire and dam told me long ago. Two-legs are much filled with danger. I should flee on sight," she warily purred.

He snorted at that.

"Two-legs are twisting life and very dangerous, yes. Ground-kin, what we call our two-legs, can be twisting also, but they have warm livers and they do learn. They lost their old nests because they did not turn their... tails... on their bond-kin."

"Bond-kin, what are those?"

He lay his head down on the rocky ground next to her.

 _This could be a long talk. Is there any way that... wait... I have an idea!_

He hopped to his feet and began looking for someone far down below. Then he saw who he was looking for.

"Flies-Alone, I want to show you one of the ground-kin two-legs."

She immediately stepped back from the ledge and gave a wary hum.

"Why?"

"Because she is a kin in her liver. She has lived her life-flight to help all kin. The ground-kin," he nodded out over the ledge, "will always be in my life-flight. They do not make us life-thralls or claim our backs. I hold some of the ground-kin close to my liver. I know that you do not trust them much now, but will you fly this flight with me?"

A pause.

"And another flight after... if you want that," he nervously added.

She slowly turned around and sat down while staring at him. Her blue and silver eyes had an unknown look in them.

"What other flight, Dawn-Singer?"

 _Grr... you have to ask... great sky-breath... I do not know how..._

 _'Go fly.'_

Something changed in his liver. He had to do this now. No more flying around the cloud. A scale of fledgling life, a softness or smallness of life-fire, faded and was replaced with... clear seeing and a burning fire.

He sat down on his rear and calmly returned her level gaze.

"Flies-Alone, I would have you meet the ground-kin, this one only for now, because I want us both to know if you can trust them. If you can have a small place in your life-flight for them, and if my holding them to my liver is not much twisting to you... then..."

A deep breath.

"I would fly after you, catch you, and take you in this hidden sky as my life-mate."

A long moment of silence passed in which neither looked away. Her tail stopped swaying as she stared at him.

"As my life-mate? You know so little about me," she warbled.

"I know enough. You have good thinking that is much like mine on what is important in life. You have no mate, I have no mate, and I am very warmed in my liver to see you. You want a nest and hatchlings as I do. Smaller life-things we can learn with much living as one."

He stepped back to the ledge and slowly fanned his wings before looking back at her.

"Will you fly this flight with me?" he asked.

A moment passed in which she did not move. She was poised, perched on a clear choice he had given her. All the power was hers to decide what to do.

Then she stepped over to the ledge and fanned her wings. She gave him a warm glance.

"You must be the flight-leader for this," she hummed.

He purred at her answer.

"But I will lead the flying after," she added with a wry laugh.

"Yes, you will."

They jumped off the ledge and drifted down together. Dawn-Singer let himself glide down a bit slower though so that he could see more of his life-mate-to-be as she flew.

 _She will not be any chilled by the ground-kin after she meets Kin-liver. And she is not filled with much fear and chill at the idea. It is only new to her, and she will see that the old stories she heard are not true._

Try as he might, it was very hard to not stare at her grey-white wings and scales with some yellow streaks, her long tail, wide wings, fluttering fins, and her blue and silver eyes as she repeatedly glanced at him.

 _You will need a new name soon..._

* * *

Valka walked back into the camp while carrying a bucket of likely-edible fruits and berries. There were also a number of native roots and shoots that could be a good source of food and were abundant.

She spied Cloudjumper happily wheeling up in the sky.

 _I wonder if you can go find some other Stormcutters. You are a rare kind also, my old friend._

Then she deposited the gathered food with those assigned to prepare the group meals. They already had a small kitchen tent set up.

The plans for their new home were coming together, slowly but surely. Thorvald, Gobber, and Shadowwing shared ideas for what the village could look like. How to build was more of a problem though. They had all the tools they needed, but what raw materials they could use was still a bit uncertain. She left the gathering and turned for another trip out to search for more produce.

 _The glowing flowers must do something. Luna can probably tell us if she knows anything._

Her musing was interrupted by the sight of a Night Fury and a Light Fury flying toward her. The Night Fury flew over her and roared softly to get her attention. It was Dawn-Singer.

 _Wait... what?_

It only got a bit stranger though when Dawn-Singer landed and bounded up to her. The Light Fury also touched down behind Dawn-Singer, but she kept her distance.

Valka stared in awe at the female. She was slightly smaller than Luna, and she had a faintly yellow shine down her wings and side. Her deep blue eyes had flecks of silver in them.

It made perfect sense in that moment what was happening and why he had brought her here.

"Dawn-Singer, who is this?" she grinned.

He bent down to the dirt and purred softly.

 **Flies-Alone**

At that, the female, Flies-Alone, warbled in confusion and narrowed her eyes on the writing. She and Dawn-Singer then spoke for a while, only for her to look back up in amazement afterwards.

 _You have never seen humans before. Oh my..._

Dawn-Singer stepped over to Valka's side, nuzzled her cheek, and then stepped back and purred at Flies-Alone. Valka remained motionless while looking back at the new Light Fury.

Flies-Alone and Dawn-Singer shared more words before she slowly stepped forward, the Light Fury's eyes never looking away from her. Slowly, gradually coming closer until they stood only a couple paces apart.

Dawn-Singer warbled happily and grasped her hand in a paw, which he then lifted up toward Flies-Alone. Valka let him guide the meeting and held out her hand, not wanting to mess this up in any way.

Flies-Alone's ears were up as she stared ahead. Everything about her appearance, from the way she was carrying herself, her soft hum, and her slowly swaying tail, was alert and wary but not fearful or hostile. Her eyes gradually widened in growing curiosity.

"Hello Flies-Alone, you are very beautiful."

Dawn-Singer translated, much to Flies-Alone's surprise. The two shared some more words and a pointed nod by Dawn-Singer.

Then Flies-Alone made up her mind, stepped forward, and nuzzled the hand while purring softly. Valka gave her own involuntary purr of awe at the contact. Then Flies-Alone turned aside and openly looked toward all the other humans working at various tasks.

 _Look at you... prudently wary of something new but also willing to trust and give us a chance. Girl, you are amazing._

Then Valka laughed outright when Dawn-Singer eagerly stepped over and licked Flies-Alone on the face.

 _I don't even have to ask why you did that... you sly Fury..._

Flies-Alone then barked at Dawn-Singer and started on foot toward the meager village.

"Dawn-Singer..." Valka whispered.

He turned to look at her.

"Happy... flying..." she grinned.

He grinned back and then bounded after Flies-Alone.

* * *

It was hard to measure the passage of time without the sun. Time passed more in cycles of necessary aspects of life such as needing to rest, eat, drink, or relieve oneself.

Perhaps a few days had passed since the refugees had arrived and settled down to begin rebuilding. Both Shadowwing and Was-Grounded found themselves very occupied on a pair of necessary tasks. Their searching before had thankfully yielded the blue glowing flowers that Luna said help to dull pain. A couple mouthfuls of the flowers had been brought back, and the ledge then had two perfect eggs nestled in the hastily-made sandpits shortly thereafter.

This was their turn to sit with both eggs while their mates were off swimming, bathing, and hunting with the youngest children. This was, despite not having any true dangers in the massive cavern, still an unknown world and no one was going to let fledglings out of sight. Aurora was down helping out with construction and fishing.

"I do not get to do this as much as I would like," Shadowwing hummed as he adjusted his tailfins over the perfectly white egg.

"The dam-mother wants to do most sitting on her own, true. It speaks much trust in us that they would let us sit the eggs now," Was-Grounded hummed from a short distance away while cradling a black and speckled egg between his forearms.

"Does the egg color say anything about the hatchling inside?" Shadowwing asked.

"I do not know. Why?"

"Moon-Dancer is dark like me, and his egg was mostly dark. This one is all white. I wonder if the hatchling will be white like Luna."

"You would be very warmed in your liver to see that," Was-Grounded hummed.

"Yes, that would be warming, but I only want the hatchling to be well," Shadowwing answered.

They remained on the ledge with their eggs until Luna and Green-Wings flew up to the ledge together with Rain-Eater, Mist-Wings, and Moon-Dancer. Both females took their places of privilege with the eggs while the children started chatting together only to eventually settle down to rest.

None of them were quite sure how much time then passed in warm comfort together when Dawn-Singer and Flies-Alone flew back to the ledge wingtip to wingtip and touched down together. They had been left alone ever since flying away from the ledge together, and no one had bothered searching for them in that time.

Both Shadowwing and Was-Grounded purred to themselves with warmth in their hearts when Dawn-Singer put a wing over Flies-Alone's back, and the two approached by walking together.

"Dawn-Singer, do you want to tell us something?" Was-Grounded asked with a chuckle.

There was no reluctance, shame, or hesitation in Dawn-Singer's eyes.

"We are mates now."

"Life-mates, I think," Flies-Alone added.

Was-Grounded and Green-Wings shared a glance, stepped forward, and welcomed Flies-Alone into the family with the ceremonial face-licking. Then they all sat down together, Green-Wings after returning to her egg.

"Where will you nest, mate of my little one?" Green-Wings asked Flies-Alone.

"Dam-mother... I am not a little one..." Dawn-Singer groaned.

All had a warm chuckle at his expense.

"There are many caves and dens in these rocks. We will claim one near here in this good range. I have no better place to go now," Flies-Alone answered.

"You have no kin in your home-range?" Was-Grounded asked.

"None. A far-flier from another, big pack flew to the other packs to warn them about this range and the two-legs in it. That is how I heard about dark wings here also."

"You were both away for a few sleeping-cycles," Green-Wings purred.

"We talked much, I showed her Kin-liver, and then I showed her the other ground-kin nest. My life-mate was surprised by seeing the picture-words and learning that we can give words with the ground-kin," Dawn-Singer rumbled.

"The kin-bond ground-kin are very different from what I thought they would be. There is no chill in their livers," Flies-Alone granted.

Then Shadowwing laughed softly.

"That is why we call them ground-kin and not two-legs. What did you do after you saw the new mixed-nest they are making?" Shadowwing grinned.

Flies-Alone and Dawn-Singer spared a glance.

"We flew in more of this new range on our own. We talked much more about our life-flights," Dawn-Singer answered.

"The stories of the above are... very twisting and different. I almost want to see that hidden world in the above, if it is not much dangerous..." Flies-Alone sighed.

"And?" Was-Grounded prodded.

"And we flew together," Dawn-Singer purred while rubbing against Flies-Alone's neck.

"I think that your name does not fly with your life-flight now, Flies-Alone," Shadowwing teased.

"No, it does not. I will need to think about a new name, again..." she groaned.

"Again?"

She sighed, and Dawn-Singer gently nudged her side.

"I shed my old fledgling name long ago. My sire and dam had to flee the den far from here because of a Monster kin. All of the nest were flying to a new, deeper range with other light wings when I got lost. I hid somewhere that the Monster could not get to me. I do not know if my other nest-kin died or lived, but I never saw them again. That is when I took my name and shed my old, twisted name."

"You had a twisted name? So did I. I was... Little-Cougher," Shadowwing freely said.

All had another kind chuckle at his words.

"That is more twisted than mine was. I was Ear-Biter," Flies-Alone answered.

More chuckling went around the group until Luna audibly gasped and stiffened. Her ears went back and her eyes narrowed on Flies-Alone.

"Luna? What?" Shadowwing asked.

She did not seem to hear his words.

"Did you... have one older female nestmate who flew the nest into the above ranges?" Luna warily asked.

"I did," Flies-Alone stared back as well in surprise.

Shadowwing gasped as he remembered what Luna had told him before.

 _It cannot be! Is she..._

"Her name... was it Sky-Rock-Watcher... or almost that? Was your sire Hope-In-His-Liver?" Luna whispered.

Flies-Alone's jaw fell open. She crept out from under Dawn-Singer's wing and warily stalked closer to Luna than she had come before. Luna left Moon-Dancer and the egg and slowly stepped forward. They came close enough to clearly scent the other, and then they both noticed it under all the other scents of nest-kin and their respective mates. Something was faintly similar and familiar.

Roaring, shouting, purring, and nuzzling followed as they threw themselves at each other for the first time in a very long time. Chins rested on shoulders as they whispered words to each other. Flies-Alone nibbled on one of Luna's ears, and they both laughed softly.

Shadowwing stepped over to his egg and sat down with it, fully content to stay with it as long as was needed. He grinned when his son bounded over to his side.

"What is dam-mother doing? Why is she so happy and playing now?" Moon-Dancer asked.

"She is greeting her lost nestmate sister whom she has not seen in many season-cycles," Shadowwing softly purred to his son.

* * *

Shadowwing, Moon-Dancer snug on his back, reclined at Luna's side as she nestled the egg between her arms and calmly dozed. Flies-Alone lay between Dawn-Singer on her left and Luna on her right. The younger children lay piled about Was-Grounded a short distance away while Green-Wings lay with her egg.

 _So the sleeping pile will be up to ten now, at least until those two take their own cave. But by then we might have two more hatchlings to keep it at ten._

 _Wow Luna, I am so happy for you. You found your sister after who knows how many years. She is truly part of the family now. Now I just need to go find your parents and convince them to come here also._

Then he chuckled wryly to himself.

 _Ha, Luna you were wrong! She did get a Night Fury as her mate after all! Good thing you were so eager, Dawn-Singer. We might not have learned this for a long time. Though you were looking at having to maybe wait another four or five years unless a different available and reasonable female Light Fury just happened to show up._

He looked around and listened to the piles of purring Furies. His family was at peace now.

Then he remembered that the work was definitely not over yet. There was at least one more important and ongoing task that had to be done. He coiled his tail tighter around Luna's tail and nuzzled her head as she slept in perfect peace and warmth.

All his thoughts in that moment were turned to the little life cradled between her arms.

* * *

Even though they both knew what to expect in this exploration, it was still so terribly painful to see them. Most of the sets were clearly those of adults, but there were some that had been younger with maybe only a couple years from the egg.

Valka had stopped shedding tears after the third den. Numbness had likely set in after then.

"Only two of them in this cave," she whispered while leaning against Shadowwing's side.

He looked around the cave as well, his solemn croon the only audible sound.

 _I don't even know what to think by now..._

It was so chilling to see the bones, the skulls, the wings, and the tails and to know that he was looking at himself in a way, even if only because of what would be after a peaceful death of old age.

Then they got to their solemn work, respectfully collecting all the bones and carefully loading them into several bags. Was-Grounded arrived and helped to carry the bags to the agreed cave high up at the top of the twilight chamber. The bones were all then carefully and gently laid in the rear of the cave. It was large enough to hold all the bones that they and the other dragon riders had found or were likely to find. The bones that were found together, those of mates or families, were kept together.

Then, after what had to have been several days of working on and off, they were certain that all the skeletons were accounted for.

Shadowwing and Was-Grounded stood at the mouth of the cave and stared within toward the piles of white. Neither quite knew what to say.

"Are there any kin death-resting ceremonies?" Shadowwing whispered.

"None that I know of. My sire and dam never had a chance to tell me," Was-Grounded answered.

"Then we make a new one now," Shadowwing sighed.

He looked back to the piles of bones.

"We do not know who you were. You did not deserve to die. We will fill this range where you lived with new life much like you. We will never let that dying happen again," Shadowwing purred.

"I do not know if you fly in the sky-breath now. But if you do, do not think bad of us if we take your old dens. This is a very good range for us to live in peace," Was-Grounded whispered.

Then they bowed their heads and wings in a long moment of respect for those they never knew. Finally, they both turned away and dove down for the bottom cave they had picked for a very different purpose. There were other piles of bones as well, and those had needed to be removed also.

Valka had asked many questions, to which Shadowwing had always replied by telling her 'not now.' Skald had been present to take down drawings and basic details on their appearance before the skeletons were taken apart and removed. He was given no other details than that it was some unknown type of dragon.

They both slunk inside the narrow entrance and stared at what was within.

"Are these all the Monster bones?" Was-Grounded snarled.

"Yes, all of them," Shadowwing growled.

"Good, now for the ceremony..." Was-Grounded grinned.

He walked over to the bones and relieved himself on them. Shadowwing did the same without hesitation after Was-Grounded stepped aside.

Then they left the cave, turned back for the entrance, and fired two shots at the small rocky outcropping over the cave's mouth. The rock collapsed, sealing the cave's entrance behind a pile of rubble.

They both snorted defiantly and turned their tails on the place, never to turn their thoughts to it again.

* * *

"I will fly with you for this," Was-Grounded answered.

"Are you sure? There is not much to see," Shadowwing replied.

"I have seen this ceremony once before when life was colder for you. I should see it for you now in this much warmer flight. Mist-Wings will stay here with Green-Wings."

Shadowwing nodded and hummed. He walked over to Luna and nosed at the perfect egg between her arms. The egg that even now would occasionally shift and rock at their voices.

"My mate, you have much time. Go fly and do what you must do," she chuckled.

"You are sure? I am not missing this hatching!" he firmly declared.

"It will be some... cycles before the hatchling breaks the shell. I would know. Go, you rock-head."

Finally reassured, he walked over to the ledge where his brother was waiting for him along with Aurora, Rain-Eater, and Moon-Dancer. Dawn-Singer and Flies-Alone were nowhere to be found at the moment, which was not very surprising for new life-mates. No one volunteered to go look for them, and they likely did not want to be found.

"A Night Fury as a nest-Alpha for ground-kin! This is a twistedness I want to see!" Aurora chuckled.

"We want to see the Alpha-making ceremony also!" Moon-Dancer spoke up.

"It is not every... cycle... that our second sire-father becomes a new Alpha, again," Rain-Eater teased.

"Then we should fly!" Shadowwing answered them all.

The five of them flew from the ledge and gradually passed through the glowing spires into the brighter part of the chamber. The mass of humans came into view outside the place they had designated for meetings. It would still be a long time before any permanent structures large enough to accommodate any ceremonies or numbers of people could go up. Or for that matter, any buildings that could be houses. None were needed for this though.

They each touched down well outside of the assembled audience and then slowly strolled toward them. Everyone parted around him to give him a clear path to the head of the crowd. Chief Thorvald, Valka, and Gobber stood at the center of attention, a patch of dirt nearby and some fresh ashes in the fire pit. Valka had taken on the role of the Elder who would be responsible for this ceremony. Several other Haven dragons stood at the outskirts of the gathering, clearly aware that something was happening.

Everyone was ready and wanted to waste no time away from all the other duties of plowing, foraging, hunting, fishing, and building.

Thorvald stepped up on top of a rock and stood out above everyone.

"Dragon riders! We are here in a new world! I have decided that we need a new Chief!"

The audience seemed split into half who were confused and half who did not know what was going on.

"I spoke to him, and he agreed. He will be much better to have lead us now. I renounce being Chief in favor of Shadowwing!"

A moment of silence passed as all astonished eyes went to said dragon.

"A dragon as Chief!" "Thor almighty!" "Why not?" "I'm gonna need an ale!"

Shadowwing huffed in amusement and stepped forward toward the dirt.

 **Will you have me lead you and protect you?**

Gobber turned to the gathered crowd and raised his voice.

"Will ya let Shadowwing, a Night Fury, lead ya as yer Chief in this hidd'n werld?"

"Yes!" "Yeah!" "Sure!" "He's King!"

"Any objections er' challengers?" Gobber roared.

Crickets.

Then Shadowwing purred softly and bent back down to the dirt.

 **Thorvald, I would have you lead**

 **With most of the human matters**

 **You are doing a good job already**

 **Gobber is your first adviser**

 **Dragonheart is the Elder**

Thorvald also nodded in acknowledgment, these details having already been discussed and agreed to beforehand. These details were then shared with the whole crowd, none of whom disagreed.

"It is done then!" Valka shouted and bent down to the ash.

Shadowwing stepped forward to her and deliberately sat down before her while lowering his head. She came closer to him and pointedly paused with a wry grin on her face, a grin which he slightly mirrored.

She traced out the symbol on his forehead and then stepped back with a respectful bow and flourish.

Shadowwing lifted his head, briefly nodded to Valka, Gobber, and Thorvald, and then shared a glance with his brother and the other Furies who were present. Was-Grounded had a silly grin and rolled his eyes in amusement. The children were happily purring in approval as well and their tails started swaying eagerly.

"The Chief has come home!" Gobber roared.

Everyone started clapping and cheering wildly. Younger riders high-fived each other while older ones and adults laughed while cheering or shook their heads in amusement.

"Long live the Chief!"

Shadowwing took a deep breath as he stood tall and looked around at everyone in the tribe. There were so many familiar faces from years ago and among the refugees from the other tribes. They had all left behind everything; homes, traditions, and their old identity, for this world and for the new. They all trusted in dragons. They trusted in him.

"Long live the Chief!"

 _'One day when you are all grown up... that job will be passed down to you...'_

"Long live the Chief!"

He looked up toward the massive cavern's distant roof and imagined the open sky far, far above.

 _Dad... Astrid... I will make you proud._

"Long live the Chief!"

Another glance followed at Gobber, Valka, Thorvald, and all in the assembled audience. He gave them all a calm, confident nod that turned into a faint grin.

The four other Furies lifted their heads as one and roared together in celebration. Shadowwing could not restrain himself in the moment and joined in with them.

The irony of how everything had worked out struck him. His brother ended up a dragon King in the hidden world, and he himself ended up the Chief of his old tribe. Of course, he was also a dragon King and the plan was to delegate a lot of daily Chief duties to Thorvald, but those were only minor details.

* * *

Skald stood before a massive mushroom-tree. Sure, he had an axe with him, but it was a very big mushroom-tree-thing. It grew even taller than most houses and perches in Haven had been.

"I need plus twenty strength to take this down. And possibly a stamina potion or two."

Then he rapped on the stalk with his knuckles. The bark of the stalk looked quite firm. If that was any indication of the wood or tissue within...

"Yep, I bet these are strong enough to build with. Hey Lug, are you..."

He glanced over at the Gronkle and groaned when he saw that she was asleep.

"Yep, you are. Should have known. Rain-Eater, what do you think?"

The Fury standing at his side pointedly looked around at the massive forest, gave a warm purr, and waved a paw at it all before bending down to write.

 **There are many trees**

 **We can use them**

"Yeah, I still don't know how we are going to build it. You remember those plans that Shadowwing and Dragonheart made?"

Rain-Eater nodded, and both of them stared out off the ledge toward where the village structures were being planned. It was very ambitious indeed and would involve a lot of stonework, clay, wood, and time.

But they had all the time in the world now.

* * *

Aurora hauled herself out of the deep water, shook her wings and fins, and savored the fresh fish securely tucked away in her belly. It was very deep water and fun to explore in. Night Furies were excellent swimmers and could stay underwater for a long time. This water seemed to gently flow somewhere, which was a good thing because water that sits still in one place gets rot in it and smells foul.

She took to the sky and drifted over the new mixed-nest that was being made. There was not much made yet.

 _Between my hatching-cave and the tree-den in the Haven-range, I do not know which one was better._

Then she spotted some motion up on a far ledge high above. There were a couple shapes up there, one white and one black, and were both looking down on the range.

 _New mates... is there anything more liver-twisting than how... eager they are... to... grr..._

With a groan, she turned up for that ledge and glided down to them once she confirmed that they were both... unoccupied.

Though, Dawn-Singer was resting his chin on Flies-Alone's neck, and their tails were swaying together.

 _Ugh..._

She touched down next to them and pranced over to them.

"Sister... it is a warm cycle, is it not?" Dawn-Singer greeted her.

"Did you step in your own waste?"

"No, life is very warm now," he purred.

"I did not know you were cold before," she huffed.

"You are a twisted one, sister..."

"I am a twisted one? Look at you, sitting here on this ledge when you could be hunting or working or..."

"Making an egg?" Dawn-Singer purred.

"If you two have not done that already... you might have a problem... with life-making..." she groaned.

"Life has no problems now," he grinned.

 _Great skies above... he is hopeless..._

So she turned to the one who was most at fault for all this and glared at her.

"Flies-Alone, mate of my brother, what did you do to him?"

Flies-Alone almost answered but then had a paw stuck in her face.

"And no, I do not want any details about... flying or... catching... or..."

Flies-Alone gave a very warm hum.

"I think that my life-mate speaks truth of you, sister of my mate. You are some twisted."

Her eyes narrowed on the now-nest-kin Light Fury. If only Flies-Alone was not kin to her now. Maybe they could both play-fight later but very roughly.

"Twisted? How? I am not wrapped around another's paw," she huffed.

Flies-Alone grinned toothlessly at her.

"But I think you want to be," the Light Fury teased.

Aurora's jaw dropped as she softly hissed at that.

"What! You do not know me!"

"Yes, you see your brother with a warm mate. You want that also, deep in your liver."

That did not feel... it was not... definitely not... no... maybe...

"There are no others I could take," she huffed.

"True, you might feel twisted that his mate flew into the range without him even looking for one, but no mate flew in here for you yet," Flies-Alone continued.

Humph.

"I do not need a mate for now. There is enough work to do in this mixed-range, and I want to help them," Aurora retorted.

"But we are helping also," Dawn-Singer chuckled.

"How? By making an egg?"

"Yes, there must be more of us," Dawn-Singer answered very seriously.

Aurora groaned, turned for the ledge, and walked off it, falling into a glide that carried her away from the ledge.

Twisting though he was, there was some part of her liver that was very warmed for her brother's new flight. It was also true that Flies-Alone had very strong thinking and could fight with words.

 _We will have some good word-fights in the cycles to come._

* * *

Shadowwing sighed and turned back to the assembled people. As much as he would have preferred to have Thorvald address all the problems and concerns, it did seem like a good idea for him to do this occasionally to help reassure people and to help them get used to thinking of a dragon as their Chief. It also made sense to get one particularly awkward talk out of the way as soon as possible now after a couple weeks had passed.

"It is so strange to look up and see... all that!" the villager pointed up at the rocky roof far overhead and the nearest glowing crystals.

 **It is to us also**

 **We miss the sky**

A woman came forward.

"We are all alone here, us humans at least. But I guess we were alone in the above also..."

He nodded in solemn understanding.

 **Definitely not Nords anymore**

All had a kind chuckle at that.

"What about those other dragons that did not like us? I thought we were all gonna die!" another interjected.

"Yeah, they were trying to kill us!" "What if something happens to my kids?" "Will it ever stop?" "We just want peace!" "They didn't want us here!"

Shadowwing stood up and looked toward the far, twilight passageway.

 **We will protect you**

 **We care for you all**

 **Dragons are fierce, you know**

"I know you will, Chief..." "Yeah, we trust ya." "We're family." "What's life without a little danger?"

Then another man stepped forward.

"Chief, what about food?"

There was a lot of muttering at that. The meals to this point were somewhat leaner than the ones everyone was used to.

 _That is a fair point, and it will take a lot of careful planning. There is only so much fish that we can catch._

A glance at Valka was all that was needed for her to get the hint.

"We have already planted the potatoes. There are plenty of plants growing down here also. We have livestock in the fields, wild hunting, and plenty of fish in the water. We will be fine."

Shadowwing somehow doubted that it would be that simple, but there was no reason to spread any concerns around, especially when everyone was nodding in relief at her words. It helped that these people were not the cleverest in the world. They more than made up for that in their determination and loyalty.

 _And now I guess it is time for the talk that I have been so... waiting for. Love it!_

 **We need to talk about the size of the tribe**

"Huh?" "What?" "I don't get it." "Yeah, getting thinner...'

 **We should try to hold off on babies**

Stares turned into muttering and much whispering.

"At least until we know how big a tribe, humans and dragons, this place can support. True, Chief?" Valka added while leaning on her staff.

He nodded in agreement, that precise question being the next major one to put his thoughts to.

 _Skald and Rain-Eater might be especially helpful also in figuring out how many this place of ours can sustain._

The rest of the tribe actually seemed to take it quite well. It seemed that no one, at least none of the couples, seemed especially concerned about that expectation. War and years of displacement had apparently put plans to grow families on hold until a bit more stability was assured from life. They knew that definitely included being properly fed and watered.

 _Uh, how long until they realize that ale will be a problem? Actually, they will find a way to make ale if it is possible..._

* * *

Dawn-Singer and Flies-With-Sun, as Flies-Alone had renamed herself, flew over from their cave at the echoed summons and bounded down onto the massive ledge to watch the event as it happened. Was-Grounded and all the children stood nearby with their heads on their forearms as they watched and hummed. Only Green-Wings remained in her place as she tended to her egg that was itself close to hatching.

Shadowwing chuckled to himself as he lay next to Luna.

 _Both eggs will hatch only a few hours apart it seems. We did fly with our mates on the same day so it makes sense that the timing would work out so well._

The white egg on the sand before them was already cracked at its top and was violently shaking.

"Come on, my little one, you are strong," Shadowwing hummed.

The hatchling within apparently agreed as an upper section of shell broke away, revealing a pure white nose within.

Luna hummed softly in comfort and encouragement after sharing an eager and wide-eyed glance with him. His eyes were impossibly wide as well.

The top half of the egg eventually cracked and fell away as the hatchling within twisted to freedom. The tiny hatchling spilled onto the sand, wings flopping at its side, and pulled itself out of the shell with a piteous little cry. Its eyes were closed, its white wings and tiny smooth scales were covered with egg-slime, and its little head had none of its father's frills at all.

A healthy little female.

His heart was completely pierced as he stared in awe.

 _My daughter..._

Just as Moon-Dancer was not a pure Night Fury, she was not a pure Light Fury. Her scales were somewhat mottled despite being very smooth, her small wings looked somewhat more angled at the edges, and her muzzle was a little longer in shape than it seemed it should be. She did still have the long tail and single back-ridge from her head to her tail though.

The hatchling opened her light teal eyes, stumbled to her feet, and chirped for attention. Then she spotted the chewed-on fish a short pounce away and immediately attacked with all the viciousness with which she was capable.

They watched in purring contentment as the hatchling ate until her little belly was stuffed and she could not eat more. Then Luna bent down again with a hum and licked her clean. The hatchling blinked wildly and batted at her own face as if to wipe away the offending drool that was not there. She stumbled forward a few steps once the brief bath and cleanup was finished and then buried herself against Luna's chest. The hatchling was sound asleep moments later in her mother's warmth.

No one said anything for a very long time.

"Why is my nestmate sister different from me?" Moon-Dancer asked.

"Because your dam-mother is a Light Fury, and I am a Night Fury. Our little ones can be different colors," Shadowwing purred to his son.

"Have you thought of a name yet?" Was-Grounded asked.

Shadowwing and Luna shared a look as they had indeed discussed names, one each for whether the hatchling was a male or a female.

"I will let you speak her name, Luna."

Luna breathed on the sleeping white hatchling.

"She is Hidden-Hope."

* * *

Shadowwing and Was-Grounded stood together on the corner of their ledge and stared out toward the far distant light chamber, just barely visible through the mist and dark spires of their own part of the truly massive cavern. Aurora and Rain-Eater were helping out down with the construction. The occasional dragon peacefully spiraled through the sky, and a few came and went through the Furies' chamber.

Both of them were purring in relief and contentment. The other egg had hatched a somewhat smaller but healthy and very lively male. He had been tentatively named Rock-Climber for his initial eagerness to explore instead of go straight to sleep after hatching. Both mothers and hatchlings were now very busy sleeping. Valka would be summoned in time to come up and greet the two new arrivals.

Shadowwing sighed.

"This is all good. The ground-kin will make a big tree-den for having ceremonies in. And they made their flat places in dirt to grow plants for eating and prey-animals for feeding and eating."

"Peace," Was-Grounded whispered.

Shadowwing warmly chuckled.

"Hmm, with Dawn-Singer and Flies-With-Sun as mates maybe Moon-Dancer will be one for Aurora eventually. Maybe Rain-Eater and Hidden-Hope will fly together when she is grown. She will be very beautiful."

"That would be very much good," Was-Grounded purred.

"Maybe other Light Furies will fly here, but I think that Flies-With-Sun was different. She and Luna had the same, very warm sire and dam."

Shadowwing then gave a wary groan after a few moments.

"Brother, there is one other thing that I would tell you about. Only you, trust me on this."

Lifted ears and a curious hum were the answer.

"It is something I learned when I was almost dead. We Night Furies had a life-will-power that could make... something happen to save life if we wanted it enough and were willing to die. Other kin also have powers. The great-tusks can thinking-whisper and make kin think bad thoughts if the great-tusk is rotted. All true?"

"Yes, true."

"All those powers came from one great kin, the last High-Alpha that was before us. It was a very special kin. He is dead now, and life-will-power might have died with him."

Was-Grounded grumbled at that in a moment of far-flying thought. Then he came to a decision.

"That is not bad. Those powers are very filled with danger. It was good that I had mine to save us and you your power to kill the Hunter, but the world and all life might be better now without them," he then declared.

"I agree," Shadowwing answered.

Then Shadowwing sighed and brought up something else that he had been wondering about for a long time. It was a possible explanation for what had happened so long ago and that had changed the flight of their lives.

"When you saved both of us many season-cycles ago and made us new life... did you have any wanting in your liver to make me a kin? Liver-truth. I am warmed that you did make me a Night Fury with you, as I told you, but I want to know if it was something you wanted so... deeply that even you did not know."

Was-Grounded took a breath and had to gather his thoughts on the question.

"I do not think so. I... did want to be able to talk to you."

Grumble.

"And I did hope that being made new would give me a new body and tailfin. I also knew that you were warmed by flying... like you had the life-fire of a kin..." he weakly answered as his ears fell slightly.

"Maybe yes then?" Shadowwing hummed.

"Not a yes that I know in my thinking, but maybe a yes so deep that I did not know."

Was-Grounded then groaned and looked away.

"There is something else. When you were thought-thralled to the bad great-tusk, you... said something to me."

"What did... I say?" Shadowwing whispered.

"That you hate me and that I took everything from you."

"False!" Shadowwing growled.

Was-Grounded warily turned toward him, his eyes downcast.

"Is it? Is it not a deep truth hidden in your liver even from your own thinking?"

Shadowwing only purred and softly nudged his brother's shoulder with his nose.

"I would not change anything about what happened to us. You saving me and making me a Night Fury made my life much bigger than it would have been as a two-leg, I think. You gave me a brother when I would not have had one, and," he nodded back at the sleeping Furies behind them both, "none of that would have been if you did not change me. You gave me everything."

"Thank you, brother," Was-Grounded whined and softly hummed.

A moment of quiet silence passed.

"Fire-breath is a power also," Shadowwing then added in a whisper.

Was-Grounded gasped and stepped back in alarm. Then he turned aside and hurled a small bolt of purple fire at the rock wall, as if to reassure himself that he could.

"That might not end for us, but the last High-Alpha thought that fire-breath and ice-breath might end for future kin. There might be no powers," Shadowwing tried to explain.

Was-Grounded breathed heavily at the terrible thought. Then he remembered something he had been told long ago by a strange she-kin who could have visions of what might be and who had guided his flight to the range where he found Green-Wings.

 _'The flame that lives in the livers and bellies of kin will die like fire under the rain.'_

"But... kin without fire... How will we hunt? How will we protect ourselves? How will we live?" he groaned.

Shadowwing hummed and put a wing over his brother's back. They looked out together toward the strange spires, distant ridges, shining plants, flowing waters, and glowing rocks in the pale light of the hidden world.

"Together," Shadowwing purred.


	85. III - Once There Were Dragons - I

_**Author's Note – We are at last at the conclusion of this long adventure. The original last chapter got split up in two which should be read together. Within these last two chapters are a couple obligatory nods to The Lord Of The Rings via the quote and an instance in the chapter. There is also an homage to Fiddler On The Roof. Posted at the end of the final chapter is a closing author's note with acknowledgments, some parting thoughts, and some other information.**_

* * *

" _For though much has been saved, much must now pass away... And all the lands that you see, and those that lie round about them, shall be dwellings of Men. For the time comes of the Dominion of Men, and the Elder Kindred shall fade or depart." - The Lord Of The Rings – The Return Of The King_

* * *

Once There Were Dragons - I

* * *

"All right everyone, gather round! Gather round! It is time!" the Elder shouted to get everyone's attention.

It was time for that special event that had been promised and much awaited throughout the entire morning. The wanderer, as they had all called the stranger, had arrived in their village the previous day and had gone straight to the village Elder with a request and proposition. The Elder had then agreed on the condition that he be allowed to listen in on the entire event.

Children were shepherded inside the Hall by their parents, many of whom also gathered around to participate. Warmed loaves of bread were handed out to all, mugs were filled with amber ales, and the fireplaces were stoked to life with meats sizzling on the racks. Friends greeted each other as laughter began to echo throughout. There was nothing like a festival that began at noon.

The wanderer sat in the chair at the head of the assembly. She was an older woman, possibly in her later sixties from the gathering wrinkles on her face. She was also slightly hunched and looked very pale, as though she did not get outside and see the sun enough. The traveling hood she carried may have also contributed to her appearance. The simple, plain staff she carried with her was definitely invaluable in getting around from how much she seemed to lean on it. Her eyes, vivid green and filled with a depth of feeling, seemed truly ancient by comparison to all around her. Everyone knew that she was a wise woman who had seen much in her years.

The Elder reflected to himself that it was certainly odd that such a woman would travel the world unaccompanied. Safe it certainly was not, but there was an odd aura about her. Some purpose or mission drove her. Maybe the gods themselves watched over her venture. It was also true that storytellers were of inestimable value to even the rougher of tribes. Those brave souls who traveled between different lands and carried news and gossip were respected even if for no other reason than that the stories they carried with them helped to break up the tedium of life. And this wanderer had quite a story of her own to tell from the little that she had shared the other day.

The laughing voices in the Hall gradually subsided as more people turned their attention to the nomadic guest.

The wanderer then, at some silent signal, put her hands to her chair and hauled herself to her feet with a groan. She looked out over the attentive audience of nearly a hundred, leaned heavily on her staff, and then began speaking, albeit with an odd, rough accent.

"The story I will tell you is not my own. This is a story that I heard told in a far distant land. This is the story that would have been told by a... man... named Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, if he were here to tell it."

A chorus of laughs echoed through the small Hall.

"Yes, a great name indeed, but there were worse! You know how those Nords up north can be with their odd traditions. What his parents were thinking I have no idea!" she laughed along with them.

"Aye!" "Yup." "Definitely." "Crazy!"

She took a breath and looked at each of the youths in turn as everyone settled down again. The moment built with anticipation until she spoke.

"There were dragons when I was a boy."

She paused and took in all the gasps, wide eyes, and eager faces.

"Yes, dragons of all types, shapes, and colors. You will have to take my word for it now. What happened to them and where they went, only a few know. This story has changed the world forever..."

Everyone looked around and held their breaths, eager to hear more.

"This story began on my home. You have probably never heard of it. Berk. Twelve days north of Freezing to Death and solidly on the Meridian of Misery. It snows nine months of the year and hails for the other three. The only food that grows there is tough and tasteless. The people who grew there were even more so. The only real problems though were the pests. You see most places have mice or mosquitoes... we had dragons!" she shouted.

All the children jumped in alarm and the adults laughed with amusement along with the storyteller.

The audience then became completely enraptured by the telling of a fantastic tale of encounter, forgiveness, understanding, trust, and growth. It was a story about a boy who met a dragon under less-than-ideal circumstances and then went out into a little hidden world, a cove in the forest. He set aside all pride and control, extended a hand of trust to an equal, and let the dragon choose whether to give him a chance. It was a story about a human and a dragon who changed what it meant to be human and dragon, killed a Monster, and lived long as best friends and leaders for their respective kinds. Their lives, though not perfect and bearing the pains, scars, and losses of wars, and the example they set, brought about a shining hope for a better world. A world of trust in which old divisions were forgiven or forgotten. A voice of peace.

However, that better world faced threats from beyond. Forces opposed that change and sought to control and use dragons. Then one day that world, which held such hope for the future and in which dragons and humans had learned to trust and live together, vanished entirely to escape the armies and armadas sent against it. The story told of another haven, a New Berk, that they had tried to make elsewhere only to need to give that up also. The world was not safe for them, and they had to disappear completely.

Then the wanderer stopped speaking and looked out over the audience.

"Do not forget us. Do not let us fade into your myths or twist your memories of what we were. Listen so that you might learn from the past, remember what was lost, and dream about what might be."

The wanderer then reached inside the pack at her side and brought out a scroll which she handed off to the Elder.

"This is a Book of Dragons to tell you and others the truth. It has the entire story of what we were. Tell others this story also. Our voices whisper to you from these pages. Remember that once there were dragons."

One of the lads in the front of the assembly raised his eager hand, a question clearly on his mind.

"Yes, young man?" the wanderer gently asked.

"Did you ever see one? See a real dragon?"

The wanderer wearily sat down, dropping her persona she had worn throughout the long telling.

"Well, that would give away my age wouldn't it, young man?" the wanderer kindly joked.

Much laughter followed.

"To answer your question though, yes, I have seen dragons myself. I still remember the flashes of color on the wind and the distant roars that echoed through the skies and the hills."

"Were you one of them? A dragon rider?" a lass asked.

The wanderer chuckled openly at that.

"Me? A crazy, feral dragon rider? Ha! I can imagine what that would be like. To reach out and touch the clouds themselves from the back of a magnificent creature who trusts you... as family and who knows that you trust them also. I can dream of such a world..." the wanderer sighed, a weary and sad look in her eyes.

"But where did they go? Did they all die?" someone else threw out.

"A good question. I have heard differently on that point of what happened to them. One way I heard the story told was that the dragons flew far into the unmapped east, another that they flew beyond the sunset and the edge of the world into the west, another that they flew up north into the lands where the snow never melts, and another that they vanished like fish into the deeps of the ocean," the wanderer shrugged.

"The dragons flew away alone?" a little girl cried.

The wanderer sighed and leaned back in her chair while fingering her staff.

"The humans who lived with them apparently disappeared completely off the map also. I think that the story may have started with a few of the Books being spread around. Who knows what really happened?" the wanderer asked.

"But why did they have to go away?" another lad sadly wondered.

"Because there was too much hate and fear in the world. Too many people wanted to hold on to old hurts and fears and were not willing to change. Change can hurt. Letting go and moving on from the past can hurt. Many people do not want to do those things and think that staying what they are makes them stronger. Some people give up on dreams and turn away from what they could have been. They give up hope and think that fate is already made."

Then the wanderer grinned, got to her feet again, and leaned heavily on her staff.

"But do you know what I think?" she asked.

"No." "What?" "Tell us!" "Please!"

"I think that the dragons can come back someday. Do you know when?"

"When?"

"When the world is safer for them. When they are not hunted for being what they are. When we... have moved on and are willing to give them a chance. When we stop thinking about them as monsters or things to use and instead see them as the life that they are."

Then she raised a finger and waggled it at them all.

"Do not get me wrong, they are dangerous. They are not tame, but that does not make them bad. That they are not pets does not make them your enemy. It is up to you now to let go of your pride, be ready to trust, and extend a hand of friendship to someone who looks very different from you. I think that if they are out there somewhere... they will visit the world in secret from time to time to see if it is safe for them. And if it is, they might just come back to us again and change the world when they do."

The wanderer then stepped back with a bow to general applause all around.

"Our thanks to you, wanderer, you do tell quite a fantastic story. I believe that we shall add this to our list of tales to be told and passed down around the fires at the festivals!" the Elder announced, much to the audience's and the wanderer's approval.

The old woman then packed up her things, grabbed the food supplies she was gifted, tossed her traveling pack over her shoulder, and slowly walked out of the Hall into the evening light, setting her course for the road that led out of the village. She had barely reached the outskirts of the village when several young people ran up behind her.

"Wait!"

She paused and turned to regard those who had followed her.

"Yes, children?"

"That story you told us!" "It is amazing!" "Is it true?" "Do you think it is true?" "Can they really come back?"

She watched them with an appraising eye for several moments. Then she nodded toward the road and started walking.

"Follow me."

The group followed her further along the path toward the deeper forest for several minutes until they became nervous about going further from the village.

"Why are we out here?"

"I wanted you to see something before I leave," the wanderer answered.

Then she gave a piercing whistle.

All the children looked at each other in confusion for several moments until something truly incredible happened.

Out from the trees bounded a black shape with massive wings, a lean body, powerful limbs, and a swaying tail. The creature ran for them with great speed and then settled down before them all.

The children were all frozen in place as they stared in a mix of fear and awe. They could all hear the deep purr coming from the creature, and they all knew what it had to be.

The dragon had a strange assortment of ropes around its neck and chest. The ropes held what looked like a pack to its breast and a padded saddle to its back.

"Do you believe me now?" the wanderer asked while grinning solemnly.

"Is that a... Night Fury?" one of the children gasped.

The wanderer then turned to the dragon and laughed heartily.

"I don't know. Are you a Night Fury?"

The dragon looked directly at her.

"Yesss."

The dragon's voice was very rough and inhuman but still clear enough to understand.

"It can talk!" "Dragons are real!" "This is amazing!"

The Night Fury chuckled at something that was said. Then it stepped back and spread its wings after the wanderer vaulted up onto its back. The children seemed to understand what this meant.

"You are leaving now!" they exclaimed in dismay.

"Yes, we must go. This is not our world. Learn from the story, tell others, live better, and who knows what may happen," the wanderer answered them.

"Will you tell us your name?"

"My name? I am Dragonheart," the wanderer whispered.

Then the dragon turned in place to look at each of them. Its vivid green eyes were alien yet filled with awareness, intelligence, solemnity, and kindness. Its myriad of scars and burns on its chest and neck spoke to some dramatic past.

"Rreemmeemmbrr usss."

Before any of the children could say or do anything else, the dragon spun away, jumped with its powerful hind legs, and majestically beat its great wings. It vanished over the treetops and was never seen again.

* * *

The Chief laughed in her face and pointed toward the distant road, an unspoken command and warning in his words and demeanor. The wanderer nodded without saying anything else and put her back to the village.

* * *

The Elder nodded with understanding, seeing some wisdom in the story the wanderer proposed to tell, and ushered her inside the Hall for food and drink.

* * *

They looked at the village from above, saw the dragon skulls hanging from the largest buildings, and knew that this people was one to skip entirely.

* * *

The Chief took the blasphemous scroll and tossed it in the fireplace as soon as he got back home. There was no reason to let spread such ideas that threatened all their traditions. They knew perfectly well who they were. Change... change was danger, and it was his job to protect his people from danger.

* * *

The farmer shook his head as he wandered back to home after listening to the wanderer tell her strange tale. It was a good thing that such monsters were gone from the world. He remembered how his father would tell stories of having to beat back such attacking demons, using nothing but a pike to protect the herd that the family depended on. He remembered but had neglected to pass on those stories to his own sons and daughters. There was no reason to tell them about the past with the monsters having vanished entirely. But it seemed like a good idea now to tell them stories of the monsters so that his children would not forget and would be prepared.

* * *

Shadowwing drifted closer to the village while keeping high enough to remain unseen. It was so bittersweet to see all the activity of civilization after dark. They looked like normal people; couples walking to the Hall for drinks and food, children playing, and guards keeping watch. There seemed no great danger for her, but he was ready to act if there was a need. She eventually emerged from the Hall with a small audience following her and clearly asking her more questions. He allowed himself a soft hum and flew ahead to meet her along the road.

* * *

The innkeeper gladly accepted the offer, knowing that a good story was an excellent way to bring in business and sell more ale and food. The longer and more fascinating the story, the more food and drink the audience would need. Plus, he had a relative down south who might enjoy such a story and could maybe have more copies of the story made for profit. Profit and gain was most important. Those were the signs that he was making a difference in the world.

* * *

The children stared off into the sunset as the black dragon and the strange Dragonheart woman vanished from sight. The friends then glanced at each other and knew their lives had been changed forever. They knew, deep in their souls, that the old stories had to be wrong.

* * *

The hunter returned to his hut after listening to the story told in the Hall. Complete rubbish, all of it. He looked around the inside of the hut at all his bows, hides, and his two prized dragon skulls hanging from the rafters. His two greatest hunts that marked the peak of his skill at hunting. It was only a shame that such hunts were impossible now with the dragons gone. But he would be ready and would train others in his noble craft, just in case the dragons did ever return. Man against beast was the natural way after all. It was the way of the wild.

* * *

Chief Halvden of Clan Ironfist stared in awe at a sight he had never thought he would see again. The very same dragon that had lived with his people for over a winter many years ago now stood in the middle of his village. And this time Shadowwing, now substantially larger and able to speak aloud somewhat, brought someone else with him to tell a story. It was only disappointing that none of the others whom the dragon would especially want to meet were still here. They had all left years ago, Bori and Aelf to travel to relatives down south and Adal to pursue whispers of wild dragons somewhere out in the world once he came of age.

* * *

"... I think that they might come back every now and then to see if the world has changed. And if it has... if the world is safe for them again, dragons may fly freely again in the skies."

She finished the story and handed off the final copy of the Book of Dragons to an apparently eager and willing Chieftain. This people had no history at all with dragons and were more willing to listen than most of the others she had met and spoken with.

Then she took her leave and made her way out of the village as sunset neared. She walked alone down the narrow path cut into the rocky cliffs. The roar of the nearby ocean beckoned as she walked down the slope, onto the sandy beach, and out to the water's edge. There, she gave a great sigh while leaning heavily on her staff. The warm westerly wind blew in her hair and rustled her traveling cloak as she stared into the distance. Her bones and joints felt so old from all the venturing and traveling.

But it was done now, and the great burden lifted away in that moment.

She heard another faint rush of wind from behind her, and she solemnly grinned without turning around. There was no need. She only stood there and stared out toward the horizon with her cloak waving behind her. She did not react when a black shape walked up next to her and gently rested the weight of a chin on her shoulder. She leaned against his head and listened to his deep purr as he partly draped a wing over her other shoulder.

"Would you look at that..." she whispered.

They stood together on the shore and watched the sunset, such a thing as should be perfectly normal and unremarkable. They had very few opportunities to relax with such a view so far on this mission.

His warm croon slowly turned sad and solemn. Tears fell freely down her cheeks as she sobbed openly and the wind whipped her hair.

"Sssooo lllonng sssinncce wee havve ssseeenn thisss," he offered.

"I know. It is beautiful."

They remained there until the last of the sun's red sphere vanished entirely beyond the horizon, beyond the edge of the world. Then they both sighed heavily.

"It isss timme."

"Yes, we should go home."

Nearly two months the two of them had been away and flying along the mainland and some of the isles while doing the same thing. They had it down perfectly such that they knew how to read the villagers' reactions almost from the first moment that they saw the village. They knew whether wonder or anger burned hotter in the hearts of each people. In every village that was willing to listen, she had told a modified version, closer to what people needed to hear, of the story they both knew by heart, and then she left behind a copy of the updated Book of Dragons.

There were sadly few signs of progress and change in the years that had passed, though they had not expected much anyway. The disappearance of dragons had emptied many of the northern villages, which then had no means to support themselves through trade with other peoples. Several inter-tribal conflicts had started in the years that had passed.

Too many tribes still had resent and anger shining in their hearts. Most of the stories surrounding dragons were of them as monsters and natural killers of humans. Night Furies in particular were said to have magical powers from Hel itself. Grimmel the Grisly was honored as a hero and savior alongside Drago the Fallen, two great men who it was said had fought and died to protect people and liberate them from the dragon menace.

The worst and most painful to witness and hear about were definitely the former dragon riding tribes; the Volsung, Vaina, and to a lesser extent the Outcasts. The most disheartening part of it was that they both understood and could not find it within themselves to blame the survivors of those tribes. In the eyes of those survivors, all dragons had shown themselves to be untrustworthy, treacherous, or at least too dangerous in the great cataclysm long ago. Time alone could not heal all wounds. There were some hurts that went too deep and might always fester. Moving on and letting go might not be possible for some losses.

It was somewhat amusing though to learn some about Viggo Grimborn's exploits in the years that had passed. He had become a great warlord leading a private army named The Night's Fury. Having a bonded dragon of his own, perhaps one of the last ones still in the world above, helped him escape plots on his life and get tactical advantages in battles.

Shadowwing crouched down to help her get on and strap herself into the padded riding saddle. As usual, her light weight still slightly aggravated certain of his old burns, which themselves never truly stopped hurting entirely, but he had learned to endure the slight remaining pain through the years. Then he gave his very deep chuckle and softly sang a laughing tease.

"Arre yoouu rrreadyy tooo trrruuullyy fllyy?"

"I have no wings, so lend me yours and show me your best," she laughed as she crouched low on his back and cast away her plain staff.

Then he roared aloud for joy and took to the sky, flying off the shore and along the open northern ocean where the maps did not extend. There was nothing out there worth putting on the maps.


	86. III - Once There Were Dragons - II

Once There Were Dragons - II

* * *

Several days of eager flight, only broken up by resting with her hidden in his wings every other day on empty islands off the mainland, were brought on by a burning in his heart, in both their hearts, and by a need to return to where they belonged.

They were on their way, flying down old country lanes, and they could not wait to go home.

He knew that he had a special reason why he had to get home as soon as possible. This duty now finished, he had another far more heartwarming one to return to. One that he was much practiced at now after five wonderfully different occasions of continual learning.

So far.

He finally dove down toward the remote and inconspicuous island, passing over those remaining ruins of a forgotten, unimportant world. A brief glance went to the far side of the island where he saw that nothing was amiss there. Then he gently touched down outside the massive cave and took a deep breath as he stared into the darkness illuminated by a faint glow.

Valka hopped off his back to stretch her legs after the final part of the long flight out into the desolation of the ocean. The maps showed that nothing was out here.

A shared glance out over the distant ocean and up to the skies followed when she returned. Together, they gazed up to the empty and silent skies.

Shadowwing heavily sighed as he turned his thoughts to the distant past. He thought about what Berk and Haven had been: the homes, the children, the fishing and livestock, play, flying, work, laughing, learning, teaching, and growing trust. All of it was filled with the normal drudgery of people putting one foot or paw in front of the other and going about their tasks for the good of all. Pulling a plow, herding the livestock, hauling in fish, teaching the young their runes and history, looking out for each other, providing for each other, and being a community.

Life had not been perfect of course, even in the years since they lived in the world above. There were still quarrels, disputes, and mild feuds that had emerged, dragon riders still had a bit of the Nord in them after all, but those were part of life. No one was perfect.

"I missss thossse goood olld daayysss."

"Me too," Valka sighed.

He looked up at the distant moon and stared longingly at it.

 _Everyone else up here wants to cling to 'us' against 'them' thinking because it is comforting and lets everyone agree on who the enemies are. Maybe that is part of what it is to be human, to need to make groups to define themselves against. Dragons will always be another, dangerous group to this world._

His deep and weary sigh followed.

 _This world belongs to the humans again. Magic, dragons, and wonder will only exist in their stories now. Hopefully they will remember us well, but I do not care. I am done trying to change the world. They have what they need. It is up to them now._

"I willl nnoot ssseeee thisss woorrrrlld againn."

"Maybe not, but who really knows what the future holds?"

He winced slightly at that as he remembered certain events in recent years.

"You are still a young dragon and have many more years ahead of you than I do," Valka solemnly added as she stepped over to him and put a hand on his neck.

He chuckled softly as well at the thought of how much he had done in his fifteen or thirty years, depending on how many lifetimes are counted.

 _Who knows indeed?_

"Wee ssshouulld gooo nnooww."

They bowed together to the winds, the sky, and the waters, and then she vaulted onto his back as he threw his wings wide.

Down into the cave's depths he then flew, lost in his memories of another time when a great migration had happened years ago. When a dream had been tested and survived because of the choice of one person. One person whom no one would have expected would change the course of the future.

Down through the glowing green light and deeper into the depths until he flew out into an impossibly large chamber with spires that reached hundreds of lengths into the sky, unearthly and glowing trees and plants, tall mushrooms and shining flowers, bright crystals, flowing waters, and flying dragons. Every dragon he passed lifted a roar of greeting to him, remembering well his highest of status among them all.

Down into a familiar passage, around corners, and through the hidden skies of a corridor filled with crystals of glowing dark colors embedded in the many spires and cliffs.

 _Well, I am back..._

He could not help but lift his ears, rumble happily, and throw eager glances at certain of the caves and ledges as he passed.

 _I wonder if they are all home..._

Then he took a deep breath and roared with delight. A moment of silence passed as his roar echoed through the passageway.

Then it was answered by raised voices from all around, from ledges, caves, spires, the open air, perches on high rocks, and down among the strange forest that led into the deeper parts of the chamber. They threw themselves into the sky from wherever they had been and roared joyful greetings. Night Furies, Dawn Furies, and even several other true Light Furies who had joined the flock followed his flight to the very large, high ledge that stood as if on that boundary between two worlds.

He touched down and folded his wings away on that familiar ledge that had seen so much life through the years between two families. Valka hopped off his back and stepped aside to make more room. It had not been even a few seconds later when all those who had followed also began to dive to land and greet him. Many tongues found his face and left their marks without him complaining at all. Valka held many heads in turn and whispered words of greeting. It was clear how thankful and relieved they were at his and Valka's safe return. His heart burned with warmth at seeing them all and hearing their dear voices again.

Dawn-Singer and Flies-With-Sun with Moon-Pinner, a six cycle female, and Hides-In-Clouds, a four cycle female.

Moon-Dancer and Aurora with Sky-Singer, a three cycle and dark scaled male, and Dark-Hunter, a new male hatchling without any words yet.

Rain-Eater and Flies-Bravely, a Light Fury who joined the family four cycles ago, with Fire-Singer, their two cycle male with white scales and a very mellow temper.

Mist-Wings and Light-Hunter, a male Light Fury who had also joined the flock, and Star-Wings, their one cycle female.

Rock-Climber and Wind-Dancer, his brother's last two children, had no mates of their own yet.

His own other four unpaired children: Hidden-Hope, his pure white daughter; Night-Light, his second son and his first child to have both white and black coloration; Flower-Eater, his dark-scaled third son; and Solveig, a four cycle female Light Fury whom he and Luna had adopted as an egg and raised as their own.

Lastly, he bowed slightly to the two other adult Light Furies who lived with them now. Both of Luna's parents, Hope-In-His-Liver and Paws-At-Bright-Flowers, were there to greet him with a warm nuzzle. They had been found four cycles ago and were brought here with the promise of again flying the winds of life with their first two lost daughters. Also with them was their newest child, Burns-Brightly, a four cycle female begotten after their arrival in New Haven.

The purring was an almost tangible force on that massive ledge. But there were a few Furies still missing and not present at the moment.

"Where are the others?" Shadowwing rumbled.

"Down in the nest with the ground-kin!" was the general response.

"They are having a ceremony!" Moon-Dancer explained.

"A ceremony? What ceremony?" Shadowwing eagerly asked.

"A ceremony for those who are... flying above..." Moon-Dancer hummed.

Shadowwing, purring deeply, looked around at the extended family.

"But now we are here! We should join the ceremony!" he roared aloud with delight.

He bounded over to Valka, invited her again onto his back, and then many of the others joined behind him into a single flight that turned for the deeper, brighter chamber. Down over the strange trees, forest, ledges, and waters and through the glowing spires the massive flight passed. Several wild, freely flying dragons raised their voices to greet and acknowledge him.

The world built through the years gradually came into view before them. Small and simple homes had been constructed throughout from the tough trunks of the mushroom-trees and the larger other types of foliage. There were no stables because there was no need for any without rain or bad weather. Rope bridges went between some of the ledges. The waters down below had no ships. Catching fish was an activity that had become somewhat of a challenge and contest through the years among the Furies and certain other of the dragons. The fields down below grew the hardier edible plants and had pens of domesticated livestock from this world and from the above.

The Great Hall was truly great, serving both as a gathering place for festivals and also as a potential refuge against attacks. The Hall had been built into the base of the cavern wall around a very large cavern recess. The tireless work of masons and the labor of many willing dragons had built up an inner chamber larger than either of the Halls before. Despite being built with wood in some places, the Hall was structurally resistant to fire. Inside were most of the relics from the world above: the books, communal goods, and rescued tapestries of past leaders, now adorning the wall for as long as the building would stand.

He saw the gathering outside the Hall and around a large fire on which there were piles of fish and other roasting meats. Dragon riders, for they had forsaken having any other such name, were dancing with each other, joining and departing the ceremony, and telling stories. There were also far more of them gathered here right now than there usually were. He would need to greet them all as their Chief, but that could wait until later.

However, those people he had truly come to see were resting together just away from the main gathering. Down to the ground he dove and touched down with a roar of greeting. Valka hopped off him, unstrapped and removed his riding harness and packs, and wandered off to share news with the tribe.

Luna, shining as brightly as the moon itself would, hopped to her feet and strode toward him without hesitation. He went to nuzzle her and was completely defeated by the attack of her rough tongue on his cheek, deep purring, and her tail wrapping around his as she fell in beside him. A wing went over her back as they lay down together in the grass and softly hummed without any words. None were necessary or sufficient at the moment.

Was-Grounded and Green-Wings stepped up before him and briefly greeted him, also without any spoken words. Then Luna started nuzzling him a bit more vigorously and nibbling on his ears and neck.

"Luna, what is it?" he hummed with amusement and a warm heart.

"I am warmer with you here now," she whispered back.

"I am not going anywhere else. That is liver-truth."

He saw Valka talking with Thorvald and Elder Gobber, certainly sharing the results of the mission with them.

"Someone should fly to the above as we did after many season-cycles or life-cycles pass. But being at your side in this hidden world is my place, now and always," he nuzzled her neck.

"Yes, this is our home-range," Luna softly answered.

Shadowwing hummed and then had an idea as he looked from her to the other dear pair.

"We should fly," he grinned.

They growled in agreement and followed him up into the hidden sky in a smooth, calm flight as they soared higher over the village and up toward the glowing spires.

Then they alighted on the largest glowing crystalline ledge that lay high above the ground, and they packed in together. Shadowwing stretched his wings out over all of them. They sat together in peace and watched the various happenings down below. People working at their tasks, or joining and departing the feast. Riderless and bonded other types of dragons were off in the distance.

Life had changed so much in the years since they all flew into hiding. Most of the humans had adapted rather well to their new, somewhat harsher world, despite having generally lost weight between them all. That was an occupational hazard of living in the new world and needing to change lifestyles. Adapting had been harder for the adults than for the children. It was wondrous to see how naturally those few born in the hidden world or those who had done most of their growing up in it took to their surroundings from the earliest of ages: the gliding off cliffs; navigating great heights; harvesting mushrooms, potatoes, and other edibles; swimming; climbing; tending to pet Terrors and other small dragons; and talking with Furies as equals.

It was all they knew. Nothing was better at making a shared world and building the peace than to have always lived together from the earliest ages.

Many of the bonded dragons had returned to their freer life, though they always remembered their humans when they did stop by. And every time that they brought back a mate or fledglings of their own, that meant that a few more dragons in the hidden world learned that these humans were not all deserving of fear and mistrust. It was slow change, but that was how progress worked: one nose-touching of trust at a time.

Peace had been eventually established with the other Light Fury packs. It had involved some violence years ago, but those encounters had also been the source of great joy because it was in those adventures that Flies-Bravely, Light-Hunter, and both of Luna's parents had been found and convinced to fly to New Haven. The main Light Fury pack in this region of the hidden world was now an ally of New Haven, and both packs aided each other in many ways.

There were also certain others who did not take up the invitation to live in New Haven. There had been other incidents involving dragons in the years immediately following the arrival, but everything had worked out so far even if some tears were shed along the way.

By far the most dramatic change that had befallen all dragons was something that few people ever spoke of. Something happened to make fire breath rarer or more difficult to manage among almost all the newer dragons, though it was not gone yet. The hope was that the magical nature of dragons, since it seemed to be dying or fading, could be allowed to be lost and forgotten entirely. Magic had been completely removed from the story that had been shared in the above.

The one main comfort against both the continued departure of dragons and the fading of magic was the greater involvement of the Furies in normal life with the dragon riders even from the earlier of ages. There were also certain other events that left everyone wondering at times. Some of the other dragons that did stay around longer had apparently started learning to understand more spoken words. No one was quite sure what was going on, whether this signified growing actual understanding or not.

The four of them lay there together for a long time in purring peace until Was-Grounded turned to Shadowwing and gave a very wry grin.

"Brother, are you going to ask how many eggs there will be this life-making cycle?" Was-Grounded teased.

"I do not know if there are more," Shadowwing truthfully answered.

His departure over two months ago had come well before either Luna or Green-Wings could have known if they had gotten new eggs, though it was definitely the plan. Both pairs wanted another after having none in the last six years, as the above would count. They were also more able to have another pair of children now, given certain changes that had happened in their part of the hidden world.

"You should already know for us. What can I say? I saw my mate flying and I had to go... catch her. That's who I am," Was-Grounded toothilly grinned.

Shadowwing rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue in amusement. Was-Grounded's answer was to swat him with his tail and nuzzle Green-Wings. She had laughed with mirth sparkling in her eyes throughout the teasing.

 _What about us? I hope..._

Shadowwing warily glanced over at Luna and lost himself in her soft croon and light blue eyes. A gentle nudge of her side followed in a wordless question.

"Yes, we have another," Luna softly purred while stroking his tail.

He purred deeply back to her with pride in his eyes.

"I saw you catch her! That was well flown! We will need to slow this life-race if we want to be able to fly in these skies," Was-Grounded laughed.

"Yes, we will after these eggs. These will be our last for... many cycles. We should also send more fliers to other far ranges in the hidden world to find new ranges some might live in. Doing that might help us and the ground-kin even more," Shadowwing answered.

Then he warily hummed.

"Some of our young and the ground-kin young already talk of the beyond. To them the world above is the hidden world. I think much about if sky-kin will ever truly fly in the above again. There would be two-legs and two-leg nests in the beyond that fear us and think us Monsters from their stories."

"And that is why you and Kin-liver flew beyond, true?" Luna asked.

"True, I and Kin-liver did what we said we would do. She met with many two-leg nests in the beyond. She shared the no-powers life-story where I stayed a ground-kin who was life-bonded with Toothless. That story will help the two-legs know us sky-kin not as Monsters if we are ever to fly beyond in the sun's light," he explained.

"Will it change anything? How long do you think it will be before we can fly in the above?" Was-Grounded asked.

Shadowwing paused and thought for a moment before answering.

"Do I think the story will change all two-legs? No. Will it change enough of them? I do not know. I want to say yes, but I fear it will not. Two-legs have rock-head problems and do not want to fly from what they are to be something new," he whispered.

"Your old nest did, and they all became our ground-kin," Green-Wings kindly offered.

He lay his head down on the glowing rock. He spotted several of the young Furies playing and conversing freely with a small group of human children that included Skald's and Thorvald's. The young Furies' spoken speech was far clearer than any he could do himself.

"The two-legs from my home-nest-island knew sky-kin even from the life-cycles of fighting against them. Sky-kin were always part of normal life for them. That is not true for many other two-leg nests. There were many two-leg nests beyond that did not want to listen to the story. Stories take many life-cycles to make changes. Stories are better than not knowing anything, but they are not the same as playing together, learning, fighting, laughing, and living as one nest. The four of us might not be alive when the above world is safe for sky-kin again... if..."

Shadowwing weakly sighed, feeling the oppressive darkness that frequently seemed to hover in his thoughts.

"Knowing two-legs as I do... I do not think sky-kin will ever fly free in the above again."

A quiet and solemn moment passed between them.

Then Luna started humming, and Shadowwing quickly lifted his head in response. All his fears and concerns scattered in that moment as he closed his eyes and felt her warmth at his side and the slow sway of her tail with his.

Words learned from Valka and sung through the years rose almost unbidden at Luna's familiar hum. They had become his and Luna's shared refrain whenever the winds of life were especially hard to fly.

"I'll glide and soar on great skies… with not a fear of falling... and gladly fly the winds of life... if you will be my mate... no burning sun or biting cold... will stop me on my flight... if you will promise me your love... and fly with me for all time," he sang.

Luna hummed softly before picking up her lines.

"My dearest one, my Shadowwing... your great words amaze me... but I've no need of such great things... if I feel your wings around me."

He continued.

"But I will bring you piles of fish... I will even sing you songs... and I will keep you always safe... if you will fly beside me."

She laughed.

"I do not need your piles of fish... I care not for your songs... I only want your tail to hold... I only want you with me."

Their voices mingled.

"To love, to hum, to closely hold... for the dancing and the dreaming... through all the chills and warmths of life... I will keep your love beside me."

"I'll glide and soar on great skies… with not a fear of falling... and gladly fly the winds of life... if you will be my mate..."

They both looked back out over the hidden world while humming softly in peace. Luna gently rubbed his neck with her cheek while purring peace to him.

"Good, no more singing," Was-Grounded grumbled while covering his ears with his paws.

"I have heard you singing to Green-Wings, if that noise of yours can be called singing... Your flight now!" Shadowwing grinned.

He got a very heavy shove in the side, a mock-growl, and shared laughter in response. Then Was-Grounded turned to Green-Wings and hummed at her.

"Green-Wings, do you love me?"

"Do I what?" she blinked.

"Do you love me?"

"Do I love you? With our little ones making nests, and the problems in the range... you are tired and sleepy, go to our ledge and lie down... maybe you had too many fish," she grumbled.

Was-Grounded huffed softly and nudged her shoulder with his nose.

"Green-Wings, I am asking you a question. Do you love me?"

"You are a rock-head," she groaned.

"I know," he grinned, "but do you love me?"

She sighed.

"Do I love you? For so many cycles I have licked your hurts, cleaned our den, helped you hunt, given you eggs and little ones. After so long why talk about love now?"

"Green-Wings," he nuzzled her nose, "the first time I saw you I was lost. I was chilled."

"I was scared," she whispered.

"I was alone."

"So was I."

"But I hoped that in time we would learn to know and... love each other. And now I am asking... Green-Wings, do you love me?"

"I am your life-mate..."

"Yes, but do you love me?" he again asked.

She sighed softly.

"Do I love him? For so long I have lived with him, fought with him, starved with him, for so long my den is his, if that is not love... what is?"

"Then you love me!" Was-Grounded eagerly barked.

"I suppose I do," she warbled up at him.

"And I suppose I love you too," he answered with a very smug grin and brush of her nose.

Both of them shared a warm look and then sang together.

"It does not change a thing, but even so... after so long... it's good to know..."

Their voices trailed off into a constant, warm purr.

"And you tease me for singing with my life-mate," Shadowwing chuckled.

Then they all hummed together and looked out over all that they could see of their little corner of the hidden world.

"What are we doing?" Shadowwing suddenly growled.

"Sitting?" Was-Grounded asked.

"We are sky-kin, true?"

"I wonder about you," Luna grumbled.

Was-Grounded and Green-Wings laughed heartily while he rolled his eyes.

"We have wings, true?"

They all hummed, seeing clearly where he was going with this.

"Why are we sitting on our tails?" he grinned.

Shadowwing jumped forward and fell from the crystal. He let himself tumble in freefall for a moment and then threw out his wings only to see three other pairs of wings diving after him. White joined his side on one wing and black and green on the other. The four of them joyfully flew, cried aloud, and tagged tails, taking simple pleasure in the fun of a game of tag before future egg-tending duties or tribe-related duties would prevent such flights.

There, high over a small village and the alien wilderness in the hidden world, peacefully flying together with Luna, Was-Grounded, and Green-Wings, and watching the peace, trust, and life that their families enjoyed, Shadowwing again felt that sense of belonging that had been absent throughout so much of his life. This was home, not because of where it was or the memories the place carried with it, but because of who was there to fly the winds of life with him.

Shadowwing happily growled to himself as he spun in a loop and looked down on the world below.

 _This is New Haven. We are in hiding now, all of us vanished completely off the map. We came early into the world, and it was not ready for us. We almost did not make it. We might never fly up there again, and that is fine with us. We are happy to live in peace: dragons and our humans! We will fly the winds of life together! It is not safe or easy, and we do not care! Bit by bit, we will change our hidden world! We do not know if the world above will ever be safe for us, but we hope that we will live to see it!_

Shadowwing roared aloud with joy. His resounding cry was answered by three other voices which united into a roar that echoed through the whole chamber.

* * *

 _The End – Volume III_

* * *

 _Brothers Of Night_

* * *

 ** _Closing Author's Note: Congratulations to all who have made it to the end of this very lengthy journey. I hope that you have been as touched as I have been along the way._**

 ** _Gratitude: My special gratitude goes out to those of you who have left the most regular and meaningful reviews throughout. You know who you are. It is readers like you who help make the story better by thoughtfully musing on characters, noticing things that the author does not, suggesting scenes or dialogue, and giving the writer reassurance that it is worth continuing to write. My thanks goes out to all the other readers who took the time to contribute reviews and favorites. I consider it my duty to leave reviews for stories that I find deserving of my time. Doing so as I go through each chapter is a way to engage with the author, gather my thoughts almost like taking notes, compensate the author for their time, and help the story get the publicity that it deserves._**

 ** _By the way, this story received its 100,000th view on 2/27/2019._**

 ** _Favorites: I will take this one final opportunity to humbly ask that you consider whether this story was worth the read. There is nothing better that you could do to help others notice it than to give it a favorite if you have not already._**

 ** _Beta: VigoGrimborne assisted me by beta reading much of the final volume and definitely helped improve the quality of the final result. I highly recommend that you check out his writing. He has several very worthy and original HTTYD stories from humor one-shots, to a multi-volume adventure/family epic, to a psychological/supernatural drama and sequel, to a modern sci-fi, and many other grand ideas in the works._**

 ** _General Thoughts: Time for a few overall thoughts on the entire story. Some readers objected to the non-standard language of 'Fury speech' by saying that it was too difficult to understand. I always intended to make their speech feel different from human speech to help reinforce that these are not human characters. There were tragic elements to the story, and some beloved characters were lost along the way. Happily-ever-after endings where there are no permanent sacrifices or losses are asinine. Part of the plot of volume III was precisely that of moving on and finding life meaningful again after a devastating loss. I also wanted to not make this a 'magic' story in as much as I could avoid it having an 'unnatural' feeling. What 'magic' there is portrayed, the two Fury powers and the two ancient, mystical dragons in the background, is 'exiting the stage' so to speak. I am definitely influenced by Tolkien's writing, if that were not clear from many of the quotes, in these two regards: the permanence and necessity of some sacrifices and the fading away of the magical or mystical. Good always prevails in the end, but the triumph is at such a cost that the world is left somehow 'less' than it was before. As is alluded to in the prior chapters, I do see these dragons eventually losing everything truly 'magical' about them, including fire-breath. But is that such a bad thing?_**

 ** _Sequel Story: The Fury children were not focused on much in Brothers Of Night, save for Dawn-Singer at the end, because this was not their story. Many of you have asked if I plan to write more. There is a sequel, Children Of Dawn, which was hinted at in a prior chapter. The sequel begins a couple years after the departure from the above, well before the events of the epilogue chapters, and focuses more on the Fury children, their adventures with their human friends, the practical workings of how life would continue in the hidden world, struggles to keep the dream alive, and other events. The four main Furies we know will still be key players throughout. There are some plot threads intentionally left dangling from this ending, and the sequel will address them all. The sequel story is currently posting.  
_**


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